Youth League (India)

The Youth League, also known as Hero Youth League for sponsorship reasons, is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (Elite Youth League), U15 (Junior League) and U13 (Sub-Junior League).

Youth League
Founded2008 (2008)
CountryIndia
DivisionsElite Youth League
Junior League
Sub-Junior League
Number of teams49 (Elite League)
Level on pyramid1
Current championsYouth: Classic FA
Junior: Minerva Punjab
Sub-Junior: RF Young Champs
Most championshipsAIFF Elite Academy
(3 titles)
Websitewww.the-aiff.com

History

The league was founded as the I-League U19 in 2008 which was to give youth teams of the I-League a national league to play in as at that time the I-League youth teams only played in state youth leagues. Clubs fielded Under-19 teams. 16 teams were split into four groups of four with only one group containing only three teams. At the end of the season the top team from the group stage would move onto the final group stage with the other group winners and play each other once. The inaugural winners were Tata Football Academy.[1]

The competition name was changed in 2012 to the I-League U-20,[2] because many U-20 players in the I-League were not getting any time in the senior teams. Teams will play those within their own group twice and again the top teams will move on to the final group at the end.

The U20 title however only lasted for two seasons before the All India Football Federation decided to switch the tournament back to an under-19 tournament from 2014 onwards.[3] From 2014, the format was changed where the tournament was divided into five region based zones, namely Kolkata, Mumbai, Shillong, Goa and Rest of India.

The competition once again changed in 2015–16 now played as U18 tournament. From 2017–18 season, the league was renamed as Youth League U18 and subsequently renamed to Elite League from 2018–19. Latest format change came with the introduction of Reliance Foundation Development League.

Under-17 level
Elite Youth League
Current championsClassic FA
(1st title)
Most championshipsAIFF Elite Academy
(3 titles)
TV partnersAIFF (YouTube)
Current: 2022–23

The Elite Youth League or the Hero U-17 Youth Cup was previously known as I-League U18, I-League U19 and I-League U20.[4] is the top level of youth football in India. It is contested between the under-17 sides of The I-League teams, Indian Super League teams, as well as other youth teams. The most successful team currently is AIFF Elite Academy, who won three titles. Minerva Punjab are the last known champions. On 7 December 2018 AIFF decided to change its name to Hero Elite League.[5][6]

Teams
Main article: 2022–23 Indian Elite League § Teams

The participants for the 2022–23 season are:[7]

Zone Teams
Group A
Bengaluru		 Alchemy International FA (Karnataka) Parappur FC (Kerala) Lakshadweep Football Academy (Lakshadweep) Garhwal FC (Delhi) Mumbai Kenkre FC (Maharashtra)
Group B
Kolkata		 ATK Mohun Bagan (West Bengal) Sanju Football Academy (Sikkim) FAO Academy (Odisha) Minerva Academy FC (Punjab) Football 4 Change Academy (Manipur)
Group C
Patna		 Alpha Sports Academy (Bihar) Hyderabad FC (Telangana) Odisha FC (Odisha) Techtro Swades United FC (Himachal Pradesh) Young Heroes (UP)
Group D
Imphal		 Classic Football Academy (Manipur) Gauhati Town Club (Assam) Shillong Lajong (Meghalya) East Bengal (West Bengal) Jamshedpur FC (Jharkhand)
Group E
Hyderabad		 Sreenidi Deccan FC (Telangana) Mumbai City FC (Maharashtra) Gandhinagar FC (Gujarat) Silvassa United FC (Daman and Diu) Jeppiaar Institute of Technology FC (Puducherry)
Group F
Chohal		 Punjab State FA U-17 (Punjab) Kumaon Heroes (Uttar Pradesh) Real Lona FC (Ladakh) Real Kashmir FC (Jammu & Kashmir) Himalayan FC Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh)
Group G
Bokaro		 Sail Football Academy, Bokaro (Jharkhand) KR Football Leaders (Uttarakhand) Rajasthan United FC (Rajasthan) Madan Maharaj FC (Madhya Pradesh) Adani Sarguja Football Academy (Chhattisgarh).
Group H
Rudrapur		 Corbett FC (Uttarakhand) Ladakh Football Schools and Academy (Ladakh) Chandigarh Football Academy (Chandigarh) Sudeva Delhi FC (Delhi) –
Group I
Bhilai		 RKM Football Academy (Chhattisgarh) Premier Sporting Football Academy (Bihar) Muthoot FA (Kerala) Chennaiyin FC (Tamil Nadu) The Diamond Rock FA (Madhya Pradesh)
Group J
Goa		 FC Goa (Goa) Bengaluru FC (Karnataka) ARA FC (Gujarat) Zinc Football Academy (Rajasthan) Churchill Brothers FC Goa (Goa)

Structure

For younger categories, in most cases teams play each other in their respective zonal groups twice – home and away. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams go through to the final phase.

Those teams are divided into three groups and the group champions, along with the best second placed teams qualify for the knockout stages.

For Elite League, the latest tournament took place across ten venues, with single round-robin format in the group and knockout stage. The 49 teams from 29 states and union territories are divided in ten groups. Ten group winners and six best runners-up qualify for the knockout stage.

Past winners
I-League U19
2008 Tata Football Academy
2010 Sporting Clube de Goa
2011 JCT
I-League U20
2012 Pune F.C. Academy
2013 Pune F.C. Academy
I-League U19
2014 Tata Football Academy
2014–15 AIFF Elite Academy
I-League U18
2015–16 AIFF Elite Academy
2016–17 AIFF Elite Academy
Youth League U18
2017–18 Shillong Lajong
Elite League
2018–19 Minerva Punjab
2019–20 called off due to COVID-19 pandemic
U17 Youth Cup
2022–23 Classic Football Academy[8]

List of winners
Team U20
titles		 U19
titles		 U18/U17
titles
AIFF Elite Academy 0 1 2
Pune U19 2 0 0
Tata FA U19 0 2 0
JCT 0 1 0
Shillong Lajong U18 0 0 1
Minerva Punjab 0 0 1
Sporting Club de Goa 0 1 0
Classic FA 0 0 1

Under-15 level

Junior League
Junior League
Current championsMinerva Punjab
Edition Winners
2015–16 Minerva Punjab
2016–17 Minerva Punjab
2017–18 Minerva Punjab
2018–19 Minerva Punjab[9]
2019–20 called off due to COVID-19 pandemic

Under-13 level

Sub-Junior League
Sub-Junior League
Current championsReliance Foundation Young Champs
Edition Winners
2017–18 Minerva Punjab
2018–19 RF Young Champs
2019–20 called off due to COVID-19 pandemic

See also

References
  1. "I-League U19 2008".
  2. :::: The Aiff :::: Archived 2012-04-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "AIFF's Emergency Committee meets in New Delhi". The All India Football Federation. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  4. "AIFF Moots U-15 & U-18 I-League For Clubs & Academies". I-League.org. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  5. 2nd Division League Teams selected to begin on January
  6. "Tentative decisions for 2nd Division League, Hero Super Cup announced".
  7. "49 teams to participate in AIFF Elite Youth League 2022-23". AIFF. 7 December 2022.
  8. "Classic Football Academy wins Hero U-17 Youth Cup title". thebridge.in. The Bridge. All India Football Federation. 31 January 2023. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  9. Shetty, Chittu (29 May 2019). "Hero Junior League final: Minerva Punjab pip Bengaluru FC to lift title for the 4th consecutive year". Football Counter.
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