Sixteen category one academy sides will be invited to join a 64-team competition which will start with 16 groups of four before becoming a straight knock-out with a final at Wembley.

ACE Mercury The Premier League is also understood to have provided £1million to create a total prize fund of £1.95m, with bonuses awarded for each win.

copa mundial black The 16 elite academy sides will be evenly distributed throughout the groups with the 48 clubs from Sky Bet League One and League Two, with the whole competition running on a north/south basis until the final.

Magista Obra BHM UK Each team will play each other once in the group stage, with the academy team getting just one home game. The knock-out stages will be single ties apart from the semi-finals, where there will be two legs.

Mercurial Superfly Spark Brilliance The competition is currently without a title sponsor as Johnstone's Paints' contract expired last season, with Barnsley beating Oxford in the last JPT final.

hypervenom phantom II black The EFL announced that Ian Lenagan, the owner of Super League rugby league team Wigan Warriors and former owner of Oxford, had been voted in as its new chairman, replacing Greg Clarke.