English national football team (U-21 men)

This article is about the England national football team (U-21 men) . For the senior national team, see English national football team .

England

Nickname (s)	"Young Lions" (young lions)
Association	The Football Association
confederacy	UEFA
Head coach	Aidy Boothroyd
Assistant coach	Steve Holland Brian Eastick
Record scorer	Francis Jeffers , Alan Shearer (13)
Record player	James Milner (46)
FIFA code	CLOSELY
home Away
statistics
First international England 0-0 Wales ( Wolverhampton , England ; 15 December 1976)
Biggest win England 9-0 San Marino ( Shrewsbury , England ; November 19, 2013)
Biggest defeat Germany 4-0 England ( Malmö , Sweden ; June 29, 2009)
Successes in tournaments
European Championship
Participation in the finals	12 ( first : 1978 )
Best results	European champion 1982 , 1984
(As of September 3, 2013)

The England U-21 national soccer team is a selection team of English soccer players. It is subordinate to The Football Association , the English football association, and represents it at the U-21 level, in friendly matches against the national teams of other national associations, but also at the European championship of the European continental association UEFA and the FIFA World Cup. Eligible to play are players who have not yet reached the age of 21. In tournaments, the age at the first qualifying game is decisive.

history

The English U-21 was founded in 1976. The reason for this was the reorganization and regulation of UEFA this year, which lowered the age limit from 23 to 21. Before that there was already a U-23, in which the origins of today's U-21 selection lie.

Their first game completed the selection on December 15, 1976 against the neighbor from Wales . In Molineux Stadium of Wolverhampton they separated 0: 0 draw.

The English team qualified for the U-21 European Football Championship in Switzerland in 2002 . However, she was eliminated from the tournament after the preliminary round. After defeating hosts Switzerland 2-1 with goals from Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch in the first game , the games against Italy and Portugal were lost 1: 2 and 1: 3 respectively. Thus, the team was the last in Group A to miss the quarter-finals.

For the qualification for the European Championship 2006 England was drawn into group 6 with Germany , Austria , Poland , Wales and Azerbaijan . Six wins were compared to three draws and one defeat. In addition, a goal difference of 21: 7 was achieved. After ten games, this balance was enough for 2nd place. As one of the best runners-up, the team made it into the play-off round. Against the top of the table from Germany, both games ended in a draw. The only defeat was against Austria on the penultimate matchday with a 1: 2 on home soil. In the relegation game there was a meeting with France . After the first leg ended 1: 1, the island football lost the second comparison with 1: 2.

Because after the EM 2006 the next European Championship should already be full in 2007 , and not every two years as usual. Was this qualification played out in a fast-track process. It started with a preliminary round, followed by a short group stage with three teams and the play-off games. England needed to get into the group stage first. In group 8, Moldova and Switzerland were drawn. There was only one game against each team, so the teams had one away and one home rights. In the first game, the English disappointed and did not get beyond a 2-2 win against Moldova. Since they lost against Switzerland, it was the duty of the English to win against Switzerland in the last game of this group. They finally prevailed 3-2 and secured first place. In the relegation there was another encounter with the DFB. On November 6, 2006, the first comparison was made by a Leighton Baines hit to the Young Lions . The team also decided the second game, four days later , with a 2-0 win , thanks to a later goal from Theo Walcott .

In the final round, the English had to compete in Group B with Serbia , Italy and the Czech Republic . With two draws, the team started the competition rather unhappy. In order to stay in the tournament, Serbia had to be won on the last day of the match, which had already qualified. Leroy Lita and Matt Derbyshire scored the important goals and secured a place in the semi-finals. The host Netherlands was the next opponent there. After Leroy Lita scored the 1-0 for England in the 39th minute, Maceo Rigters only leveled the game in the 89th minute. Extra time didn't bring a winner, so the penalty shoot-out had to decide. After 12:12 Matt Derbyshire missed from the point of view of the English, but Daniël de Ridder did not keep his nerve either and the winner had to be determined further. After Anton Ferdinand could not score as the third shooter in a row, Maceo Rigters decided the game in favor of Jong Oranje .

England also qualified for the 2013 U-21 European Football Championship in Israel . The squad for the EM included a number of players from the Premier League , but players eligible to play such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain , Danny Welbeck and Kyle Walker were not nominated due to their role in the senior national team , Raheem Sterling and Callum McManaman fell due to injuries out. With three defeats, the team was eliminated in the preliminary round, after which the contract with coach Stuart Pearce was not extended. Instead, Gareth Southgate was introduced as the new coach on August 22, 2013.

Trivia

The record number of viewers in front of which the U-21 selection played so far was set on March 24, 2007. Back then, Italy was a guest at the new Wembley Stadium when the teams played in front of 60,000 visitors. This also represents the worldwide record number of a U-21 national team in history.

