The draw for the group stages of the EFL Trophy has been made. 16 Premiership and Championship teams with Category 1 status Academies also get to enter their B team (under 23s). There are 8 groups and the top 2 teams in each will progress to the next round.
The trophy has not attracted a sponsor yet, and the Football League have not said what is happening with sponsorship.
Exeter have been drawn in a group with league 1 sides Oxford United and Swindon Town. Chelsea’s B team have also been drawn in that group. It’s expected that the home game that Chelsea have to play will be at Stamford Bridge, but they will also play two of their games away.
The Football League have not clarified whether the League 1 and 2 teams have to feature prominently first team players as in previous seasons.
The fixtures will be released in due course. Games are due to be played:-
w/c 29th August
w/c 3rd October
w/c 7th November
The full draw is as follows:-
Southern Group A | Northern Group A | |
Reading | Everton | |
Bristol Rovers | Bolton Wanderers | |
Portsmouth | Cheltenham Town | |
Yeovil Town | Blackpool | |
Southern Group B | Northern Group B | |
Swansea City | Wolverhampton Wanderers | |
AFC Wimbledon | Chesterfield | |
Newport County | Crewe Alexandra | |
Plymouth Argyle | Accrington Stanley | |
Southern Group C | Northern Group C | |
Chelsea | Stoke City | |
Swindon Town | Bradford City | |
Exeter City | Morecambe | |
Oxford United | Bury | |
Southern Group D | Northern Group D | |
West Ham United | Blackburn Rovers | |
Coventry City | Fleetwood Town | |
Wycombe Wanderers | Carlisle United | |
Northampton Town | Oldham Athletic | |
Southern Group E | Northern Group E | |
Southampton | Derby County | |
Charlton Athletic | Port Vale | |
Colchester United | Doncaster Rovers | |
Crawley Town | Mansfield Town | |
Southern Group F | Northern Group F | |
Norwich City | Sunderland | |
Peterborough United | Rochdale | |
Barnet | Hartlepool | |
Milton Keynes Dons | Notts County | |
Southern Group G | Northern Group G | |
Brighton & Hove Albion | Middlesbrough | |
Southend United | Scunthorpe United | |
Stevenage | Cambridge United | |
Leyton Orient | Shrewsbury Town | |
Southern Group H | Northern Group H | |
West Bromwich Albion | Leicester City | |
Millwall | Sheffield United | |
Luton Town | Grimsby Town | |
Gillingham | Walsall |