Next Gen Cup 2024: East Bengal, Punjab FC to participate along with 4 Premier League Clubs, Dates Confirmed

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The Next Generation Cup is set to return this summer, bringing together teams from England, India, and South Africa for an exciting tournament hosted by the Premier League.

Scheduled from 1-4 August, the competition will see India's top young talents from the Indian Super League compete against age-group teams from Premier League Academies and the South African Premier Soccer League.

Format and Venue

The competition will span four match rounds at Aston Villa's Bodymoor Training Ground. Two groups of four clubs will play each other before moving to a final fixture based on table positions. The concluding match will take place at Loughborough University Stadium, where this year's winners will be crowned. Each game will be 11-a-side and last 50 minutes, divided into two halves of 25 minutes each.

Neil Saunders, the Premier League's Director of Football, expressed his excitement about hosting the event again: "The Premier League is once again delighted to be hosting the Next Generation Cup and looks forward to what promises to be another great tournament. The event serves as a fantastic learning experience for the young players both on and off the pitch."

Next Gen Cup 2024 Teams

Four English Premier League academies will participate in the competition - Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.

Along with them, three Indian clubs and one South African club will also take part in it. The Indian clubs were determined through the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL). East Bengal, Muthoot FA and Punjab FC are the three Indian clubs while Stellenbosch FC will represent South Africa.

Several players who have participated in previous editions of the Next Gen Cup have made their Premier League debut in recent seasons. Notable examples include West Ham's George Earthy, Leicester City's Michael Golding, and Sydie Peck, who played for Arsenal but made his first team start for Sheffield United.