NextGen Series
| NextGen Series | |
 |
|
| Full name | Next Generation Series |
| First edition | 2011/12 |
| Teams | 16 (2011/12) 24 (2012/13) |
| Game mode |
Round tournament (4 or 6 groups of 4 teams each) Knockout system (from the round of 16) |
| Title holder |
 Aston Villa (1st title)
|
| Record scorer |
 Viktor Fischer (11 goals)
|
| Website | www.nextgenseries.com |
The NextGen Series or Next Generation Series was a soccer club competition for male soccer players under the age of 19 that was held in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons . The tournament was initiated by the television producer Justin Andrews and the sporting director of Brentford FC , Mark Warburton . The competition was designed to give young players the opportunity to gain international experience at club level. The competition is considered the forerunner of the UEFA Youth League .
Junior teams from top European clubs, which are characterized by the high quality of their youth work, were eligible to start. The competition was spread over the entire season with home and return matches, similar to the European club competitions. As in all other international tournaments, the rules of the International Football Association Board were played . At the first event in the 2011/12 season, sixteen teams were still at the start in four groups, which were determined by the participants in the quarter-finals. In 2012/13 this field of participants, with the exception of FC Basel, was increased by nine more teams to 24 teams, which now played off the participants in the round of 16 in six groups.
In the media, the competition was mainly present through live broadcasts of selected games on the sports broadcaster Eurosport , which owned the Europe-wide broadcasting rights.
For the 2013/14 season, UEFA decided to introduce a UEFA Youth League for which the U-19 teams of the 32 clubs participating in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League qualify. The NextGen Series will no longer be held this season.
The tournaments at a glance
| year | final | 3rd place match | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| winner | Result | finalist | 3rd place | Result | 4th Place | |
| 2011/12 |  Inter Milan |
1: 1, 5: 3 i. E. |
 Ajax Amsterdam
|
Liverpool FC
|
2-0 |
 Olympique Marseille
|
| 2012/13 | Aston Villa |
2-0 |
Chelsea FC
|
 Sporting Lisbon
|
3: 1 |
Arsenal FC
|
Individual evidence
- ↑ Terms & Conditions. (No longer available online.) In: nextgenseries.com. NextGen Series, archived from the original on September 22, 2012 ; accessed on November 20, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ What is NextGen? (No longer available online.) In: nextgenseries.com. NextGen Series, archived from the original on January 24, 2014 ; accessed on November 20, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Introduction of the UEFA Youth League. In: uefa.com. UEFA , December 7, 2012, accessed November 20, 2013 .
- ↑ International experience under heavy loads. In: dosb.de. German Olympic Sports Confederation , accessed on November 20, 2013 .