Participation in European championships

Participation in U-21 European Championships

1978	Semifinals
1980	Semifinals
1982	winner
1984	winner
1986	Semifinals
1988	Semifinals
1990	not qualified
1992	not qualified
1994 in France	not qualified
1996 in Spain	not qualified
1998 in Romania	not qualified
2000 in Slovakia	Preliminary round
2002 in Switzerland	Preliminary round
2004 in Germany	not qualified
2006 in Portugal	not qualified
2007 in the Netherlands	Semifinals
2009 in Sweden	final
2011 in Denmark	Preliminary round
2013 in Israel	Preliminary round
2015 in the Czech Republic	Preliminary round
2017 in Poland	Semifinals

Note : Between 1978 and 1992, the final round of a U-21 European Championship was not played in one country, but instead was played back and forth in the respective participating nations.

Previous trainers

•  Dave Sexton (1977-1990)
•  Lawrie McMenemy (1990-1993)
• Dave Sexton (1994-1996)
•  Peter Taylor (1996-1999)
•  Peter Reid (1999)
•  Howard Wilkinson (1999-2001)
•  David Platt (2001-2004)
• Peter Taylor (2004-2007)
•  Stuart Pearce (2007-2013)
•  Gareth Southgate (2013-2017)
•  Aidy Boothroyd (2017-present)

The so far most successful coach of the Young Lions was Dave Sexton , who also coached the Premier League clubs Manchester United (1977-1981) and Coventry City (1981-1983) while looking after the U-21s . In 1990 he passed his position on to Lawrie McMenemy , but returned again for three years as a junior coach. His second successor was Peter Taylor . Although the team did not make it to a title, he achieved a remarkable record with her. For a short time, the team was looked after by Peter Reid , who passed his position on to Howard Wilkinson after less than a year . He only managed four wins in ten competitive games and then had to vacate his place for David Platt . Platt had only a few successes and was again replaced by Tayler. Since he was in contact with Crystal Palace at the time and also worked for them, Steve McClaren , the then senior national coach, decided to replace him with a full-time coach. On February 1, 2007, Stuart Pearce was introduced as head coach, although he only worked part-time for the U-21s as he was still employed by Manchester City . He was assisted by Nigel Pearson , assistant coach at Newcastle United . On May 14, 2007, Pearce was fired as Manchester City team manager. Two months later, on July 19, he was named full-time head coach of the junior selection. He headed this for six years and was then inherited by Gareth Southgate , who last coached Middlesbrough FC in 2009 .

Current

International matches

The matches of the last twelve months as well as future international matches are listed. The results are given from an English perspective.

date	Venue	opponent	Type of game	Result	Goal scorers
19th May 2014	Swansea	Wales	European Championship qualification 2015	3: 1 (2: 1)	1: 0 Redmond (18th), 1: 1 Edwards (20th), 2: 1 Redmond (38th), 3: 1 Berahino (90th + 2)
May 22, 2014	Toulon	Qatar	Tournament of Toulon	3: 0 (1: 0)	1: 0 Obita (30th), 2: 0 Forster-Caskey (54th), 3: 0 Cousins (80th + 4)
May 26, 2014	Saint-Raphaël	Brazil	Tournament of Toulon	1: 2 (0: 1)	0: 1 Alisson (8th), 0: 2 Lucas Silva (47th), 1: 2 Ward-Prowse (72nd)
May 28, 2014	Aubagne	South Korea	Tournament of Toulon	1: 1 (1: 0)	1: 0 Woodrow (3rd), 1: 1 Lee (54th)
May 30, 2014	Toulon	Colombia	Tournament of Toulon	1: 1 (1: 0)	1: 0 Woodrow (15th), 1: 1 Rodríguez (68.)
0June 1, 2014	Avignon	Portugal	Tournament of Toulon	0: 1 (0: 0)	0: 1 Horta (56th)
05th Sep 2014	Kaunas	Lithuania	European Championship qualification 2015	1: 0 (0: 0)	1-0 Kane (81st)
0Sep 9 2014	Tiraspol	Moldova	European Championship qualification 2015	3: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Berahino (16th), 2-0 Berahino (51st), 3-0 Kane (84th)
Oct 10, 2014	Wolverhampton	Croatia	EM 2015, qualification playoff	2: 1 (0: 1)	0: 1 Livaja (13th), 1: 1 Kane (58th), 2: 1 Berahino (85th)
Oct 14, 2014	Vinkovci	Croatia	EM 2015, qualification playoff	2: 1 (1: 1)	1: 0 Moore (9th), 1: 1 Livaja (38th), 2: 1 Hughes (73rd)
Nov 13, 2014	Burnley	Portugal	Friendly match	3: 1 (2: 0)	1: 0 Ings (6th), 2: 0 Jenkinson (44th), 2: 1 Silva (48th), 3: 0 Ings (58th)
Nov 17, 2014	Brest	France	Friendly match	2: 3 (2: 2)	1-0 Kane (20th), 2-0 Kane (22nd), 2: 1 Sanogo (29th), 2: 2 Sanogo (44th), 2: 3 Coman (73rd)
27 Mar 2015	Prague	Czech Republic	Friendly match	1: 0 (0: 0)	1-0 Carroll (48th)
30th Mar 2015	Middlesbrough	Germany	Friendly match	3: 2 (1: 1)	0: 1 P. Hofmann (15), 1: 1 Lingard (34.), 1: 2 P. Hofmann (50.), 2: 2 Redmond (79.), 3: 2 Ward-Prowse (82.)
June 18, 2015	Uherské Hradiště	Portugal	U-21 European Football Championship
June 21, 2015	Olomouc	Sweden	U-21 European Football Championship
June 24, 2015	Olomouc	Italy	U-21 European Football Championship

