England national under-21 football team: Difference between revisions

England Under-21
Nickname(s)	The Young Lions
Association	The Football Association
Head coach	Gareth Southgate
Most caps	James Milner (46)
Top scorer	Alan Shearer &; Francis Jeffers (13)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	England U-21 0–0 Wales U-21 ; (Molineux, Wolverhampton; 15 December 1976)
Biggest win
	England U-21 9–0 San Marino U-21 ; (New Meadow, Shrewsbury; 19 November 2013)
Biggest defeat
	Romania U-21 4–0 England U-21 ; (Ploieşti, Romania; 14 October 1980) ; &; England U-21 0–4 Spain U-21 ; (St Andrews, Birmingham; 27 February 2001); &; Germany U-21 4–0 England U-21 ; (Malmö New Stadium, Malmö; 29 June 2009)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	13 (first in 1978)
Best result	Winners 1982, 1984

Browse history interactively

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Revision as of 11:33, 17 June 2015

England's national Under-21 football team, also known as England Under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team.

This team is for English players aged under 21 at the start of the calendar year in which a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign begins, so some players can remain with the squad until the age of 23. As long as they are eligible, players can play for England at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side, and again for the U21s, as Jack Butland, Wilfried Zaha and Raheem Sterling 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).

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 U21s' first result.

England U21s 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 lower demand compared to the senior national team, smaller grounds can be used. The record attendance for an England U21 match was set on 24 March 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 a U21 game.^[2] 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.^[3]^[4]

Coaching staff

Head coach

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
2007–2013	Stuart Pearce
2013–	Gareth Southgate

The original and most successful coach is Dave Sexton, who led the U21s from 1977 to 1990. In this period he combined his duties with managing the top-flight clubs Manchester United (1977–1981) and Coventry City (1981–1983). After Coventry he took a position within the FA as their first Technical Director, at Lilleshall. He handed over U21 responsibilities to England manager Graham Taylor's assistant Lawrie McMenemy for three years before resuming control from 1994 to 1996.

Peter Taylor took over in 1996 and, although never winning the tournament, his teams had an excellent record. He was controversially removed from the position in early 1999, however, and replaced initially by Peter Reid, who resigned after just one match in charge to dedicate more time to his other job as manager of Sunderland. Howard Wilkinson took over afterwards, yet could only produce four wins in ten competitive matches and quit after a year and a half in charge. David Platt took charge upon his departure from Nottingham Forest. Platt was U21 boss from 2001 to 2004, but had little success before Taylor's return. Taylor left in January 2007, as the senior national manager Steve McClaren wanted the U21s to have a full-time manager. Taylor, at the time, was combining his duties with his role as Crystal Palace boss.

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 14 May 2007, before the 2007 European Championships, but on 19 July 2007 he was named full-time U21s coach.^[5] He remained in the post until June 2013, when it was announced that his contract would not be renewed.^[6] On 31 July, the FA announced that England senior manager Roy Hodgson would take charge of an England U21 friendly match against Scotland at Bramall Lane,^[7] the match ended in a 6–0 win for Hodgson's side.^[8] Former England international Gareth Southgate was made manager of the under-21 team on 22 August.^[9]

Other staff

Coaches	Steve Holland^[10]
Coaches	Brian Eastick
Goalkeeping Coach	Martin Thomas^[11]
Physiotherapists	Dave Galley^[12]
Physiotherapists	Derek Wright^[12]
Doctor	Dr. Richard Higgins^[13]
Masseur	Stewart Welsh
Exercise Scientist	Craig Boyd
Performance Analyst	Keith Mincher
Video Analyst	Mike Baker
Kit Manager	Neil Jones

Competition History

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.

In 2009, England finished as runners-up, losing 4–0 to Germany in the final.

England finished second in their qualifying group for the 2011 championships in Denmark. They subsequently defeated Romania in the play-offs to qualify for the finals tournament, where they were knocked out in the group stage after a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic.

Year	Progress
1978	Semi Final
1980	Semi Final
1982	Champions
1984	Champions
1986	Semi Final
1988	Semi Final
1990	Failed to qualify
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000	Group Stage
2002	Group Stage
2004	Failed to qualify
2006	Failed to qualify
2007	Semi Final
2009	Final
2011	Group Stage
2013	Group Stage
2015	Qualified

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

Results and fixtures

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship