Premier League push ahead with U21 tournament despite UEFA opposition (and Chelsea, Man City and West Ham will all be involved)
By Matt Lawton For Mail Online14:31 15 Oct 2014, updated 15:13 15 Oct 2014
- UEFA attempted to block the competition refusing to give it their approval
- By staging it in England, tournament will not fall under UEFA's jurisdiction
- Manchester City, West Ham, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Leicester, Norwich and Sunderland will all be involved in the competition
- First game is West Ham vs Athletic Bilbao, played later on Wednesday
The Premier League have out-manoeuvred UEFA and pressed ahead with the staging of a European Under 21 competition the governing body of European football attempted to block.
When the Premier League presented their plans for a four-group tournament, involving Under 21 teams from eight European as well as eight English clubs, last month, UEFA refused to give it their approval. Even though the competition would address some of the concerns around player development that were highlighted by the FA’s England commission.
But by staging the whole competition here in England, and organising neutral venues when two foreign teams meet, the tournament will not fall under UEFA’s jurisdiction.
It was only on Wednesday afternoon that the Premier League announced the tournament would be going ahead, with the first game actually between West Ham and Athletic Bilbao taking place on Wednesday evening at Upton Park.
Kick-off is at 7pm and tickets will be available at the stadium, with free entry for season ticket holders and additional tickets available at £3 for adults and £1 for children.
As well as West Ham the English clubs involved in the tournament are Chelsea,
Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Manchester City, Norwich City, and Sunderland. In addition Athletic Club Bilbao, Benfica, Borussia Monchengladbach, Celtic, Schalke, Porto, PSV Eindhoven, and Villarreal will be participating.
Group stage matches will be played between October 15 and January 31, with all matches organised by the Premier League.
Ged Roddy, the Premier League Director of Youth, said: 'When we launched the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012 we recognised that providing competitive opportunities for the 18-21 age group – against English and international opposition – was a key objective in order to prepare Academy players for Barclays Premier League football.
‘The Premier League International Cup will see some of the best young players in this country able to test themselves in competitive matches against some of most talented young players in Europe.’
