Football
ESPN staff 8y

Chelsea discover EFL Trophy draw as other major clubs snub competition

Chelsea's academy team will take on Swindon Town, Exeter City and Oxford United in the group stage of the EFL Trophy.

The revamp of the EFL Trophy has been beset by problems since the plan to invite 16 Premier League academies into the competition was announced earlier this year.

Supporters of clubs in League One and League Two, whose first teams play in the competition with the final played at Wembley, are angry and believe the Football League are trying to get Premier League "B" teams into their system through the backdoor -- a plan that has already been widely opposed.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle and Tottenham all declined the invitation, leaving Chelsea as the only "elite" club to agree to enter a team into the competition. 

Newcastle issued a statement explain their decision, saying "the Club feels their younger players would be better served by going out on loan and gaining experience over an extended period in a first team environment."

Getting Chelsea to take part will be a relief to the Football League, as the most successful academy team of recent seasons. They have won the FA Youth Cup in each of the last three seasons, and in five of the last seven campaigns. They have also won the UEFA Youth League for the past two seasons.

Everton, Leicester City, Middlesbrough, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, West Bromwich and West Ham United are the other nine Premier League teams with category 1 academy status to take up the invitation.

Championship clubs Blackburn Rovers, Brighton and Hove Albion, Derby County, Norwich City, Reading and Wolverhampton Wanderers make up the 16 invited academy teams.

The invited teams will play at least one team at the first team's home stadium, field an under-23 side and be able to include three overage players and a goalkeeper. Penalties will be used to settle draws in the group games, with the successful team earning an extra point.

MATCH DATES:
Matchday 1: Aug. 29 - Sept. 4 
Matchday 2: Oct. 3 - Oct. 9
Matchday 3: Nov. 7 - Nov. 13

All clubs will play each other once, either home or away. The top two teams will progress to the Knockout Stage.

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