Aston Villa start Under-18 Premier League title defence at Brighton

The fixtures for the 2025/26 Under-18 Premier League season have been released, with champions Aston Villa kicking off their title defence at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday 16 August. Villa were crowned 2024/25 U18s Premier League national champions after beating Manchester City 1-0 in the final, after winning the U18 Premier League South title. They made it three trophies last season when they also won the FA Youth Cup. Last season's beaten U18PL finalists, Man City, kick off their campaign at home to Leeds United, also on 16 August. What is the U18PL format? The Under-18 Premier League is where the 29 Category One Club Academies play, and is split into the North and South Division, with no promotion or relegation. The two regional division champions play in a National Final for the overall U18 Premier League title, as won by Villa last season.Welcoming three new clubs Three new clubs are entering the competition this season - Birmingham City, Burnley and Ipswich Town - after being granted the Category One status that has allowed them to join the competition. Birmingham and Ipswich will both be competing in the South division, while Burnley take their place in the North section. North and South group teams 2025/26 North group South group Blackburn Rovers Arsenal Burnley Aston Villa Derby County Birmingham City Everton Brighton & Hove Albion Leeds United Chelsea Liverpool Crystal Palace Manchester City Fulham Manchester United Ipswich Town Middlesbrough Leicester City Newcastle United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Reading Stoke City Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur Wolverhampton Wanderers West Bromwich Albion - West Ham United To further enhance the development of U18 players, all clubs also have the opportunity to compete in the U18 PL Cup and the FA Youth Cup. All the 2025/26 U18 Premier League fixtures are available on the U18 PL fixtures page. U18 PL Matchweek 1 fixtures Saturday 16 August North group 11:00 Derby County v Nottingham Forest11:00 Everton v Manchester United11:00 Middlesbrough v Wolverhampton Wanderers11:00 Stoke City v Liverpool11:30 Manchester City v Leeds United12:00 Burnley v Sunderland12:30 Newcastle United v Blackburn Rovers South group 11:00 Birmingham City v Crystal Palace 11:00 Brighton & Hove Albion v Aston Villa11:00 Ipswich Town v West Bromwich Albion11:00 Tottenham Hotspur v Reading11:30 Southampton v West Ham United12:00 Leicester City v Fulham12:00 Norwich City v Arsenal Fans can follow all the latest PL2 and Under-18 Premier League matches by clicking on the Matches section tab at the top of the home page.