I'm not sure how the clubs were allocated, but we've been placed in Division 2 of the new Premier League 2 U23 set-up. Clubs are allowed to field a goalkeeper + up to 3 outfield players who are over 23, but they must have been born on or after 1/1/1993. There are 12 teams in each league with a 2-up, 2-down promotion/relegation system between the 2 leagues (using play-offs for the second promotion spot). The 2 divisions are comprised as follows:
Division 1: Arsenal, Chelsea, Derby County, Everton, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Reading, Southampton, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur
Division 2: Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Swansea City, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Each club plays all of the others home and away, so there will be 22 league games. There are also new Premier League Cup and Premier League International Cup (which has a Champions League format) competitions, although only 12 of the U23 teams can take part in the latter, which won't include us at present. As people will be aware, the U23 teams from 16 clubs are now also able to take part in the Football League Trophy. As people will know, we've already accepted that invitation, although a number of Prem clubs have declined. I'm sure there will be a pretty close correlation between those clubs who declined the invitation for the Football League Trophy and those who are taking part in the Premier League International Cup!
With the number of competitive games being played by these new U23 teams being greater than the previous U21 set-up, it'll be interesting to see if clubs are less inclined to loan players out to lower league clubs.
Source:
Sky Sports