Reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but unable to command a place in the team itself as well as young players who need playing time to improve their skills before progressing to the first team. In some countries, reserve or development teams compete in entirely separate competitions from first teams, while some countries allow reserve teams or farm teams to compete in the same league system as their club's first team, although usually in separate divisions.
In association football
A club's reserve team is distinct from its youth team, which consists of players under a certain age and plays in an age-specific league. Youth players may, however, also be included in the reserve team, which usually also includes senior players who are struggling to gain or maintain a regular place in the first team. In England, Argentina and the United States the term reserve is commonly used to describe these teams. In Germany and Austria the terms Amateure or II is used, while B team is used in the Spanish football league system, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Portugal. In Norway, these teams are distinguished by a 2. In the Netherlands, the adjective Jong is commonly used.In England the reserve teams of professional clubs play in completely separate leagues and competitions such as the Professional Development League or the Central League, which feature only reserve teams. At semi-professional and amateur levels, however, reserve teams often feature in the same league system as their parent clubs' first teams and can be promoted through the system, albeit they cannot usually play in the same division as their parent team.
However, in other countries, reserve teams play in the same football league as their senior team and have competed in the domestic cup competitions. In Spain this has seen the reserve team of CD Málaga change identity and play in La Liga while Castilla CF, the reserve team of Real Madrid, reached the Copa del Rey final, qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup and won the Segunda División.
Bulgaria
Since 2015, the Bulgarian Football Union allowed Bulgarian teams to have reserve sides in Bulgarian football league system, obliged to play one level below their main side and also can not compete in the Bulgarian Cup.On 26 May 2023, CSKA 1948 II secured first place in Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football, becoming the first reserve team to become a champion of the league.
Clubs are also allowed have third teams in the league system.
France
In France, the reserve teams of professional clubs playing in Ligue 1, Ligue 2 or National is restricted to play in fourth-tier Championnat National 2 if the club has a youth center or in fifth-tier Championnat National 3 if a team doesn't have a youth center. Reserve teams have not been allowed to play the Coupe de France to serve the non-reserve team's interests.However, if the first team plays or get relegated in the fourth-tiered National 2, the reserve team is restricted to a fifth-tiered level.
If a reserve team finishes first in his National 2 group, the promotion is awarded to the second. Additionally, if a reserve team finishes first in his National 3 group but the club doesn't have a youth center, the promotion is instead awarded to the second.
Some professional or amateurs clubs engage a third or even a fourth team in the French football league system, especially in lower divisions. In some extreme cases, a fifth team can be engaged.
Germany
In Germany, Hertha BSC II, the reserve team of Hertha Berlin, reached the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal final after their first team were eliminated in the Round of 16. They lost the final 1–0 to Bayer Leverkusen. In the German football league system, however, reserve teams are not allowed to be promoted above the 3. Liga and since 2008–09 have not been allowed to play in the cup competition to serve the non-reserve team's interests. In the 2003–04 season, Bayern Munich's reserve team won the Regionalliga Süd, a semi-professional league then in the third tier of German football, finishing nine points clear of the second-placed FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt. Due to the rule which prohibits one club from having two teams in fully professional leagues, the third-placed 1. FC Saarbrücken was promoted to the Second Bundesliga instead.Italy
In 2018, the Italian Football Federation allowed the possibility for Serie A teams to register a reserve Under-23 team in the third-tier Serie C league, with only Juventus taking that opportunity. In 2023, Juventus Next Gen was joined by Atalanta Under-23. In 2024, AC Milan became the third Italian club to form a reserve team, with the creation of Milan Futuro. In 2025 also the Inter Milan Under-23 was created.Japan
From the days of the old Japan Soccer League, Japan allowed reserve teams to play in the main league system. Even today reserve teams of J. League clubs are allowed to compete in the Emperor's Cup.Japan Soccer League reserve teams
These teams were never promoted to the top flight due to their senior squad's presence there.- Toyo Industries/Mazda: Mazda Auto Hiroshima
- Furukawa Electric: Furukawa Electric Chiba
- Yomiuri Soccer Club: Yomiuri S.C. Juniors
- Yanmar Diesel: Yanmar Club
J. League reserve teams today
Most J. League reserve teams these days are in the corresponding regional league. The most successful was JEF United Ichihara Chiba Reserves, who competed in the then national third division, the Japan Football League.Poland
In Poland, football reserve teams are developmental squads fielded by professional clubs and entered into the same open-league pyramid as independent sides. They play regular league matches but cannot compete in the same division as their first team. Until 2020, the regulations of the Polish Football Association required a two-tier gap between the first and reserve sides; this was changed so that now a one-tier difference is sufficient. Reserve teams may be promoted or relegated like any other club, but if their parent club drops into the same division, the reserve team is automatically moved one level down.Norway
In Norway, reserve football teams are permitted to participate at all levels of league football except for the two highest divisions, making the 2. divisjon the highest league they can enter. However, if the first team plays in the second-tiered 1. divisjon, the reserve team is restricted to a fourth-tier league, maintaining a league difference of two. Reserve teams bear the same name as their respective first teams with a "2" attached as a suffix. If a reserve team ends the season in a promotion spot to a league it cannot enter, that promotion is instead awarded to the best following team.Scotland
Scotland has two reserve leagues under the umbrella of the SPFL Reserve League, where 27 of the senior clubs competed in its first year, only for several withdrew to pursue their own programme of fixtures. The predecessor was the SPFL Development League until 2018. It was described as a development league for under-20s, but teams could field up to five over-age players in each game.Reserve teams of the clubs in the Scottish Premiership enter the Scottish Challenge Cup for lower division clubs. Proposals have been made by the bigger clubs to have 'B teams' placed into the Scottish football league system, but as of 2020 these have been rejected.
South Korea
The South-Korean R League serves as a dedicated competition for reserve teams and has been intermittently active since 1990, with several interruptions and format changes throughout its history. In its current form, the league has been played since 2016.Spain
Reserve teams in Spain play in the same league pyramid as their parent club but may not play in the same division. Since 1990 reserve teams are restricted to play in Copa del Rey.Segunda División
In 1951–52 CD Mestalla, the reserve team of Valencia CF, won the Segunda División promotion play-off but were denied promotion because their senior team was already in the Primera División. The following season CD España Industrial, the reserve team of FC Barcelona, also finished as runners-up in the same play-off but were similarly denied. However, after winning another promotion play-off in 1956, España Industrial separated from FC Barcelona and were renamed CD Condal. The club were now able to be promoted to the Primera División. However, they survived only one season and were relegated in 1957. In 1968 the club rejoined the FC Barcelona family as the reserve team and eventually evolved into FC Barcelona B.In 1983–84 Castilla CF and Bilbao Athletic, the reserve teams of Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao respectively, finished as winners and runners-up of the Segunda División. Castilla, Bilbao Athletic and Atlético Madrid B finished third in 1987–88, 1989–90 and 1998–99 respectively. In normal circumstances, these teams would have all been promoted except for the fact that their senior team was already in the Primera División.