Barnsley will reenter the Football League Trophy for the first time since winning its 2016 incarnation the Johnstones Paint Trophy.
The competition has seen a revamp since the Reds defeated Scunthorpe, Bradford, York, Wigan, Fleetwood and then Oxford at Wembley in a knock out format with the competition now split into groups (A-H in Northern and Southern Sections) before going onto three knock out rounds before the semi-final and final.
Therefore Barnsley were today drawn into Group F of the Northern Section with opponents based on ensuring travel time is minimised for supporters and recovery time is maximised for players. This has seen Daniel Stendel's side drawn with Yorkshire rivals Bradford who they defeated 2-1 in the Northern Section Second Round on the way to winning the competition in 2015 and Oldham Athletic who were the last team to beat Barnsley in this competition, winning 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the 2014-2015 Northern Section Second Round.
Another new feature introduced since 2016 is the inclusion of certain Premier League and Championship clubs Under 21 sides, therefore making up Group F will be one of the following:
1. Everton U21
2. Leicester City U21
3. Manchester City U21
4. Middlesbrough U21
5. Newcastle United U21
6. Stoke City U21
7. West Bromwich Albion U21
8. Wolverhampton Wanderers U21
The draw for this will take place next Wednesday (18th July) from 1pm.
The format for this year’s competition is much the same as 2017/18, with only a couple of small changes to the Regulations. Players from EFL clubs who are out on loan in the National League and below are now eligible to feature in the competition, while invited teams have been restricted to fielding two players over the age of 21 and more than 40 first-team appearances.