Gillingham will play Cambridge United, Brighton U21s and Northampton Town in the group stage of the 2026/27 EFL Trophy.
The Gills have been placed in Group G of the southern section.
Cambridge United were promoted to League One last season, with Northampton Town coming the other way following relegation to League Two. We played Brighton's U21 side in the same competition in 2022/23.
The full southern section draw can be seen below:
Group A Oxford United Cheltenham Town Exeter City Tottenham U21 | Group B Leicester City Walsall Stevenage Fulham U21 | Group C Reading Bristol Rovers Wycombe Wanderers Chelsea U21 | Group D Luton Town Peterborough United Colchester United Ipswich U21 |
Group E Plymouth Argyle Swindon Town Newport County Crystal Palace U21 |
Group F AFC Wimbledon Leyton Orient Barnet Arsenal U21 |
Group G Cambridge United Gillingham Northampton Town Brighton U21 |
Group H Bromley Crawley Town Milton Keynes Dons Brentford U21 |
EFL Trophy Group Stage matches will commence in early September, with dates to be confirmed.
2026/27 ROUND DATES
The round dates for the EFL Trophy have been confirmed as the following:
- Group Stage: From early September
- Round of 32: w/c 7 December
- Round of 16: w/c 11 January
- Quarter Finals: w/c 15 February
- Semi Finals: w/c 8 March
- Final: Sunday 11 April
COMPETITION FORMAT
The top two from each group progress to the knockout stages, with EFL Trophy fixtures remaining regionalised until the Quarter-Final stage.
Matches level after 90 minutes will be determined by penalty kicks up to, and including, the Semi-Final stage.
A period of 30 minutes of extra-time will be played in the Final should the match be level after 90 minutes. If still level at the end of extra-time, the winners shall be determined by penalty kicks.
HOW TO WATCH
The EFL’s record domestic rights deal with broadcaster Sky Sports will see every EFL Trophy match broadcast live on Sky Sports for fans in the UK.
