The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

Premier Reserve League for

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

reasons) was the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

league for the top English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. The league was split into a northern and a southern division. The league started out in 1999, replacing

The Central League The Central League is a football league for reserve teams, primarily from the English Football League. For sponsorship purposes, it was branded as the Final Third Development League until the 2015/16 season. The league was formed in 1911 and ...

in the north and

The Football Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

in the south as the top level of reserve-team football, although those competitions continued for lower-level teams and from 2004 to 2005, the regional champions would play-off for the title. From the 2006–07 edition until its disbandment, the league was only open to sides whose senior teams were one of the 20 members of the

. As a result, a senior team's relegation from the Premier League would mean relegation for the reserve team from the Premier Reserve League and replacement by the reserve team of the promoted team from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

decided against entering a side for the 2009–10 Premier Reserve League season and other teams followed suit in the 2 following seasons. The final season was the 2011–12 season. At the end of that season, it was replaced by an Under-21 competition, called the Professional Development League 1.

Winners

From 2004 to 2005 onwards, the League held its first play-off between the champions of the two sections. Northern Champions Manchester United Reserves beat Southern Champions Charlton Athletic Reserves 4–2 at The Valley. In the 2005–06 play-off, held at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, Manchester United Reserves beat Tottenham Hotspur Reserves 2–0. The 2007 final, held at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...

, Reading beat Bolton 2–0. Liverpool Reserves beat Aston Villa Reserves 3–0 in the 2008 final at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. Aston Villa reached the final again next season and beat Sunderland 3–1 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. In the 2009–10 play-off match, held again at

, Manchester United beat Aston Villa 3–2 in a penalty shoot-out after the game ended 3–3. In the 2010–11 playoff match,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

defeated Blackburn 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out, after the game ended 1–1 at Stamford Bridge. In the 2011–12 season finale held at

, Manchester United Reserves beat

Aston Villa Reserves The Aston Villa Under-21s, formerly known as Aston Villa Reserves and Aston Villa Under-23s, are the most senior youth development team of Aston Villa and compete in Premier League 2 (Division 2) of the Professional Development League, the Pre ...

3–1 on penalties after the game ended 0–0 in normal time.

Most successful clubs

References

Reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

1999 establishments in England Reserve football leagues in England Sports leagues established in 1999

Winners

Most successful clubs

See also

References

External links