Newport County have been drawn in Southern Section Group E of the 2026-27 EFL Trophy, alongside Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town.
The group stage draw has been confirmed by the EFL, with 16 invited Premier League academy sides joining clubs from Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two in this season’s competition.
The under-21 teams taking part this year come from Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur.
Newport County will learn fixture details following the EFL’s fixture release day on Thursday 25 June, with group stage matches set to begin in early September.
GROUP STAGE DRAW
The draw for the group stages of the 2026-27 EFL Trophy will take place live on Sky Sports News on Thursday 25 June from 2:30pm.
Presented by Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth, former Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United midfielder Kevin Nolan will be joined by former Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest defender Luke Chambers for the draw.
The competition will feature 16 regional groups of four teams, split between Northern and Southern sections. The 16 invited under-21 sides will be allocated across the groups, alongside 48 EFL clubs placed into pre-determined sections prior to the draw.
Consideration has been given to minimise travel distances and support player recovery.
NEWPORT COUNTY GROUP
Southern Section Group E
Plymouth Argyle
Swindon Town
Newport County
Under-21 invited side (to be confirmed)
ROUND DATES
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 teams in each group will progress to the knockout stages, with fixtures remaining regionalised until the quarter-final stage.
Matches level after 90 minutes will be decided by penalty shootouts up to and including the semi-final stage. In the final, extra time will be played if required, followed by penalties if necessary.
HOW TO WATCH
All EFL Trophy matches will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK as part of the EFL’s domestic broadcast agreement.