Checkatrade Trophy opponents confirmed

Our Development Squad have been drawn against Crawley Town, Gillingham and Portsmouth in the first round of this season’s Checkatrade Trophy.

Held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in central London, this afternoon’s draw placed us in Southern Group A along with the trio of EFL teams.

Crawley currently ply their trade in League Two while Gillingham and Portsmouth are in League One.

We’re one of 16 invited Under-21 teams set to play in the competition, which was won by Lincoln City last season. Wayne Burnett’s side took part for the first time last term but bowed out in the group stage after hard-fought battles with Luton Town, AFC Wimbledon and Barnet.

As per competition rules, we’ll play each team in our group once. Exact dates for our matches will be confirmed in due course.

John McDermott, Head of Coaching and Player Development, said recently: “There were a huge amount of positives to come out of the competition last season – playing against senior players, playing in front of a crowd – and we move away from age group football which is massive when the players are getting to 18, 19, 20 years of age.

“Last season, a significant group of our fans travelled to these matches and our players can therefore see what it means to play for Tottenham and the passion that the fans have - and with that comes the responsibility of playing for the Club and for those fans. It's a great experience for them.”