The Premier League International Cup has been a useful platform for the club's Under-21s but qualification for next season's tournament is now dependent on the wishes of others
Everton are now reliant on the decisions of others over whether the club’s academy will play in a prestigious European competition next season.
The club’s Under-21s drew with Birmingham City on Friday, defender Luca Davis grabbing a late equaliser in the penultimate game of the Premier League 2 campaign.
It was a result that confirmed Everton would not automatically qualify for the Premier League International Cup next season, a tournament that has provided solid experience for the club’s youngsters in recent years. They could still find a route into that tournament, but only if others drop out.
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The point in the Midlands left Everton U21s 18th in the table with just one game to play, against Ipswich Town at Goodison Park later this month. The two teams directly above them, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, are still to face each other, meaning it is now impossible for Everton to finish inside the top 16 of the 29-team league.
That is significant because it means Everton will not be part of the top tier play-off between the top 16, currently led by Chelsea and Manchester United. They are instead set to enter a play off with sides that finished from 17-24 in Premier League 2 and the top eight of the second tier of academy football, the Professional Development League. There is no threat of relegation for the Blues.
But perhaps a more significant consequence of falling outside the top 16 is that Everton have not qualified for the Premier League International Cup. The tournament, which also features 16 European sides that are invited to face the English teams, has been a valuable platform for the Blues’ young stars, as explained by Tait after his side was knocked out in the later stages of this season’s tournament by Borussia Dortmund. He told the ECHO last month: “We’d love to be a part of it next season. There’s been some really good learning for the players all the way through, it’s just a shame we haven’t got another top-level game now in the semi-finals, but it’s been a fantastic tournament.”
This season the competition provided memorable nights, including at Goodison Park, in which Tait’s side earned impressive wins over the academy teams of RB Leipzig, Monaco and PSV Eindhoven. They lost in the group stage to the team that represented Real Madrid but, having still won that group, reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Dortmund.
Not participating in the tournament would come as a blow to Everton at a time when the club is looking to overhaul the academy to provide a more effective pathway into the first team.
There does, however, remain a chance that Everton could still play in next season’s Premier League International Cup - though it is out of the club’s hands. Should any team in the top 16 of Premier League 2 decline the opportunity to compete, the next-highest placed team is then offered their slot.
This season, Arsenal and Liverpool chose not to enter the competition, meaning the teams that finished 17th and 18th last season, Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion, were able to take their places. If Villa were to defeat Middlesbrough then Everton could still finish 17th - though six other teams could still finish above Everton depending on results in the final matches of the standard league season.
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