The draw for the 2018/19 EFL Trophy took place on Wednesday afternoon and Stoke City’s Under 23 side have been named in Group A of the Northern section of the competition and we now know our opposition at the group stage of the tournament.
"The #CheckatradeTrophy allows young players to play professional football at their earliest opportunity."
Shaun Harvey championed the work of #EFL Clubs in providing first-team chances to their youthful talent across all competitions. 👏 pic.twitter.com/i00VSp08vL
— EFL (@EFL) July 18, 2018
Stoke were, of course, one of the 16 invited Category 1 clubs from the Premier League and the Championship who take their place in the competition for the coming campaign.
The draw was conducted by former competition winners Paul Heckingbottom and Gregor Robertson and just like last season the tournament has been physically arranged so that clubs and fans face minimal travelling times to games – the invited Category 1 clubs will also play all of their group games away from home.
Stoke have been drawn in alongside Carlisle United, Morecambe and Sunderland and we certainly face some lengthy trips as we look to put ourselves through to the next round.
Rule changes for the competition this season as the EFL attempt to further quell fan concerns and protests from those at League One and Two level include invited clubs now being able to only field two players over the age of 21 that have made more than 40 senior appearances in their career and League One and Two clubs can now call on players who are out on loan at National League level clubs.
Teams who met each other at the Group Stage last season, and were again drawn together this year, the home club from 2017/18 will play away in 2018/19.
Southampton have been prevented from facing Portsmouth, as have Newcastle and Sunderland.
Dates for the ties will be announced in due course.
Northern Section
Group A:
Carlisle United
Morecambe
Sunderland
Stoke City U23
Group B:
Bury
Fleetwood Town
Rochdale
Leicester City U23
Group C:
Accrington Stanley
Blackpool
Macclesfield Town
West Bromwich Albion U23
Group D:
Crewe Alexandra
Shrewsbury Town
Tranmere Rovers
Manchester City U23
Group E:
Burton Albion
Port Vale
Walsall
Middlesbrough U23
Group F:
Barnsley
Bradford City
Oldham Athletic
Everton U23
Group G:
Doncaster Rovers
Grimsby Town
Notts County
Newcastle United U23
Group H:
Lincoln City
Mansfield Town
Scunthorpe United
Wolves U23
Southern Section
Group A:
Crawley Town
Gillingham
Portsmouth
Tottenham Hotspur U23
Group B:
Cambridge United
Colchester United
Southend United
Southampton U23
Group C:
Newport County
Plymouth Argyle
Swindon Town
Chelsea U23
Group D:
Bristol Rovers
Exeter City
Yeovil Town
West Ham U23
Group E:
Cheltenham Town
Coventry City
Forest Green Rovers
Arsenal U23
Group F:
Northampton Town
Oxford United
Wycombe Wanderers
Fulham U23
Group G:
AFC Wimbledon
Charlton Athletic
Stevenage
Swansea City U23
Group H:
Luton Town
MK Dons
Peterborough United
Brighton U23
