From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

England Under-21
Nickname(s)	Young Lions
Association	The Football Association
Head coach	Stuart Pearce (since 2007)
Captain	Steven Taylor
Most caps	James Milner (33)
Top scorer	Alan Shearer & Francis Jeffers (13)
First kit 　 Second kit
First International England U-21 0-0 Wales U-21 (Molineux, Wolverhampton; December 15, 1976)
Biggest win England U-21 8-1 Finland U-21 (Boothferry Park, Hull; October 12, 1977)
Biggest defeat Romania U-21 4-0 England U-21 (Ploieşti, Romania; October 14, 1980) & England U-21 0-4 Spain U-21 (St Andrews, Birmingham; February 27, 2001)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	10 (First in 1978)
Best result	Winners 1982, 1984

England's national Under-21 football team, also known as England Under-21s or England U-21s, is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team.

This team is for English players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U-21s, senior side and again for the U-21s, as Kieran Richardson, Darren Bent and Theo Walcott have done recently. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player is eligible). Nigel Quashie is a current Scotland international and former England U-21 player.

The U-21 team came into existence, following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions, in 1976. A goalless draw in a friendly against Wales at Wolves' Molineux Stadium was England U-21s' first result.

England U-21s do not have a permanent home. They play in stadia dotted all around England, in an attempt to encourage younger fans in all areas of the country to get behind England. Because of the smaller demand compared to the senior national team, smaller grounds can be used. The record attendance for an England U-21 match was set on March 24, 2007, when England U21 played Italy U21 in front of a crowd of just under 60,000 at the brand new Wembley Stadium, also a world record attendance for an U21 game. ^[1] The match was one of the required two "ramp up" events the stadium hosted in order to gain its safety certificate in time for its full-capacity opening for the 2007 FA Cup Final in May.^[2][3]

Contents 1 Competition History 2 Coaching Staff 2.1 Head coach 2.2 Other staff 3 Current and recent players 4 Most Appearances - Top Ten 5 Most Goals - Top Ten 6 Current Under-21 Squad 7 Forthcoming Fixtures 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

Main article: England's European Under-21 Football Championship Record

Year	Progress
1978	Reached Semi Final
1980	Reached Semi Final
1982	Winners
1984	Winners
1986	Reached Semi Final
1988	Reached Semi Final
1990	Did not qualify
1992	Did not qualify
1994	Did not qualify
1996	Did not qualify
1998	Reached 8th-place playoff
2000	Reached Finals Group Stage
2002	Reached Finals Group Stage
2004	Did not qualify
2006	Reached Qualification playoff
2007	Reached Semi Final

As a European U21 team, England compete for the European Championship, with the finals every odd-numbered year, formerly even-numbered years. There is no Under-21 World Cup, although there is an Under-20 World Cup. For the first six (1978-1988) European Under-21 Football Championships, England did well, getting knocked out in the semi-finals on four occasions and winning the competition in 1982 and 1984. Then, as one might expect with a rapid turnover of players, followed a lean period.

After losing to France in the 1988 semi final, England then failed to qualify for the last eight for five whole campaigns. In the qualifying stages for the 1998 tournament, England won their group, but fate was not on their side. Because there were nine groups, and only eight places, the two group-winning nations with worst records had to play-off to eliminate one of them. England lost the away leg of this extra qualifying round and were eliminated on away goals to Greece. In effect, England finished ninth in the competition despite losing only one of their ten matches.

England qualified for the 2000 finals comfortably. Under the 1996-appointed Peter Taylor England won every match without conceding a goal. But with 3 matches to play, Taylor was replaced in a controversial manner by Howard Wilkinson, who won the next two matches. The three goals conceded in the 3-1 defeat to group runners-up Poland were the only blemish on the team's qualifying record. England got knocked out in the group stage of the European Championship finals in 2000 under Wilkinson.

After enlisting former international star David Platt as manager, England qualified for the 2002 tournament in Switzerland. Again England did poorly in the group stage. Platt's England failed to qualify for the 2004 tournament and he was replaced by the returning Peter Taylor. Taylor's England qualified from the group but lost to a strong France team in a two-legged playoff and failed to qualify for the 2006 tournament.

The next campaign started shortly after the 2006 finals - the qualification stage of the 2007 competition. UEFA decided to shift the tournament forward to avoid a clash with senior tournaments taking place in even-numbered years. The qualification stage was heavily reduced, being completed in a year's less time. In a 3-team qualification group, England qualified over Switzerland and Moldova, and then won a two-legged play-off with Germany to qualify for the finals to be held in the Netherlands. At the tournament, England progressed through to the semi-finals where they led for the majority of the match against the hosts. However, after a late equaliser and a marathon penalty shootout, England were eliminated.

