The Beijing Youth Daily has revealed that the U21 league is set for major changes, with a promotion and relegation system coming into effect and the number of places for promotion to the second division being reduced to one.
Since its birth in 2021, the U21 League has gradually become a must-play for Chinese Super League clubs.In the 2023 season, with the exception of Shenzhen and Qingdao Hainiu, who withdrew from the tournament for some reason, all the other teams went all out. Teams such as Heilongjiang Bingcheng and Guangxi Pingguo Hahong are also actively involved.
The CFA and the professional league management have implemented a policy since last season of rewarding the best performing teams with the "Champion and Runner-Up Teams Entering the New Season in B-League", which is a more competitive league and a key stage for young players to realize their professional dreams.
For example, the 2022 U21 League champion Beijing Guoan U21's starters Liang Shaowen and Duan Dezhi, and the 2023 champion Shandong Taishan Wang Haobin have become the best in the professional league. In this season's U21 League, 13 and 22 players were selected for the U21 and U19 national teams respectively.
Taishan and Seaport U21 teams not only won the Championship of China B this season, but also ranked sixth and ninth respectively. This not only reflects the high level of the U21 League, but also inspires other teams to provide a professional stage for young players. However, four U21 League teams have been promoted to the B-League for the past two seasons, and whether the quality of competition in the U21 League will decline in the future has become a focus of concern for the FA and the management.
According to BeiJing Daily, the FA and the management will not send the best U21 teams to the B-League only through "promotion but not relegation". Teams such as Taishan and Harbour B, which were promoted through the U21 League, cannot be further promoted to the China A League, so the tournament organizers will limit the percentage of U21 teams participating in the B League. The FA's decision to allow the U21 League champions and runners-up to progress to the B League is also linked to the expansion of the B League to 24 teams for the new season.
To ensure the quality of competition in future U21 leagues, a relegation mechanism will be implemented from the 2025 season and the number of places for promotion to League B will be reduced from two to one. Specifically, regardless of the performance of the four U21 teams promoted to the B-League, the lowest-ranked team will be relegated to the U21 League for the 2026 season.
The implementation of the promotion and relegation system will undoubtedly inspire clubs to pay more attention to the game. As an important talent outlet for national teams, the U21 League will receive more support in the context of the FA's efforts to create "elite talent".
