Part of the EFL Trophy 23/24 group stage draw has been done with Carabao Cup First Round ball numbers also being confirmed.
The first round of the Carabao Cup draw will be live on Sky Sports on Thursday the 22nd of June as part of the EFL fixture release day.
The fixture list will be announced at 9am that day. The cup draw will then complete the early season schedule.
Sky Sports will broadcast the Carabao Cup First-Round Draw live at 2.30pm, Thursday the 22nd of June.
Round One will see 36 matches drawn, including those of newly promoted to the EFL Notts County and Wrexham and recently relegated from the Premier League in Leeds, Leicester and Southampton.
Round Two will see the 12 Premier League teams that are not in Europe competing join, while round three will start with the eight Premier League teams.
Round-One draws will be held on August 7th, and teams will be divided into Southern and Northern sections.
NORTHERN GROUPS:
Group A
Barrow
Blackpool
Morecambe
Group B
Crewe Alexandra
Port Vale
Wrexham
Group C
Accrington Stanley
Carlisle United
Harrogate Town
Group D
Fleetwood Town
Tranmere Rovers
Wigan Athletic
Group E
Bolton Wanderers
Salford City
Stockport County
Group F
Barnsley
Bradford City
Grimsby Town
Group G
Derby County
Lincoln City
Notts County
Group H
Burton Albion
Doncaster Rovers
Mansfield Town
Invited Clubs
1 – Everton U21
2 – Liverpool U21
3 – Leicester City U21
4 – Manchester City U21
5 – Manchester United U21
6 – Newcastle United U21
7 – Nottingham Forest U21
8 – Wolverhampton Wanderers U21
SOUTHERN GROUPS:
Group A
Forest Green Rovers
Shrewsbury Town
Walsall
Group B
Charlton Athletic
Crawley Town
Sutton United
Group C
AFC Wimbledon
Stevenage
Wycombe Wanderers
Group D
Cambridge United
Colchester United
Peterborough United
Group E
Gillingham
Leyton Orient
Portsmouth
Group F
Milton Keynes Dons
Northampton Town
Oxford United
Group G
Exeter City
Reading
Swindon Town
Group H
Bristol Rovers
Cheltenham Town
Newport County
Invited Clubs
1 – Arsenal U21
2 – Aston Villa U21
3 – Brighton & Hove Albion U21
4 – Chelsea U21
5 – Crystal Palace U21
6 – Fulham U21
7 – Tottenham Hotspur U21
8 – West Ham United U21
CARABAO CUP BALL NUMBERS
Northern section
1. Accrington Stanley
2. Barnsley
3. Barrow
4. Blackburn Rovers
5. Blackpool
6. Bolton Wanderers
7. Bradford City
8. Burton Albion
9. Carlisle United
10. Crewe Alexandra
11. Derby County
12. Doncaster Rovers
13. Fleetwood Town
14. Grimsby Town
15. Harrogate Town
16. Huddersfield Town
17. Hull City
18. Leeds United
19. Leicester City
20. Lincoln City
21. Mansfield Town
22. Middlesbrough
23. Morecambe
24. Notts County
25. Port Vale
26. Preston North End
27. Rotherham United
28. Salford City
29. Sheffield Wednesday
30. Shrewsbury Town
31. Stockport County
32. Stoke City
33. Sunderland
34. Tranmere Rovers
35. Walsall
36. West Bromwich Albion
37. Wigan Athletic
38. Wrexham
Southern section
1. AFC Wimbledon
2. Birmingham City
3. Bristol City
4. Bristol Rovers
5. Cambridge United
6. Cardiff City
7. Charlton Athletic
8. Cheltenham Town
9. Colchester United
10. Coventry City
11. Crawley Town
12. Exeter City
13. Forest Green Rovers
14. Gillingham
15. Ipswich Town
16. Leyton Orient
17. Millwall
18. MK Dons
19. Newport County
20. Northampton Town
21. Norwich City
22. Oxford United
23. Peterborough United
24. Plymouth Argyle
25. Portsmouth
26. QPR
27. Reading
28. Southampton
29. Stevenage
30. Sutton United
31. Swansea City
32. Swindon Town
33. Watford
34. Wycombe Wanderers
Here is what fans said with much of the EFL Trophy 23/24 group stage draw done with Carabao Cup First Round ball numbers also confirmed…
ON THE EFL TROPHY DRAW
@bwfc_elliot: There’s no way the groups have been regionalised to have teams very close play each other without it being done on purpose. Surely hand picking the groups isn’t fair
@jane36london: It is done like that deliberately: “…the 48 EFL Clubs (have been) placed into pre-determined Groups prior to the draw. Consideration has been given to ensure travel time is minimised and recovery time is maximised for players.”
@joshtidyy: Derby & Lincoln for us. Add Forest U21’s and that will be a tasty group.
@_neil95: McGoldrick scoring a hat trick against us in the Pizza Cup then
@hurst12_nick: Shouldn’t have a problem getting out the group with Crawley and Sutton in it, but you never know 🤷♂️ Hoping for Crawley away as I’ve never been before 🤞 #cafc
@joe_wxm: Wasn’t planning on attending any but now you’ve dangled Port Vale (A) at me ffs #wxmafc
@SGC501: One benefit of getting relegated is not being in this shitshow anymore (Apart from a couple of years ago when we were in the Semi Final and it was the best trophy ever lol) #hufc
@rjb_1998: Love how transparently rigged this is, joke of a competition
@skinio: So Derby, Lincoln and an u21 team For notts in the efl trophy. Not gonna be an easy one. Let’s hope for good reception for DM against Derby.
@bobcainffc1971: Looking forward to the Under 21 draw tomorrow. Hopefully not Group A or G and H is half Ok as it would provide two potential new grounds. B C or E the best with D and F OK. #ffc ⚽️
@jordandavies09: You guys are genuinely pathetic if you think ‘the draw’ is which B-team these actual teams get paired with. This is the only bit people care about you’ve got the whole thing in reverse.
@Pebe89: Is it normal to hand pick the teams to play games closest to them or have I imagined this?