Note: The year of the tournament represents the year in which it ends.

On 1 February 2007, Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce was appointed as head coach on a part-time basis until after the European Championships in the summer of 2007. Nigel Pearson, Newcastle United's assistant manager, agreed to become Pearce's assistant. Their first match in charge was a 2-2 draw against Spain on 6 February 2007 at Derby County's Pride Park Stadium.

For the match against Italy Nigel Pearson took charge as Stuart Pearce had club commitments. Steve Wigley assisted Pearson.

Pearce was dismissed as Manchester City manager on May 14, 2007, before the 2007 European Championships, but on 19 July 2007 he was named full-time U21s coach. His contract runs until the summer of 2009.^[4]

Tenure	Head Coach/Manager
1977-1990	Dave Sexton
1990-1993	Lawrie McMenemy
1994-1996	Dave Sexton
1996-1999	Peter Taylor
1999	Peter Reid
1999-2001	Howard Wilkinson
2001-2004	David Platt
2004-2007	Peter Taylor
2007-	Stuart Pearce

Assistant Coach	Nigel Pearson
Coach	Steve Wigley
Goalkeeping Coaches	Martin Thomas
	Eric Steele
Physiotherapists	Dave Galley
	Mike Healy
Doctor	Dr. Mark Waller
Masseur	Paul Small
Exercise Scientist	Gary Phillips
Video Analyst	Steve O'Brien
Kit Manager	Mark Simkin

Players born in 1984 or later were eligible for the 2006-07 UEFA European U-21 Championship, players born in 1986 or later are eligible for the 2007-09 UEFA European U-21 Championship, and so on. The Under-19 team will be the most obvious source for the next crop of Under-21s.

1986-born (eligible to 2009 UEFA U21 Champ) Gabriel Agbonlahor Dexter Blackstock Martin Cranie Matt Derbyshire Craig Gardner Tom Heaton Tom Huddlestone Cameron Jerome Michael Kightly Grant Leadbitter James Milner Luke Moore Nedum Onuoha Tom Soares Andrew Surman Andrew Taylor Steven Taylor

1987-born (eligible to 2009 UEFA U21 Champ) Ben Alnwick Matthew Connolly Joe Hart Adam Johnson Billy Jones Joe Lewis Mark Noble Richard Stearman David Wheater

1988-born (eligible to 2011 UEFA U21 Champ) Lee Cattermole Michael Johnson Michael Mancienne Fabrice Muamba Micah Richards James Vaughan 1989-born (eligible to 2011 UEFA U21 Champ) Theo Walcott 1990-born (eligible to 2013 UEFA U21 Champ) Joseph Mattock

Those players in italics have caps for the senior team. Details of exactly which players were selected in the squad for the latest fixture(s) are available here

Because of the age restriction, a player can't be in the team for very long and the most promising young players spend little time with the U-21s before winning senior caps. James Milner holds the record for the most Under-21 caps, with 34.

Rank	Player	Club(s)	U-21 Caps
01	James Milner	Leeds United, Newcastle United	34
02	Scott Carson	Leeds United, Liverpool	29
=3	Jamie Carragher	Liverpool	27
=3	Gareth Barry	Aston Villa	27
05	David Prutton	Nottingham Forest, Southampton	25
06	Jermaine Pennant	Arsenal, Birmingham City	24
=7	Jermain Defoe	West Ham United	23
=7	Nigel Reo-Coker	West Ham United	23
=7	Steven Taylor	Newcastle United	23
=7	Tom Huddlestone	Derby County, Tottenham Hotspur	23

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s. Those players in bold are still eligible to play for the team at the moment.

Statistics up to and including England vs Portugal, November 20, 2007.

Rank	Player	Club(s)	U-21 Goals
=1	Alan Shearer	Southampton	13
=1	Francis Jeffers	Everton, Arsenal	13
=3	Frank Lampard	West Ham United	9
=3	Darren Bent	Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic	9
=5	Mark Hateley	Coventry City, Portsmouth	8
=5	Carl Cort	Wimbledon	8
=7	Mark Robins	Manchester United	7
=7	Shola Ameobi	Newcastle United	7
=7	Jermain Defoe	West Ham United	7
=10	Emile Heskey	Leicester City, Liverpool	6
=10	Leroy Lita	Reading	6

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

Statistics up to and including England vs Netherlands, June 20, 2007.

Statistics up to and including England 2-0 Bulgaria, November 16, 2007.

