Former Town boss to do the draw as Cobblers discover EFL Trophy group stage opponents
The draw for the group stages of the 2026/27 EFL Trophy has been made, with Cobblers placed in Southern Group G.
The EFL have also confirmed the 16 invited sides from Premier League clubs with category one academies that will join League One and League Two clubs in 2026/27. They are – Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Tottenham.
Cobblers, who reached the semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history last season, have been drawn into Southern Group G alongside fellow League Two side Gillingham, and League One Cambridge United. The U’s won promotion back to the third tier last season while Gills finished mid-table.
The draw to complete the groups will take place live on Sky Sports News this Thursday (June 25th) from 2:30pm, and former Cobblers boss Kevin Nolan will be pulling the names out of the hat alongside another ex-Northampton man in Luke Chambers.
HOW IT WORKS
The group stage has been split into 16 regional groups of four teams, eight in the northern region and eight in the southern region. The 16 invited under-21 teams will be placed into their respective northern and southern regional groups, with the 48 EFL clubs 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.
DATES
EFL Trophy group stage matches will commence in early September, with dates to be confirmed following the release of the fixtures on Thursday.
The round dates for the EFL Trophy have been confirmed as the following:
Group stage: from early September
Round of 32: w/c 7 December
Round of 16: w/c 11 January
Quarter-finals: w/c 15 February
Semi-finals: w/c 8 March
Final: Sunday, April 11th
COMPETITION FORMAT
The top two from each group progress to the knockout stages, with EFL Trophy fixtures remaining regionalised until the quarter-final stage. Matches level after 90 minutes up to the semi-final stage will be determined by a penalty shoot-out. A period of 30 minutes of extra time will be played in the final should the match be level after 90 minutes. If still level at the end of extra time, the winners shall be determined by penalty kicks.
HOW TO WATCH
The EFL’s record domestic rights deal with broadcaster Sky Sports will see every EFL Trophy match broadcast live on Sky Sports for fans in the UK.