The Blues will be looking to bring the Premier League 2 trophy back to Cobham, having been crowned champions in 2020, our second title since the competition began in 2012. We finished in second place behind Manchester City last season.

Four other clubs have claimed the Premier League 2 title during that time and we will face three of them – Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal – in our first five fixtures of the season.

Our campaign will start with a London derby away against Tottenham Hotspur, who came third in 2020/21, at the Lamex Stadium in Stevenage on Monday 16 August. Our second away trip will also be against a fellow capital club, at West Ham United two weeks later.

The development squad’s first two home games will be played at Stamford Bridge, both against former champions at this level, as we host Man Utd on Friday 20 August and Arsenal on Sunday 19 September, five days before the first game at our development squad’s regular home Kingsmeadow, when Liverpool will be the visitors.

In the middle of that run of exciting opening fixtures, we travel to Man City as the last two Premier League 2 champions come face to face on 11 September. We are back in Manchester to face United in the last game before the winter break on 17 December, resuming the campaign at home against Leicester City on 10 January. Our season will conclude at Stamford Bridge on 2 May, when we will face Blackburn Rovers.

There are a total of 14 teams in this season’s Premier League 2 Division 1, with Leeds United and Crystal Palace earning promotion to the top flight for 2020/21, while Southampton were relegated at the end of last term.

The Premier League 2 is England’s top Under-23 competition, exclusively for clubs with a Category One status Academy.

Our development squad play the majority of home games at Kingsmeadow in Kingston, with three Premier League 2 fixtures each season being played at Stamford Bridge.

2021/22 Premier League 2 Division 1 fixtures