Sunderland U21s will feature in a new look Premier League 2 competition next season, with clubs voting to adopt a Swiss-style format. The current Premier League 2 sees Category 1 academies split into two divisions, with promotion and relegation between the leagues.
But a report from Training Ground Guru says that from next season, the 25 teams will instead be seeded into five pots based on their performance in the competition over the previous three years. Each team will play 20 games across the regular season, meeting the other sides in their pot and also either four or five teams in every other pot, either home or away.
At the end of the regular season, a single league table would be drawn up with the top 16 teams qualifying for a play-off competition. The Swiss model means that teams will not play every other team, and will not play the same opponents home and away.
