Barclays U21 Premier League kicks off tonight

Nathaniel Chalobah, left, is looking forward to playing at Griffin Park

The inaugural season of the Barclays U21 Premier League kicks off this evening as West Ham United host Reading at their Rush Green training ground and Chelsea take on Manchester City at Griffin Park, home of Brentford.

Tickets for the Chelsea-Manchester City match, kicking off at 7.05pm, will be available atGriffin Park on the night, priced at £3 for adults and £1 for children.

Chelsea's Nathaniel Chalobah is looking forward to playing at Griffin Park. "It's good for us because playing at Brentford gives us a different experience, a change from Cobham [the training ground]  and hopefully there will be more support there in the new environment," the 17-year-old told the club's website.

"That's something we are all looking forward to, at Cobham games are generally behind closed doors, so to be in front of a crowd at Brentford will be a good experience."

The Barclays U21 Premier League was devised as part of the most comprehensive review of youth development in over a decade with the aim of bridging the gap between Academy and First Team by providing regular competitive games of a high standard.

Inaugural season to feature 22 clubs

The 2012/13 Barclays Under-21 Premier League will feature 22 clubs (17 Premier League and five Championship) who applied for Category One status as part of the categorisation process of the Elite Player Performance Plan, the new youth development system.

The emphasis will be on playing under-21 players with each team limited to three over-age outfield players and one over-age goalkeeper. Matches will be played from Friday to Monday, ensuring that young players will still have the opportunity to play for the first team.

"The Barclays U21 Premier League aims to provide that vital transitional step and will become the hardest playground in the world as part of a player's total education, because the next game may well be a debut in the Barclays Premier League itself,” said Ged Roddy, the Premier League Director of Youth.

"It will become the hardest playground in the world as part of a player's education"
Ged Roddy

"The matches will be structured to complement the Premier League game rounds. So, as a first-team manager there is a great benefit in knowing that you can have your U21 player on the bench for the first team, but if he doesn’t play then there’s still the option for him to have high-quality competitive football that weekend in the U21 League."

The groups are:

National Group One
Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Everton, Norwich City, Reading, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United

National Group Two
Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur

National Group Three
Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton Wanderers

A minimum of two matches at club's main stadium

Each team will play each other home and away with at least two fixtures taking place at the team’s main stadium. After this first group stage, the clubs will be placed into three groups based on their performance.

The top three teams from National Group One and the top two from Groups Two and Three will qualify for the Elite Group, with the other clubs making it into Qualification Group Tier One or Qualification Group Tier Two depending on their finishing position.

The teams will again play each other home and away with the top three teams from the Elite Group qualifying for the knockout semi-finals.

The winners of the two Qualification Groups will take part in a play-off to decide who will make up the quartet. The semi-final winners will contest the final.

Opening weekend fixtures

Friday, August 17th, 2012

GROUP 1 - West Ham United v. Reading (Rush Green) 7pm

GROUP 3 - Chelsea v. Manchester City (Brentford FC) 7.05pm

Saturday, August 18th, 2012

GROUP 2 - Newcastle United v. Tottenham Hotspur (NUFC Training Ground) 12pm; Stoke City v. Manchester United (Weaver Stadium) 11am.

Sunday, August 19th, 2012

GROUP 1 - West Bromwich Albion v. Everton (WBA Training Ground) 2pm.

Monday, August 20th, 2012

GROUP 1 - Arsenal v. Bolton Wanderers (Emirates Stadium) 7pm; Norwich City v. Blackburn Rovers (TBC) 7pm

GROUP 2 - Southampton v. Sunderland (Staplewood TG) 2.30pm

GROUP 3 - Liverpool v. Wolverhampton Wanderers (Liverpool’s Academy) 2pm; Middlesbrough v. Crystal Palace (Rockliffe Park) 2pm

You can follow developments on Twitter with the Premier League’s account@premierleague or via #bplU21