The 2016–17 Professional U18 Development League was the fifth season of the Professional Development League system for youth football.
| Competition: | U18 Premier League |
| Pixels: | 156 |
| Season: | 2016–17 |
| Winners: | Chelsea U18s (1st Title) |
| League Topscorer: | Martell Taylor-Crossdale (21 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Chelsea U18s 13–0 Brighton & Hove Albion U18s (18 February 2017) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Swansea City U18s 0–7 Reading U18s (11 February 2017) |
| Highest Scoring: | Chelsea U18s 13–0 Brighton & Hove Albion U18s (18 February 2017) |
| Matches: | 348 |
| Total Goals: | 1235 |
| Longest Wins: | 8 Matches – Manchester City U18s (10 December 2016 – 18 February 2017) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 21 Matches – Manchester City U18s (13 August 2016 – 18 February 2017) |
| Longest Winless: | 20 Matches – Leicester City U18s (10 September 2016 – 11 March 2017) |
| Longest Losses: | 6 Matches – Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s (16 November 2016 – 24 January 2017) Sunderland U18s (13 August 2016 – 23 September 2016) Swansea City U18s (28 January 2017 – 1 March 2017) |
| Nextseason: | 2017–18 |
The league was split into two regional divisions, north and south. After playing each team in their own division twice, the league was split into a second league stage consisting of three further divisions. The winning team of Group A in the second league stage became the overall champion and qualified for the UEFA Youth League for the 2017–18 season.
| Competition: | U18 Professional Development League |
| Season: | 2016–17 |
| League Topscorer: | Jordan Ponticelli (27 goals) |
| Biggest Away Win: | |
| Matches: | 283 |
| Matches Footnote: | (280 RS, 3 PO) |
| Total Goals: | 1048 |
| Total Goals Footnote: | (1,041 RS, 7 PO) |
| Longest Wins: | 11 Matches – Coventry City U18s (3 December 2016 – 18 March 2017) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 15 Matches – Sheffield United U18s (10 December 2016 – 10 May 2017) |
| Longest Losses: | 6 Matches – Bristol City U18s (5 November 2016 – 10 December 2016) Cardiff City U18s (25 February 2017 – 1 April 2017) |
| Longest Winless: | 15 Matches – Birmingham City U18s (3 September 2016 – 7 January 2017) |
| Nextseason: | 2017–18 |
The Professional U18 Development League 2, also known as U18 PDL-2, was split into two regional divisions.
Teams played each team in their own division twice, and each team in the other division once, for a total of 28 games each.
At the end of the season, the teams finishing in the top two positions of both divisions met in the knockout stage to determine the overall league champion. Brentford withdrew from the competition after last year playing 4 seasons in the League.
Source - Professional Development League North results
Source - Professional Development League South results
Semi-finals----Final
| Competition: | Football League Youth Alliance |
| Pixels: | 200 |
| Season: | 2016–17 |
| Matches: | 698 |
| Total Goals: | 2485 |
| Nextseason: | 2017–18 |
League 3 is run by the Football League under the auspices of the Football League Youth Alliance. 50 teams once again competed this season. Burnley would be promoted to Category 2 Academy status after this season.
The teams in the Southeast and Southwest Divisions played another ten games to determine the champions of Merit League One and Merit League Two.