AFC Bournemouth’s Historic PL2 Fixtures Revealed as Cherries Enter New Era

AFC Bournemouth will compete in Premier League 2 for the very first time in the 2026/27 season, marking another major milestone in the development of the club’s academy.

The Cherries’ entry into the competition follows the successful status upgrade of the club’s Performance Centre, which has enabled Bournemouth to achieve Category One Academy status. That status is a significant investment in the club’s youth structure and now gives Bournemouth’s young players the opportunity to test themselves against some of the best academies in English football on a regular basis.

Bournemouth and Brentford are the two new additions to Premier League 2 for 2026/27, taking the total number of participating clubs to 31.

The 31 clubs in the PL2 will compete in a single league during the regular season, with each side playing 20 matches across 20 Matchweeks.

Every club will play 10 matches at home and 10 away, with the fixture list determined through a draw based on three seeded groups.

The seedings are calculated using clubs' performances over the previous three seasons:

Each team will face between six and eight clubs from each of the three seeded groups, producing a total of 20 regular-season fixtures.

As in traditional league football, teams will receive three points for a win and one for a draw, with all results contributing to a single 31-team table.

Once the 20 Matchweeks have been completed, the top 16 teams will advance to the elimination play-offs, with the remaining sides seeing their PL2 campaign come to an end.

The introduction of Bournemouth into Premier League 2 is about more than simply adding another set of fixtures to the club's calendar.

For the first time, the Cherries' academy will be competing in the same league environment as many of the country's leading Category One academies.

For players hoping to break into the first team at Vitality Stadium, the 2026/27 campaign therefore represents an important opportunity to gain experience against some of the strongest young players in the country.

Since the 2023/24 season, Premier League 2 has operated as a single division exclusively featuring clubs with Category One academies. The competition initially consisted of 26 clubs before expanding to 29 in 2025/26 following the addition of Birmingham City, Burnley and Ipswich Town.

Now, with Bournemouth and Brentford joining the competition, 31 clubs will battle it out for the 2026/27 Premier League 2 title.

Bournemouth's historic first PL2 campaign will begin with a home meeting with Chelsea U21 before the Cherries take on a mixture of some of the country's leading academy sides throughout the season, including Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.