Blackburn Rovers U21

Premier League 2 Division One is where Blackburn's development squad has settled, with the Premier League Cup offering the closest thing to a shop window.

The team plays out of the County Ground in Leyland, on loan from the Lancashire Football Association. Brockhall Village, the club's training base, takes the overflow.

Brentford beat them 2-1 in the Premier League Cup final, and the runners-up medal is still the only line of note next to the age-group side's name in the honours column — no Premier League 2 title, no National League Cup, no Premier League International Cup.

What the academy has produced matters more than what the under-21s have won. Phil Jones and David Raya both came through Blackburn's youth ranks before senior football took them elsewhere.

Burnley sit across the East Lancashire derby line, and Preston North End supply the other local needle. None of that history was made at County Ground level, but it is the same shirt, the same badge, and the same blue and white that the first team wore to three league titles and six FA Cups before this side ever kicked a ball.