Current squad

The following players were nominated for the games against the Czech Republic on March 27, 2015 and against Germany on March 30, 2015. Players in italics have already been used in the senior national team.

Surname	society	Date of birth	Calls	Gates
goalkeeper
Jonathan Bond	Watford FC	May 19, 1993	6th	0
Marcus Bettinelli	Fulham FC	May 24, 1992	1	0
defender
Michael Keane	Burnley FC	Jan. 11, 1993	19th	3
Liam Moore	Brentford FC	Jan. 31, 1993	12	1
Luke Garbutt	Everton FC	May 21, 1993	11	0
Carl Jenkinson	West Ham United	0Feb 8, 1992	10	2
Ben Gibson	Middlesbrough FC	Jan 15, 1993	10	0
John Stones	Everton FC	May 28, 1994	10	0
Eric Dier	Tottenham Hotspur	Jan 15, 1994	9	0
Calum Chambers	Arsenal FC	Jan. 20, 1995	2	0
Matt Targett	Southampton FC	Sep 18 1995	1	0
midfield
Nathan Redmond	Norwich City	06th Mar 1994	22nd	5
James Ward-Prowse	Southampton FC	0Nov 1, 1994	15th	4th
Tom Carroll	Swansea City	May 28, 1992	14th	2
Will Hughes	Derby County	Apr 17, 1995	14th	2
Jake Forster-Caskey	Brighton & Hove Albion	Apr 25, 1994	13	1
Jesse Lingard	Derby County	Dec 15, 1992	7th	1
Alex Pritchard	Brentford FC	0May 3, 1993	6th	0
striker
Danny Ings	Burnley FC	July 23, 1992	9	4th
Cauley Woodrow	Fulham FC	0Dec 2, 1994	6th	2

Record player

Most international matches

space	player	At that time club / clubs	U-21 games
1	James Milner	Leeds United , Newcastle United , Aston Villa	46
2	Tom Huddlestone Fabrice Muamba	Derby County , Tottenham Hotspur Birmingham City , Bolton Wanderers	33 33
4th	Michael Mancienne	Chelsea FC , Hamburger SV	30th
5	Scott Carson Steven Taylor Danny Rose	Leeds United , Liverpool Newcastle United Tottenham Hotspur	29
8th	Jamie Carragher Gareth Barry Jordan Henderson Jack Butland	Liverpool Aston Villa Sunderland , Liverpool Birmingham City , Stoke City	27

Most international goals

space	player	At that time club / clubs	U-21 goals
1	Alan Shearer Francis Jeffers	Southampton FC Everton FC , Arsenal FC	13
3	Saido Berahino	West Bromwich Albion	10
4th	Frank Lampard Darren Bent James Milner	West Ham United Ipswich Town , Charlton Athletic Leeds United , Newcastle United , Aston Villa	9
7th	Harry Kane Mark Hateley Carl Cort	Tottenham Hotspur Coventry City , Portsmouth FC Wimbledon	8th
10	Mark Robins Shola Ameobi Jermain Defoe	Manchester United Newcastle United West Ham United	7th

Web links

• Homepage of England's U-21s
• Profile on weltfussball.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stuart Pearce and England face tough job at Uefa Under-21 Championship , Observer article from June 1, 2013
2. ↑ fifa.com: U-21 coach Pearce has to take his hat
3. ^ "Gareth Southgate named England Under-21 boss" (BBC Sport)
4. ↑ "Pazzini opens in Wembley" (kicker.de)
5. ↑ England U21s squad named for Czech Republic and Germany . The Football Association. Retrieved March 19, 2015.