Everton U21s 1 – 0 Blackburn Rovers U21s
As the senior Everton team prepared for their season opener at Elland Road tonight, Everton U21s took on Blackburn Rovers in the first game of their Premier League 2 campaign, and secured a late win.
The terms of the youngsters’ league campaign have changed a little with the expansion of PL2 to 29 teams this season.
Participating Category 1 Academy clubs are divided into six seeding pots of five teams, based on performances over the previous three seasons. Fixtures are then determined by a draw made according to clubs’ positions in the six seeded pots.
Across the 20 matchweeks, teams play each club in their own seeding pot once, as well as three or four teams from all other pots, either home or away.
Results generate a combined table ranking the 29 teams, with the top 16 teams qualifying for the elimination play-offs, where teams are drawn against each other based on their final league positions.
In a change for 2025-26, the eight Premier League 2 teams finishing in positions from 17th to 24th will go into a new, cross-category play-off competition, along with the top eight teams from the Professional Development League (Category 2).
Everton will have a number of new faces at this level, with a group of retained youngsters stepping up from the Under-18s side they played for last season, but no new signings this summer.
The young Blues secured a great opening 1-0 win thanks to a late 85th-minute own goal credited to the Rovers’ ‘keeper, Goddard. Following some determined harrying by both Jack Patterson and Odin Samuels-Smith to keep possession, Isaac Heath jinked inside and played a nice cross for Jacob Beaumont-Clark. His excellent strike beat the goalkeeper but the ball struck the post and rebounded in off him.
Everton U21s: G Pickford, Finney, Samuels-Smith, Tamen Campbell (46′ Thomas), J Patterson, Heath (86′ Van Schoor), Bates (46′ Gomez), Morgan, Graham, Clarke (76′ Beaumont-Clark).
Subs not Used: Barnsley.