West Ham United U21s v Birmingham City U21s
Premier League 2, Rush Green Stadium, Friday 19 September 2025, 7pm BST
West Ham United U21s continue their Premier League 2 campaign, aiming for their third straight win in all competitions as we host Birmingham City U21s at Rush Green Stadium.
Mark Robson’s side opened their EFL Trophy account with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Milton Keynes Dons on Tuesday at Stadium MK, where two goals apiece from Preston Fearon and Callum Marshall, either side of an own goal, secured our joint-biggest win in the competition.
In Premier League 2, meanwhile, the young Hammers stormed to a first league win of the season before the September international break with a commanding 4-2 victory over Sunderland at the Eppleton Colliery Football Ground.
PL2 newcomers Birmingham, who are not involved in the Vertu Trophy nor National League Cup, return to action for the first time since 2 September, when they were beaten 5-1 at Hull City in the Premier League Cup.
Tickets…
Tickets can be purchased at the turnstiles, priced at £5 for Adults and £1 for U18s. Season Ticket Holders can attend for free by showing their Season Ticket at the entrance.
Premier League 2 Explained…
To minimise the impact of relegation on future groups of U21 players, the Premier League introduced a new format to its development phase competition in 2023/24.
Replacing the two-division system, the 29 Category One academies now compete in a single tier with 20 regular season fixtures before the top 16 seeded teams advance to single-elimination play-offs.
Regular season fixtures are determined by a draw made according to clubs’ performances over the last three seasons. Each team plays 20 different opponents before the play-offs in April and May, where they will be drawn against each other based on league positions, with the higher seeded team playing at home. The top 16 are also rewarded with a place in the following season’s Premier League International Cup competition.
New for this season, the eight clubs finishing between 17th and 24th will enter a cross-category play-off competition alongside the top eight teams from the Professional Development League (Category Two). This competition will also feature a knockout format, starting with a round of 16.