Ten Premier League clubs join EFL Trophy competition

By Danielle Joynson, Staff Reporter | 27 July 2016

Ten Premier League clubs opt to include their Under-21s in the revamped EFL Trophy competition, while Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool opt out.

Ten Premier League clubs have joined the EFL Trophy competition, while Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are among the top-flight teams to opt out.

The revamped competition for the 2016-17 season offered Category One academies the chance to take on League One and League Two opposition.

Premier League champions Leicester City, Chelsea, West Ham United, Everton, Southampton, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Swansea City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland have all put forward teams for the league.

Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are among the six top-flight clubs to decline the invitation, meaning that their spots have been handed to Championship outfits Derby County, Norwich City, Reading, Blackburn Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Sixteen groups of four teams, which will now include an academy team, will compete, with the top two from each qualifying for the first knockout round.

EFL Trophy group draw:

Northern Group A: Everton, Bolton, Cheltenham, Blackpool
Northern Group B: Wolves, Chesterfield, Crewe, Accrington
Northern Group C: Stoke, Bradford, Morecambe, Bury
Northern Group D: Blackburn, Fleetwood, Carlisle, Oldham
Northern Group E: Derby, Port Vale, Doncaster, Mansfield
Northern Group F: Sunderland, Rochdale, Hartlepool, Notts County
Northern Group G: Middlesbrough, Scunthorpe, Cambridge, Shrewsbury
Northern Group H: Leicester, Sheffield United, Grimsby, Walsall
Southern Group A: Reading, Bristol Rovers, Portsmouth, Yeovil
Southern Group B: Swansea, AFC Wimbledon, Newport, Plymouth
Southern Group C: Chelsea, Swindon, Exeter, Oxford
Southern Group D: West Ham, Coventry, Wycombe, Northampton
Southern Group E: Southampton, Charlton, Colchester, Crawley
Southern Group F: Norwich, Peterborough, Barnet, MK Dons
Southern Group G: Brighton, Southend, Stevenage, Leyton Orient
Southern Group H: West Bromwich Albion, Millwall, Luton, Gillingham