New Delhi: Aston Villa FC and Punjab FC will commence the fifth edition of Next Generation Cup 2024 at the Aston Villa FC Training Ground in Tamworth, UK, on August 1st. Three teams from India and one from South Africa will soon fly to the UK, and Tamworth will be hosting the competition this year.
Aston Villa FC Training Ground facility is renowned for featuring eight football fields and other updated amenities. The competition will take place from August 1 to August 4, and the finals will hosted at Loughborough University. Apart from Punjab FC, East Bengal and Muthoot FA are the other two Indian football clubs from India participating in the tournament. All games will be 11-a-side and 50 minutes long, played with halves of 25 minutes. The tournament runs over a four-match round, with two groups of four teams will play each other before progressing to the final.
Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Everton and Spurs will compete against teams from India and South Africa in the Next Generation Cup in August 🏆
Learn more about the competition and the Premier League’s commitment to developing the game around the world ➡️ https://t.co/Chx0CTIvXB pic.twitter.com/Syojjup3KM
— PL Youth (@PLYouth) July 10, 2024
The first game will see Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) champions Punjab FC take on the hosts Aston Villa at 2:30 om IST. At the same time second game will feature Everton in a face off with Muthoot FA, the third-placed team of the RFDL, on the other pitch. Muthoot FA had been quite impressive during RFDL.
The third game of the evening will be between Crystal Palace and East Bengal FC, the runners-up of the RFDL competition, at 7:30 pm IST. The other pitch will witness Stellenbosch FC, the club from South Africa, take on Tottenham Hotspur FC. Stellenbosch FC had previously won the Midlands group title in the 2022 Next Generation Cup. On the other hand, Spurs had suffered a humiliating defeat in the same year in the London group finals, losing 8-0 to West Ham United. The defeat resulted in the Spurs losing out on an opportunity of making an appearance in the 2023 Next Generation Cup, and they will be hopeful of taking back the trophy home this season.
The second day of the tournament will feature Muthoot FA and Crystal Palace in the 2:30 pm IST time frame, with facility hosts Aston Villa matchup against Stellenbosch FC on the other field at the same time. The 7:30 pm IST games will see East Bengal giving their best effort against Everton. The second in the same timeframe features Tottenham Hotspur facing off with Punjab FC.
The final day of the group-stage game will start with Tottenham Hotspur and Muthoot FA at 7 pm IST, playing their best game to finish at the top of the points table. Crystal Palace and Stellenbosch FC will play at 7:30 pm IST as will Tottenham Hotspur and Muthoot FA on the other pitch. The last two games will be at 10:30 pm IST, which will see Aston Villa take on East Bengal FC and Everton play Punjab FC on the other pitch. The final day of the tournament will decide the team’s position at the points table.
During the group stages, Premier League sides and Indian team won’t play against team from their own country in order to provide young players with more development and exposure to the international standards. Every team will play a game each day of the group stage.
The last day of the tournament will see the bottom two teams fight for the seventh finish at 2:30pm IST alongside fifth and sixth team fighting for the fifth finish. The next game will be for the third finish of the tournament, with the game being held at 3:30 pm IST. The first and second-placed will play in the final to lift the 2024 Next Generation Cup.
This is a good ground for players as the Next Generation Cup has produced good players like Ethan Wheatley, Nathan Fraser and George Earthy, who have all played in the Premier League.
The fifth edition Next Generation Cup will feature eight teams, with three clubs being from India, four teams from the English Premier League and one team from South Africa. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