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Goals Club 1 GK Joe Hart April 19, 1987 (1987-04-19) (age 20) 8 0 Manchester City 2 DF Craig Gardner November 25, 1986 (1986-11-25) (age 21) 3 0 Aston Villa 3 DF Greg Halford December 8, 1984 (1984-12-08) (age 23) 4 1 Sunderland A.F.C. 4 MF Lee Cattermole March 31, 1988 (1988-03-31) (age 19) 1 0 Middlesbrough 5 DF Steven Taylor January 23, 1986 (1986-01-23) (age 21) 23 4 Newcastle United 6 DF David Wheater February 14, 1987 (1987-02-14) (age 20) 3 0 Middlesbrough 7 MF James Milner January 4, 1986 (1986-01-04) (age 21) 34 4 Newcastle United 8 MF Tom Huddlestone December 28, 1986 (1986-12-28) (age 20) 23 2 Tottenham Hotspur 9 FW Matt Derbyshire April 14, 1986 (1986-04-14) (age 21) 10 4 Blackburn Rovers 10 FW Gabriel Agbonlahor October 13, 1986 (1986-10-13) (age 21) 9 2 Aston Villa 11 MF Theo Walcott March 16, 1989 (1989-03-16) (age 18) 12 4 Arsenal 12 DF Richard Stearman August 19, 1987 (1987-08-19) (age 20) 0 0 Leicester City 13 GK Ben Alnwick January 1, 1987 (1987-01-01) (age 20) 1 0 Tottenham Hotspur 14 MF Grant Leadbitter January 7, 1986 (1986-01-07) (age 21) 1 0 Sunderland 15 MF Fabrice Muamba April 6, 1988 (1988-04-06) (age 19) 5 0 Birmingham City 16 MF Andrew Surman August 20, 1986 (1986-08-20) (age 21) 2 1 Southampton 17 MF Adam Johnson July 14, 1987 (1987-07-14) (age 20) 3 0 Middlesbrough 18 FW Ishmael Miller March 5, 1987 (1987-03-05) (age 20) 0 0 West Bromwich Albion GK Tom Heaton April 15, 1986 (1986-04-15) (age 21) 0 0 Manchester United DF Michael Mancienne January 8, 1988 (1988-01-08) (age 19) 1 0 Queens Park Rangers DF Matthew Connolly September 24, 1987 (1987-09-24) (age 20) 0 0 Colchester United DF Andrew Taylor August 1, 1986 (1986-08-01) (age 21) 6 0 Middlesbrough

Fixture	Competition	Venue and Date	Any UK TV channels showing the match live
England v Republic of Ireland	Euro 2009 Qualifier	5 February 2008
England v Portugal	Euro 2009 Qualifier	5 September 2008

• European Under-21 Football Championship
• England's European Under-21 Football Championship Record
• England (Senior) team
• England Under-19

• Official FA England Under-21 website Contains listings of current England U-21 players.
• Uefa Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21 Championship hosts and additional statistics, such as the Group Winners table for the 1998 qualifiers.

National under-21 football teams of Europe (UEFA) v • d • e
Albania | Andorra | Armenia | Austria | Azerbaijan | Belarus | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | England | Estonia | Faroe Islands | Finland | France | Georgia | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Republic of Ireland | Israel | Italy | Kazakhstan | Latvia | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | FYR of Macedonia | Malta | Moldova | Montenegro | Netherlands | Northern Ireland | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Scotland | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | Ukraine | Wales Former nations: Czechoslovakia | East Germany | USSR | Yugoslavia
European Under-21 Championship v • d • e
1976-1978 | 1978-1980 | 1980-1982 | 1982-1984 | 1984-1986 | 1986-1988 | 1988-1990 | 1990-1992 | 1992-1994 France | 1994-1996 Spain | 1996-1998 Romania | 1998-2000 Slovakia | 2000-2002 Switzerland | 2002-2004 Germany | 2004-2006 Portugal | 2006-2007 Netherlands | 2007-2009 Sweden
Football in England v • d • e
League competitions The FA Cup competitions Premier League England (B) (C) FA Cup The Football League (Champ, 1, 2) (U-21) (U-20) (U-19) Football League Cup Football Conference (Nat, N, S) (U-18) (U-17) (U-16) FA Community Shield Northern Premier (Prem, 1N, 1S) List of clubs Football League Trophy Southern League (Prem, 1Mid, 1S&W) List of venues FA Trophy Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S) (by capacity) Conference League Cup English football league system List of leagues FA Vase Records FA NLS Cup Foreign players