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Aka The Checkatrade Cup.

Yet further humiliation for our impoverished neighbours with today's draw grouping them with Colchester, Gillingham and a yet to be named Academy One side.

It likely won't be our boys but this competition should still of be great interest to us all, not least due to the Summer's acquisitions in the youth department.

It will surely make up for less mid-week fixtures.

The 16 clubs whose U21s will be in the competition this season are 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.

Town’s group will almost certainly not feature Norwich City’s U21s with the authorities having prevented “high-profile clashes”*** with local rivals at that stage of the competition in previous seasons.

Academy One, the Jewel in our East Anglian Crown. Let's hope the boys progress far in this and it's such a pity that even if they do they are unlikely to come up against the might of Suffolk as the binners seem destined not to survive the group stages, even with the attraction of being able to put another star on their shirts.

Open top bus parade should we win it then?

 

***For "high profile" read "embarrassing."

 

Edited by BroadstairsR

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Last time we were in this, we absolutely smashed the group stage IIRC? Every chance of us meeting Ipswich further into the competition. Kind of hope they do get out the group, as I'd absolutely love it if our youth team could deprive them a spot at Wembley, Steve Bruce-style. Can you even imagine the agony? 😄

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6 hours ago, BroadstairsR said:

Aka The Checkatrade Cup.

Yet further humiliation for our impoverished neighbours with today's draw grouping them with Colchester, Gillingham and a yet to be named Academy One side.

It could be a helpful way of helping them to adjust to the lower reaches of League football - though I doubt either set of fans will welcome a bunch of dimwitted farmhands boring the ar se off them with tedious guff about their 'glorious history'.

A team that Lambert says “They’re young, there are 12 academy kids, it’s a project, but they’re a really good side. I’m not saying they’re not a good side, I’m saying they’re a really good side. “They might make mistakes more than will happen with experienced players but if they keep playing like that and they keep doing those things.”

Does not suggest one that is going to rip L1 apart. More, just a continuation of the almost two decade long slide into football's basement.

Nevermind long gone trophies, I wonder how long it will be before having gates of over 12,000 will be seen as their glorious history.

Perhaps a ground share at Colchester is not such a far fetched idea after all.

 

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We would only meet Ipswich in this competition if they progress past the group stage, and we all know that simply won’t happen.

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Did I read somewhere that all Academy team's fixtures are away? 

Cambridge may sign Hoolahan, that'd be a great trip. 

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9 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Did I read somewhere that all Academy team's fixtures are away? 

Cambridge may sign Hoolahan, that'd be a great trip. 

All group games are played away for Academy teams. In the last 32, each of the 16 group winners get a home tie to one of the 16 runners-up (still regionalised). Last 16 is unseeded, but still regionalised. QF onwards is an open draw.

More here: https://www.efl.com/clubs-and-competitions/EFL-trophy/efltrophyinfo/rules--regulations/

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The fact our under 23's play in this competition is still a complete nonsense and renders the competition a joke.

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13 minutes ago, king canary said:

The fact our under 23's play in this competition is still a complete nonsense and renders the competition a joke.

Surely a good way for our under 23s to get valuable competitive match experience?

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27 minutes ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

Surely a good way for our under 23s to get valuable competitive match experience?

Or get a broken leg

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49 minutes ago, king canary said:

The fact our under 23's play in this competition is still a complete nonsense and renders the competition a joke.

Yeah, because it was so prestigious and highly thought of before academy sides entered. 

I don't see any disadvantage to it, plenty of European leagues let reserve teams enter the pyramid, so letting youth teams enter the least prestigious tournament in professional English football gets a thumbs up from me. Widens the exposure and gives young players competitive fixtures they won't get in the youth leagues, including the chance to play in from of a decent amount of fans. 

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4 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Yeah, because it was so prestigious and highly thought of before academy sides entered. 

I don't see any disadvantage to it, plenty of European leagues let reserve teams enter the pyramid, so letting youth teams enter the least prestigious tournament in professional English football gets a thumbs up from me. Widens the exposure and gives young players competitive fixtures they won't get in the youth leagues, including the chance to play in from of a decent amount of fans. 

Yep, this. Plus visiting stadia like Portman Road will serve as a reminder to the little scrotes where they'll end up if they don't get off the Xbox and buck their ideas up.

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I think it does offer the chance for younger binners to see PL players at poorman road - albeit they will only be U21 players

........ many of whom were not even born when the binners were last in the PL🤣

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I'd rather we won it, and didn't get drawn against them, because they screwed up their group and lost all their games. THAT would be the ultimate humiliation in my eyes.

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Over on TWTD they're bitching about Chelsea playing overage players, one who'd played Champions League the previous night, to get past MK Don's.

While I think that the tournament has some merit, surely the U23 Teams should play by the rules or what's the point?

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The rules allow over age player, three if it is the same as the under 23s leagues, so they are playing by the rules. 

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10 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

The rules allow over age player, three if it is the same as the under 23s leagues, so they are playing by the rules. 

You're right of course but the idea that a 30 million pound player is playing in the Checkatrade shows the gulf between Clubs and I don't think anyone wins from this. 

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15 hours ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

Surely a good way for our under 23s to get valuable competitive match experience?

I'm not talking from a Norwich point of view.

Ask most lower league fans what they think of adding u23's to the tournament and you'll not get many positive responses.

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It would be nice to meet Ipswich at some stage in this tournament and it would surely be a 'rubbing salt in to the wound moment.'

However, as we would likely lose out because the history of these fixtures has always meant that the youth side is beaten it would inevitably give therm something to crow about at long last. They might even put another star on their shirts.

On the other hand it might cement Lambert's tenure for that bit longer and it is in our own interests for the sake of rivalry that that albatross stays at Portman Road for a lengthy period.

The make up of the competition is weird and another example of Premier League dominance. If they fund it in some way then there's no complaints though and from City's point of view in enhances our Category 1 status even more to be among this elite.

Edited by BroadstairsR

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1 hour ago, king canary said:

I'm not talking from a Norwich point of view.

Ask most lower league fans what they think of adding u23's to the tournament and you'll not get many positive responses.

Undoubtedly, there was an attempt at organising a boycott when it was introduced. But given that only one Academy side has made it to the semi-final in three iterations of the tournament since their admission, and that was the controversial Chelsea side that obeyed the letter of the rules if not the spirit of them, fans seem to be coming round to their inclusion.

The clubs voted to permit them, remember.

That said, I do agree that the overage rule is ridiculous. It works for the league fixtures, but the Checkatrade Academy sides should be restricted exclusively to players eligible for Under 21s.

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10 minutes ago, splendidrush said:

Portsmouth? I thought it was regionalised. That's got to be 200 miles. 

It’s regionalised for the small provincial clubs like Ip5w1ch but the big big clubs like us we have to travel 😉

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Despite all the rights and wrongs of academy sides being in this competition, I am beginning for the first time to develop some interest in it.

I suppose City's youth probably stand as much chance of winning it as the senior squad does of winning the league next season but, if nothing else, it will be a chance to cast an eye upon all these youngsters that are so highly spoken of and that the club seems intent upon accumulating with some consistency.

Then there's the 1p5wich factor and in the words of Kevin Keegan  .."I would just love it ....."

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competitive matches are always a bonus;  and as last seasons results show it takes more than raw talent to get the better of some hardened pros.   

 

Hopefully we can put up a good show 

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