The changes to Premier League 2 ensure that clubs will play in 20 regular season matchweeks, before a single elimination playoff takes place between the sides ranked first to 16th
The Premier League have announced a radical change to top tier youth football in England, with Premier League 2 expanded into one 26-team league for the forthcoming season.
Following the ‘Swiss model’ which will be seen in the Champions League from the beginning of the 2024-25 season, Premier League 2 will now move away from the old model which saw 14 teams in Division One and 11 teams in Division Two, with two clubs relegated and two promoted between the divisions after they had played all the teams in their division home and away.
In the new system, all 26 teams with Category One academies will be placed in the same division, but they won’t all play each other home and away.
Instead they will initially be placed into five pots which will be determined by their performances in Premier League 2 over the past three seasons, with fixtures decided by a draw from those pots.