Fleetwood Town’s Development Squad are set for their debut year in the Premier League Cup this season and the groups have now been revealed.
With the club’s Academy now being Category 2, they are now eligible for the competition and will now have to face off against two Premier League sides and another one from the Championship in the group stage.
It won’t be an easy ask for our young Cods as they will have to come up against Huddersfield Town (Championship), Newcastle United (Premier League), and Nottingham Forest (Premier League).
To explain the competition, it runs in the UEFA Champions League style, with 32 clubs in the main group stage from Premier League 2 as well as the Professional Development League.
Like Premier League 2, it will be contested between Under-21 teams, with each side allowed five over-age outfield players and one over-age goalkeeper.
Competition format
- Group stage: The tournament will be split into eight groups of four clubs, with each team playing their opposing clubs home and away. The top two teams advance to the knockout stage.
- Knockout stage: The last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be one-off knockout ties. If the ties are level after 90 minutes, they go to extra-time and then penalties if the teams still can't be separated.
Upcoming fixtures
In terms of when you can expect our Development Squad to feature in the tournament – here are the fixture dates (subject to change):
Development Squad v Nottingham Forest – Highbury Stadium – Friday 15 September (7pm kick-off)
Newcastle United v Development Squad – Whitley Park – Saturday 7 October (2pm kick-off)
Huddersfield Town v Development Squad – The John Smith's Stadium – Friday 10 November (7pm kick-off)
Nottingham Forest v Development Squad – Alfreton Town – Friday 8 December (7pm kick-off)
Development Squad v Newcastle United – TBC – Friday 19 January (7pm kick-off)
Development Squad v Huddersfield Town – Highbury Stadium – Friday 2 February (7pm kick-off)