Football League Trophy to include 16 category 1 academy/U21 sides this season. Hope all the FL clubs (including us) put out our U9's team and the final ends up being Stoke U21's vs Southampton U21's in front of 150 at Wembley.

It's a fucking disgrace totally disrespectful I hope the kids teams get fucking battered and their confidence shot to shit

The club should boycott if that's the case

 

Or instead play our reserves and have the games at Leyland

 

Fuck em

Can WW not offer a team to represent the club?

Better to use it than boycott it. If our kids get a chance to play in a first team game it's got to be good for their development.

 

Let's try to keep a PL mentality and not one of a bitter lower league club. We are better than that.

Can WW not offer a team to represent the club?

Bolty right wing, Kent white left?

Big E, the defensive stalwart, sliding in from behind

Bolty right wing, Kent white left?

That's fine but I refuse to train during Ramadan in solidarity with our Muslim comrades.

Big E, the defensive stalwart, sliding in from behind

Sweep(er).

Cheese in the attacking midfield role (fantasisti).

Bolty left back (in the 1950's).

Can WW not offer a team to represent the club?

The WW team would end up playing the league 1 games as well and many would be moaning that they are missing their beer

It will be nice to see Rob Holding as Arsenal captain for his three games in the JPT.

Seriously though this is shocking. 

I vote we play it behind closed doors at the training ground because the macron is for proper matches only. 

Little Whitt - box to box?

Smiley - free role.

Gonzo - winger, up and down the white lines

Better to use it than boycott it. If our kids get a chance to play in a first team game it's got to be good for their development.

Let's try to keep a PL mentality and not one of a bitter lower league club. We are better than that.

They can play against other teams. If we were still a premier league team I wouldn't want our reserve teams playing in it.

Diddles as manager

So in reality if this is the case, there will be more games in this competition, then we have the league cup from round one, the FA cup round one, chances are we could be playing 2 games a week from August to December how the fuck is this feasible for the club and fans? Somebody hasn't thought this through, then again when did the fans matter?

Chelsea have just retained 82 players this summer

And there we have it.

Better to use it than boycott it. If our kids get a chance to play in a first team game it's got to be good for their development.

Let's try to keep a PL mentality and not one of a bitter lower league club. We are better than that.

Yeah, but the Prem, FA, & FL are not.

You can stick your football up your arse for me. This completely kills it!! Close the fucker down and have 16 franchises!! Utter bollocks!!!

I really cant see the point of this especially as the likes of Reading, Wolves, Blackburn & us(if we had kept are grade 1 academy status) will be in it. what happens if one of those first 3 teams go down to league 1 but keep their grade 1 academy status, you could have Blackburn 1sts for Blackburn U21s!

I really cant see the point of this especially as the likes of Reading, Wolves, Blackburn & us(if we had kept are grade 1 academy status) will be in it. what happens if one of those first 3 teams go down to league 1 but keep their grade 1 academy status, you could have Blackburn 1sts for Blackburn U21s!

We aren't Category One any more.

 

24 teams played in the U21 Premier League last season but some teams may have withdrawn as according to this there are currently only 21 Category One academies, though you'll be buggered if you're trying to find a list of them. Only 16 academy sides are to be invited to compete in the FL Trophy so you can absolutely guarantee that all 16 of those will have a Premier League first team.

What a great way to ruin something else. At least the bottom 2 divisions had a genuinely good chance of having a day out at Wembley and something for the fans to enjoy.

 

Who is going to turn up to a final between 2 premiership under 21 teams !!

 

Another cup we might as well not bother with.

What are the rules on drawing these teams away? What kind of attendances do these teams get? What are the chances of Man U u21s v BWFC attracting 20k and us having a nice little earner out of it and paying someone's wages for a month or 2