Manchester City is represented at Reserve level for football by the Elite Development Squad, also referred to as just the Elite Squad, or EDS, a predominantly 'Under-23' side that replaced the previous (more senior) Reserve team in a move to focus on youth development post-academy. The club is represented at the 'Under-18' level by the Manchester City Academy team.
The Elite Development Squad from season 2012–13 plays in the Under 21 Premier League and previously played in the Premier Reserve League North. Starting with the 2011–12 season, the EDS competed in the NextGen Series competition, a Champions League format tournament only open to a select group of 'Under-19' teams located in western Europe.
The NextGen Series organisers invited the 16 teams competing in the inaugural season of this new competition based on which clubs were considered to have the best academies in Europe.
The EDS will continue to play fixtures in both the Manchester Senior Cup and Lancashire Senior Cup plus several other matches and tournaments such as the Central League Cup.
Manchester City have fielded a reserve team since 1892, when the reserves played in the Lancashire Combination. The reserves were champions of the Lancashire Combination in 1901–02.
The club left the Lancashire Combination in 1911 to join the Central League upon its formation. The City reserve team then played in the Central League until 2000, winning it on three occasions in the 1977–78, 1986–87 and 1999–2000 seasons. In 2006 the club re-entered the Central League – now the Pontin's League (West) – but this time in order to provide games for the 'Under-17' age group of players.
Home ground[]
The EDS currently play all of their home fixtures at the CFA Academy stadium in Manchester.
Squad numbers[]
The squad numbers depicted for the EDS players in this article are the MCFC first team squad numbers – which means that these are the shirt numbers that the EDS players will wear if and when team-sheeted to play for the MCFC first team in either a friendly or competitive game. The MCFC official first team squad consists of about 40 players, which is why the EDS players' squad numbers start in the region of the middle forties. For the Premier League 2, players use the 1–11 numbering system whilst squad numbers (including player names) are used for the EFL Trophy.
The MCFC first team squad numbers are normally assigned and published in late July during the close season and they remain constant for the entire duration of the upcoming season (meaning that a squad number that is assigned to a player in the close season who subsequently wears that number in a competitive match, but who later leaves the club during that same season, will not be assigned to another player during the remainder of that season).
Khaldoon Al Mubarak
Ben Wilkinson
Asa Hartford
Kenny Jackett
Attilio Lombardo
Patrick Vieira
