The Youth League is a system of youth

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (AIFF Youth League), U15 (Junior League) and U13 (Sub-Junior League).

History

The league was founded as the I-League U19 in 2008, which was to give youth teams of the I-League a national league to play in. 16 teams were split into four groups of four. At the end of the season, the top team from the group stage would move onto the final stage with the other group winners, and play each other once. The inaugural winners were

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. The competition name was changed in 2012 to the I-League U-20, because many U-20 players in the I-League were not getting any time in the senior teams. The U20 name only lasted for two seasons, before the All India Football Federation decided to switch the tournament format back to an under-19 format from 2014. From 2014, the tournament was divided into five zones, namely

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and ''Rest of India''. The competition once again changed format in 2015–16, played as U18 tournament. From 2017–18 season, the league was renamed as Youth League U18 and subsequently as Elite League from 2018–19.

Structure

For younger categories, in most cases teams play each other in their respective zonal groups twice – home and away. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams go through to the final phase. Those teams are divided into three groups and the group champions, along with the best second placed teams, qualify for the knockout stages. For Youth League, the latest tournament took place across ten venues, with single round-robin format in the group and knockout stage. The 49 teams from 29 states and union territories were divided in ten groups.

Winners

Performance by Clubs

Under-17 level

The Youth League or the Hero U-17 Youth Cup was previously known as I-League U18, I-League U19 and I-League U20. is the top level of youth

football in India Association football is one of the most popular sports in India. The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the first FIFA event the country hosted. It was called the most successful FIFA U-17 World Cup ever, with a record-breaking attendance of 1,347,133 ...

. It is contested between the under-17 sides of The

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

teams,

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

teams, as well as other youth teams. The most successful team currently is

AIFF Elite Academy The AIFF Elite Academy was the elite academy of the regional AIFF affiliated football academies. Founded on 1 February 2013, the Elite Academy started as a youth development project between the AIFF and FIFA. The Elite Academy is the final front ...

, who won three titles. Minerva Punjab are the last known champions. On 7 December 2018 AIFF decided to change its name to Hero Elite League. Dream Sports Championship is another competition for U17 players organized by Dream Sports India.

Under-15 level (9-a-side)

Junior League or AIFF Junior League is the under-15 level of youth

Under-13 level (9-a-side)

Sub-Junior League or Hero Sub-Junior League is the under-13 level of youth

References

External links

Hero Elite League
{{Football in India Indian Youth League 2011 establishments in India Sports leagues established in 2011 Youth football leagues Youth football in India Football leagues in India Sports leagues in India Professional sports leagues in India