ACADEMY - PREMIER LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL CUP

In 2023-24, our Academy team was invited to play in the Premier League International Cup. This was the eighth season of the Cup, organised by the Premier League (and not sanctioned by UEFA) for Academy/Under-21 teams (I can't keep track of the terminology) of which half are from England and the other half are invited from the rest of Europe.

Here's the games that our Academy team were (and are!) involved in.

2023-24

The 2023-24 version of the tournament featured twenty-four teams; twelve from the English league and twelve from other European countries. The teams were split into three groups of eight, with four English and four European clubs in each group. The three group winners, runners-up as well as the two best third-placed teams moved on to the knockout rounds.
All matches were played in England at either the English club's ground or one that was close. In the case of Forest we played Nice at The City Ground, Hertha Berlin and Sparta Prague in Loughborough and the opening game against PSV Eindhoven was at Alfreton Town. Attendances were pretty much what you'd expect on cold winter nights, but our two wins showed great promise in the Academy, coming against large European clubs.

As for the other teams in this year's cup, they were:
Group A: Nottingham Forest, Leeds, Wolves, Blackburn; PSV Eindhoven, Hertha Berlin, Sparta Prague, Nice
Group B: Brighton, Chelsea, Southampton, West Ham; Lyon, Valencia, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb
Group C: Fulham, Liverpool, Everton, Crystal Palace; Athletic Bilbao, Monaco, Feyenoord, Benfica

RESULTS - GROUP A
Date Game Opponent Round H/A Score Att Scorers
Mon Sep 11, 2023Premier League International CupPSV Eindhoven1H1-3568Dagason (OG) (94)
Wed Oct 25, 2023Premier League International CupNice1H1-01,087Hammond (86)
Wed Dec 13, 2023Premier League International CupHertha Berlin1H0-2-
Mon Jan 22, 2024Premier League International CupSparta Prague1H3-2-Hammond (11), Norkett (40), Nadin (79)

STANDINGS - GROUP A
Pos Club P W D L F A GD Pts
1Wolverhampton Wanderers431084410
2PSV Eindhoven4301166109
3Hertha Berlin42115327
4Blackburn Rovers42029906
5Nottingham Forest420257-26
6Leeds United4202611-56
7Sparta Prague4103710-33
8Nice400439-60

As you can see we ended up in the middle of the Group A table so missed out on a chance of a quarter final appearance in February. For the record, Crystal Palace were the overall champions this season, with a 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the final which, incidentally, reversed the previous season's result of Eindhoven beating Palace to the title.

But we obviously impressed someone, as we were invited back next year. Read on!

2024-25

So, onto the current season and the 2024-25 edition of the tournament. This year the list of teams is increased to thirty-two, with sixteen each from England and Europe. They're now split into four groups of eight, with the usual four English and four European clubs in each group, but this time only the group winners and runners-up will move on.
Again all matches will played in England, with our games against Dinamo Zagreb, Valencia, Ajax and Monaco all taking place at Loughborough University.

Here are this season's other teams:
Group A: Nottingham Forest, Reading, Wolves, Spurs; Valencia, Monaco, Dinamo Zagreb, Ajax
Group B: Blackburn, Sunderland, Middlesborough, West Ham; Lyon, Borrusia Monchengladbach, Athletic Bilbao, Benfica
Group C: Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Norwich; PSV Eindhoven, Hertha Berlin, Sparta Prague, Nordsjaelland
Group D: Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Southampton; Sporting CP, Leipzig, Real Sociedad, Anderlecht

RESULTS - GROUP A
Date Game Opponent Round H/A Score Att Scorers
Wed Sep 25, 2024Premier League International CupDinamo Zagreb1H3-0-Conor Brown (60), Nadin (81), Adam Berry (93)
Tue Oct 15, 2024Premier League International CupValencia1H0-1-
Mon Nov 18, 2024Premier League International CupAjax1H1-0-Nadin (82)
Fri Dec 20, 2024Premier League International CupMonaco1H--

Our first game, at home to Dinamo Zagreb, was a comfortable 3-0 win but Valencia put paid to this being an easy run as we lost 1-0 in the second match. A win against Ajax in game three helped though and we're now waiting to see how the other results go before we face Monaco in December.

STANDINGS - GROUP A
Here's the current standings after our first three games where we are currently top! Well, joint top with an equal record to Valencia, but someone has to be first...
Pos Club P W D L F A GD Pts
1Nottingham Forest32014136
2Valencia22004136
3Monaco21105234
4Reading210135-23
5Wolverhampton Wanderers20204402
6Dinamo Zagreb201136-31
7Ajax200213-20
8Tottenham Hotspur100113-20