The U18 and U21 Premier League. Or PL2 in other words. A place where England's hottest prospects are cooking up a storm, preparing for the big time. From Premier League Arsenal down to League One Reading, these two leagues have everything and more. Today, I'll be discussing the academies, talents coming through and the hottest topics in the Premier League youth world right now!
THE U18 PL:
The U18 Prem. The birthplace of talent in England. From the North East to the South Coast, it has it all. A place of chaos for Cat 1 clubs competing and developing. Consists of 29 category 1 academies. The league of 29 is split into North and South. 14 in North, 15 in South. In this league, people particularly colour City, Chelsea, Man Utd as the best in these age groups.
But I have a more fascinating view. I think it's amazing that Championship academies perform well in these leagues and occasionally better than the PL academies. For example, Blackburn Rovers have a very decent side this season and are above Prem academies like Burnley and Wolves. This season, three new additions were joined in the Cat 1 family, Birmingham City, Burnley and Ipswich Town.
What's good about this is that it has opened up international opportunities to players at these clubs, Ipswich were very well represented at the England U15 Talent ID Camps earlier this season. The U18 Prem allows players from other academies to get a look in at international level. Max Dowman, a lad who joined this league at 13, made this his playground, he began to find his feet here aged 14 and earned himself an England U17 call up, he's now scoring for Arsenal's men's team aged 16.
The league allows scholars to bridge the gap from scholarship to first professional contracts. Many clubs can infer how good a player is at this level, recently England U17 Ajay Tavares signed for Spanish giants FC Barcelona from Norwich City, where he'd been playing at U18 level. The U18 PL is where first team managers begin to notice extreme talents at their club. Manchester United starlet JJ Gabriel began to make his mark in the U18 PL aged 14 at the end of last season and then has gone from strength to strength this season as he is top scorer at 15 years old with 18 goals. The U18 PL, mainly takes up the U15-U17 age groups for England.
THE U21 PL: THE PL2
The PL2. The U21 level of English football arguably the most important step for a youth footballer. When you become too good for U18 football, you meet the U21 world. This age group particularly dominates the England U18, U19 and U20 age groups. For example, Chelsea U21 captain Harrison Murray-Campbell also captains England U20s too.
Many players who are making it big in England at the moment used this league as a stepping stone as opposed to spending a season here. Jeremy Monga, Max Dowman, Rio Ngumoha and many more are examples. You have levels in this league. Players who are too good for the league and are 17- 20. You have the 19 year old strikers who are too good for this league but can't perform while out on an EFL loan. The league also welcomes injured players who are nursing a knock or can't get first team minutes. The league is very effective in that way. Another reason I'm a big fan of the PL2, is because it gives the players who are excelling in the U18 PL a challenge. Another thing I find interesting about this league is that rather than playing at club training grounds like the U18 PL, most clubs play in Non League stadiums, which welcome fans, this allows the players to access fans, more pressure.
Or, if you are a bigger club in the PL2, you will play in a stadium that is for the club. A few examples include Leigh Sports Village (Man Utd), Joie Stadium (Man City), Chelsea (Kingsmeadow). Chelsea being my favourite as it contains a league club type vibe, with banners and Flags with all of the FA Youth Cup titles on. Another very important factor to explain is that players at this level will be sent out on loan at some point which can stunt growth extremely. Off the top of my head a good example of recent is Middlesbrough's Leo Castledine who started at Chelsea's U21s, then went on loan to Huddersfield Town, now has a permanent contract at Boro, he's flying now!
THE TALENT COMING THROUGH
Lately, in the U18 Premier League the ages of debutants are getting lower. With 14 year olds who are playing U16 football, simply excelling at that level and finding their level in the U18 PL. A few weeks ago, Liverpool introduced England U15 Luca Eden into action, then a couple of weeks later he then scored to become Liverpool's youngest ever scorer at U18 level, this then allowed him to become the England U15 captain. The craziest part about all of this, is that almost every single player in the England U15 and U16 teams, has already either: made their U18 debut or been named on the bench, or, been in men's team training sessions, mental really.
Tends to be goalkeepers who are named in men's training, such as Crystal Palace and England U16 GK Lucca Benetton. Players nowadays are reaching over 300 goals in academies and feats like this are allowing opportunities. From my work on Twitter working with England's youth teams, (@EnglandAcad on X), two players who are in England's U15 team who are achieving outrageous numbers, Tottenham's Ashiah Haughton-Sinclair has scored over 500 goals for the academy and Blackburn Rovers player Ty Livesey has got 100 G/A this season, in one season. Ashiah became the youngest debutant for Spurs U18s ever, after being substituted on against Ipswich Town U18s. And many England U15 players have achieved the same at their clubs. Outrageous stuff.
2025/2026 SEASON HALL OF FAME
This is going to be a few names. From my work with the youth teams on The England Academy, this is a long list of players who have made waves so far this season.
England U15s- Fran Boggan (Everton), Zac Wattley (Ipswich Town), Luca Eden (Liverpool), Oliver Flynn (Blackburn), Charlie Robinson (Newcastle), Luis Munoz (Arsenal), Blake Henry (Derby), Ashiah Haughton-Sinclair (Tottenham), Jaden Maghoma (Arsenal), Isaac Allen (West Ham), Zach Trinder (Wolves), Tommy McLaughlin (Ipswich Town), Charlie Mountain (Derby County)
England U16s- Lucca Benetton (Crystal Palace), Mikel Jack (Tottenham), JJ Gabriel (Man Utd), Reggie Watson (Chelsea), George Jobling (Spurs), Josh Abe (Liverpool), Xavier Parker (Man City), Mishel Nduka (Arsenal), Vincent Joseph (Liverpool), Mylo Bernard (Crystal Palace)
England U17s: Joel Drakes-Thomas (Crystal Palace), Mathis Eboue (Chelsea), Floyd Samba (Man City), Brian Madjo (Aston Villa), Teddie Lamb (Man City), Ajay Tavares (FC Barcelona), Ryan Kavuma-McQueen (Chelsea), Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli (Chelsea), Sam Alabi (Newcastle), Marli Salmon (Arsenal), Oliver Boast (Tottenham), Malik Olayiwola (Everton)
England U18s: Kaden Braithwaite (Man City), Dante Headley (Man City), Louis Page (Leicester City), Seth Ridgeon (Fulham), Luca Williams-Barnett (Spurs), Reigan Heskey (Man City), Chizzy Ezenwata (Chelsea), Ale Rodriguez (FC Annecy), Ryan McAidoo (Man City), Igor Tyjon (Blackburn Rovers), Harry Howell (Brighton), Reggie Walsh (Chelsea)
England U19s: Stephen Mfuni (Man City), Chris Rigg (Sunderland), Trey Nyoni (Liverpool), Max Dowman (Arsenal), Jesse Derry (Chelsea), Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), Divine Mukasa (Man City), Shim Mheuka (Chelsea), Jeremy Monga (Leicester City), Harry Amass (Man Utd), Airidas Golambeckis (West Ham), Jack Fletcher (Man Utd)
