One of the earliest posts on Affordable Football concerned the inaugural Premier League Under-21 Cup which the league hoped would be played mainly at a club's main ground and at night in order to provide a taster of competitive action for those players in Under-21 and Development squads who over the past few years have found themselves trying to impress on training pitches and non-league grounds as clubs keep their home turf sacrosanct for the first team.
Our hope was that it would prove a family friendly way for youngsters to experience matches under lights and with some big clubs involved.
As with any competition in its first year there has been some teething troubles. Not all Premier League clubs entered and some games have been moved at short notice but some clubs have embraced it fully and been rewarded.
Exeter City have proved to be the surprise package so far, beating Blackburn Rovers in front of 630 supporters at St James' park in the last round. They are at home again in the quarter-finals against Burnley.
The final line-up will be confirmed after Reading play Watford this week (the winners then take on Wolves) but there also clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea and Newcastle and Manchester City to look forward to as well.
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