Season › 2016-17 › News Blues learn first EFL Trophy opponents , 27 July, 5comments | Jump to most recent Everton have been drawn alongside Bolton, Cheltenham and Blackpool in Northern Group A of the revamped English Football League Trophy. A team drawn mostly from the Blues' Academy with some representation from the Under-21s setup will play each team once, with the top two teams in each of the 16 groups advancing to the next stage. Everton are one of 16 teams from the Premier League and the Championship invited to take part in the former Johnstone's Paint Trophy this season. The first of the group phase fixtures, one of which will be played at Goodison Park, kicks off on 24th August. Reader Comments (5) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Paul Kossoff 1 Posted 27/07/2016 at 16:42:24 This competition is already a joke with teams having to travel hundreds of miles.The draw was supposed to sort the teams into sixteen groups depending on geography, that 'surprisingly' has been ignored. Patrick Murphy 2 Posted 27/07/2016 at 16:56:23 Apparently Paul they had the idea that the furthest Northern teams in a particular division would be grouped hence Cheltenham is deemed as being a more Northern club than West Brom? If there are ways to complicate matters and defy logic, then those consultant types will find a way of doing so. John Grace 3 Posted 27/07/2016 at 00:05:07 Strange idea this. If it gives our younger players some real competitive experience then okay. I feel for the lower-league teams who must feel they have little chance to progress but knock-out footie has done us over all too often of late... so actually it is quite open...FA post-Euro's panic? Rhino is doing a fine job anyway. He will fancy this. Dennis Stevens 4 Posted 28/07/2016 at 12:23:26 Cheltenham & Cambridge in the North, but West Bromwich & Coventry in the South ?? Garry Corgan 5 Posted 29/07/2016 at 02:51:22 There's no down side to this for me. It gives our younger lads a chance to play in a proper, senior competition which can only be a good thing.It's also a chance for us fans to see those players in action and enjoy an extra few games per season. It'll get interesting if one of the Premier League teams gets to the latter stages in what was previously a competition for the lower-league teams only. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads © ToffeeWeb