The dates for the 2020/21 EFL Trophy are as follows:
• Matchday 1 - September 8th/9th 2020
• Matchday 2 - October 6th/7th 2020
• Matchday 3 - November 10th/11th 2020
• Round of 32 - December 8th/9th 2020
• Round of 16 - January 12th/13th 2021
• Quarter-Finals - February 2nd/3rd 2021
• Semi-Finals - 16/17 February 16th/17th 2021
• Final - March 14th 2021
Category One Invited Clubs taking part in the 2020/21 EFL Trophy competition have now been confirmed and are as follows:
• Arsenal • Aston Villa • Brighton & Hove Albion
• Chelsea • Fulham • Leeds United
• Leicester City • Liverpool • Manchester City
• Manchester United • Newcastle United • Norwich City (EFL)
• Southampton • West Bromwich Albion • West Ham United
• Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Group Stage draw for the EFL Trophy will take place on Tuesday, August 18th at 1.30pm on TalkSPORT 2.
Comments
Means we dont have to put up with the damn thing
Being in league one is bad enough but having to play in this shite competition is just embarrassing.
Would automatically get given to the team that finishes 6th or lower (dependant on other cup performances) in the Premier League
For those of us who were there
#neverforget
Weve been drawn with Wimbledon and Leyton Orient (U23 team gets named later I think) - How EXCITING is that!!
Get in
What's the reasoning behind drawing the U23 teams at a later date?
Havent felt this excited since well NEVER!!
Charlton
Leyton Orient
U23 team: Arsenal / Brighton / Chelsea / Fulham / Norwich / Southampton / WBA / West Ham
Out of all the crap this tournament throws at you. the worst thing about this competition has to be that we might get drawn against West Brom or Fulham youth teams. We didn’t lose to either of their senior sides last season, it’s nonsense.
Then again we got Swansea U23s in our Group two years ago with Wimbledon and Stevenage!!
Bowyer will probably just field whoever and take the fine for not fielding a strong enough team.
no wit, imagination or care for its primary responsibility
so long as the filthy cash keeps rolling in the paymasters get what they want with not one moment's consideration for any of the consequences
EFL executive is the motliest rabble of dullard whores addicted to the cash to the very depths of degradation - make the ECB look almost halfway competent
this 'competition' has been dead by any reasonable metric for 2 or 3 seasons already
flogging it one more time in a season when far more serious matters need much greater attention is the EFL all over
The only reason I can think of for why it continues is purely due to some sort of funding/arse licking of the Premier League clubs involved
The EFL Cup clearly does not have a sponsor, now that Checkatrade and Leasing.com have moved on.
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/johnstones-paint-trophy/story/2904442/fans-unhappy-over-under-23-team-plans-for-efl-trophy
The whole thing is a waste of time for Charlton, save maybe for giving a few youth players in the Under 23s a taste of something a little different.
Given the financial pressures on League 1 and 2 squads post-Covid, I'm really surprised that clubs have been saddled with a minimum of 3 extra fixtures in September. The salary cap also drives a move towards smaller squads, so it's even more of a nonsense.
If you've got so many players that you effectively have another squad then you've got too many - that's your fault and we shouldn't have to make up competitions, or adapt existing ones, to keep them occupied.