Norwich City's new era of development football will begin with an under-21 home league fixture against Blackburn Rovers on Monday, August 20 (7pm).

The newly-formed U21 Premier League replaces the former Premier Reserve League on the fixture calendar from this coming campaign as part of the proposed major overhaul of youth football amongst English football's elite, outlined in the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) adopted by the Premier League last season.

City have been drawn in the first of two groups, where they will play the likes of West Ham, West Brom, Reading, Everton, Bolton and Arsenal home and away.

Clubs will be permitted to field three over-age players in their match day line-ups, with a minimum of four home games taking place at Carrow Road. The Canaries have already confirmed the scheduled visits of Everton U21s and Arsenal U21s will take place at Carrow Road.

The top two sides in both groups will progress to an Elite group stage in the New Year, with two spaces also available for third-placed teams.

The remaining clubs will be placed into one of two qualification groups following the initial league fixtures.