Groups have now been confirmed ahead of the 2018/19 Checkatrade Trophy.
The final groups for Round One of the 2018/19 Checkatrade Trophy have today been confirmed at a media briefing in Central London.
Former competition winners Paul Heckingbottom and Gregor Robertson picked out the 16 Invited Under-21 teams who were drawn into the Northern and Southern sections of the competition.
Gillingham have been drawn against Crawley Town, Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur U21.
As with 2017/18, 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 U21 teams will play all their Group games away from home.
Newcomers to the competition Arsenal U21s have been placed in Southern Group E, with last year’s semi-finalists Chelsea U21s being handed trips to Newport County, Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town.
Last season’s winners of the competition Lincoln City will start their defence of the Checkatrade Trophy by trying to negotiate their way out of a Group that includes Mansfield Town, Scunthorpe United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Fixtures (subject to change):
w/c September 3: Portsmouth v Gillingham
w/c October 8: Gillingham v Tottenham U21
w/c November 12: Gillingham v Crawley
2018/19 Competition Format
Key dates
- First Group Stage matches are currently scheduled to take place w/c 3 September.
- Dates for Group Stage fixtures will be released by 30 July.
- The Final is the 31 March.
