The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern division.
The league started out in 1999, replacing The Central League in the north and The Football Combination in the south as the top level of reserve-team football, although those competitions continued for lower-level teams.
From the 2006–07 edition until its disbandment, the league was only open to sides whose senior teams were one of the 20 members of the Premier League. As a result, a senior team's relegation from the Premier League would mean relegation for the reserve team from the Premier Reserve League and replacement by the reserve team of the promoted team from the Championship.
Tottenham Hotspur decided against entering a side for the 2009–10 Premier Reserve League season and other teams followed suit in the 2 following seasons. The final season was the 2011-12 season. At the end of that season, it was replaced by an Under-21 competition, called the Professional Development League 1.
Famous quotes containing the words reserve and/or league:
“We must reserve a back shop all our own, entirely free, in which to establish our real liberty and our principal retreat and solitude.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward the Light Brigade!”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)