Port Vale’s Football League Trophy opponents will be revealed on Friday
Port Vale will find out who they are facing in the Football League Trophy on Friday lunchtime.
The draw for the competition, previously known as the Checkatrade Trophy, will take place on Friday, July 12. It will be live on talkSPORT as part of the Jim White show at 12.30pm.
What is the competition format?
The competition features a total of 64 teams, made up of the 48 teams from League One and League Two (24 from each division) and 16 B teams (Category One academy sides).
The teams are split into 16 regional groups of four teams, with eight groups from the northern region and eight from the southern region. Academy sides will play each of the other three sides in their group away from home.
Which B teams (academy sides) are involved?
Controversially, there are 16 Category One academy sides invited to take part in the competition. However, there is no opportunity of a match-up with local rivals Stoke City as they are not competing in this year’s Trophy. The teams involved are as follows:
Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
How does it work?
In the group stage of the competition, clubs are awarded three points for a win, and one point for a draw. However, when a game in the EFL Trophy finishes in a draw after 90 minutes, the two sides will compete in a penalty shootout, with an additional point on offer for the winners.
The teams finishing first and second in each group progresses to the knock-out stages of the competition.
In the knockout stages, which are regionalised until the quarter-finals, all games are one-off ties, which will be decided by penalties if the score is level after 90 minutes, with no extra time. However, the final will go to extra time and penalties, if required.
What are the key dates?
The first round of matches will take in the week commencing September 2, 2019. The final is set to take place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, April 5, 2020.