Nottingham Forest can confirm it has accepted an invitation to participate in the EFL Trophy in the 2023/24 season.
This will be the first time a Forest academy side has entered the competition, with our U21s set to test themselves against EFL opposition from Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two.
Forest, along with 15 other invited clubs, will enter an U21 side into the competition and join all 48 clubs from League One and League Two in being placed into respective Northern and Southern section groups.
The confirmed invited U21 teams are as follows:
- Arsenal
- Aston Villa
- Brighton & Hove Albion
- Chelsea
- Crystal Palace
- Everton
- Fulham
- Leicester City
- Liverpool
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Newcastle United
- Nottingham Forest
- Tottenham Hotspur
- West Ham United
- Wolves
All of Forest's group stage fixtures will be played away from home, with the group stage draw set to take place live on Sky Sports on Thursday 22 June at 11:30am.
Forest Academy achieved Category One status ahead of the 2021/22 season, with our U21s since achieving back-to-back play-off finishes in Premier League 2 Division 2.
This season, Forest U21s narrowly missed out on promotion to Premier League 2 Division 1, losing 3-0 to Leeds United at Elland Road in the Division 2 play-off final last month.
Bolton Wanderers are the current holders of the EFL Trophy, having beat Plymouth Argyle 4-0 at Wembley Stadium back in April.
Details of our U21sā group stage fixtures will be announced on our website and across all social media channels next week.