The final groups for Round One of the 2017/18 Checkatrade Trophy have today been confirmed at a media briefing in Central London.
World Cup winning England Under-20s Head Coach Paul Simpson alongside former Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United midfielder David Prutton picked out the 16 invited under-21 teams who were drawn into the Northern and Southern sections of the competition.
This season the groups in the Checkatrade Trophy have been arranged so that EFL Clubs and their fans face the minimum overall travelling time to matches, whilst the Premier League and Championship’s invited teams will play all their games away from home.
Newcomers to the competition Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have been placed in Northern and Southern Groups F respectively, with the champions Chelsea being asked to make trips to Yeovil Town, Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle.
Newcastle under-21s make their debut in the Trophy with difficult games at Port Vale, Oldham Athletic and Crewe Alexandra, whilst fellow new entrants Fulham have been drawn into Southern Group A.
Last season’s winners of the competition Coventry City will start their defence of the Trophy by trying to negotiate their way out of a group that includes Shrewsbury Town, Walsall and West Brom.
Today’s announcement of the final groups follows a series of other changes being implemented ahead of the competition getting underway next month.
Confirmed groups are as follows:
Northern Groups
Group A Sequence
Carlisle United 1
Fleetwood Town 3
Morecambe 2
Leicester City 4
Group B Sequence
Accrington Stanley 3
Blackpool 2
Wigan Athletic 1
Middlesbrough 4
Group C Sequence
Blackburn Rovers 3
Bury 2
Rochdale 1
Stoke City 4
Group D Sequence
Crewe Alexandra 3
Oldham Athletic 2
Port Vale 1
Newcastle United 4
1 EFL Club – Away/Home/Home
2 EFL Club – Home/Away/Home
3 EFL Club – Home/Home/Away
4 CAT 1 Club – Away/Away/Away
Match 1 – 2v1 / 3v4
Match 2 – 3v2 / 1v4
Match 3 – 1v3 / 2v4
Group E Sequence
Coventry City 2
Shrewsbury Town 1
Walsall 3
West Brom 4
Group F Sequence
Bradford City 1
Chesterfield 2
Rotherham United 3
Manchester City 4
Group G Sequence
Lincoln City 1
Mansfield Town 2
Notts County 3
Everton 4
Group H Sequence
Doncaster Rovers 1
Grimsby Town 2
Scunthorpe United 3
Sunderland 4
Southern Groups
Group A Sequence
Charlton Athletic 1
Crawley Town 2
Portsmouth 3
Fulham 4
Group B Sequence
Colchester United 3
Gillingham 2
Southend United 1
Reading 4
Group C Sequence
Bristol Rovers 1
Swindon Town 3
Wycombe Wanderers 2
West Ham United 4
Group D Sequence
Exeter City 2
Plymouth Argyle 3
Yeovil Town 1
Chelsea 4
1 EFL Club – Away/Home/Home
2 EFL Club – Home/Away/Home
3 EFL Club – Home/Home/Away
4 CAT 1 Club – Away/Away/Away
Match 1 – 2v1 / 3v4
Match 2 – 3v2 / 1v4
Match 3 – 1v3 / 2v4
Group E Sequence
Cheltenham Town 3
Forest Green Rovers 2
Newport County 1
Swansea City 4
Group F Sequence
AFC Wimbledon 1
Barnet 2
Luton Town 3
Tottenham Hotspur 4
Group G Sequence
Oxford United 1
Milton Keynes Dons 3
Stevenage 2
Brighton & Hove Albion 4
Group H Sequence
Cambridge United 1
Northampton Town 2
Peterborough United 3
Southampton 4