Talks to stage EA Sports Cup as pre-season competition shelved

Talks about staging the EA Sports Cup as a pre-season competition in 2021 have been shelved.

A date has yet to be fixed for the start of next season and fixtures have yet to be released, but February 26 is mooted as a possible starting point.

The prospect of running the League Cup in its entirety before the Premier and First Division campaigns had been floated among clubs and league chiefs.

But that now looks unlikely to happen after clubs queried if trialists could feature in games.

Clubs traditionally run the rule over trialists in pre-season friendlies but that won’t be permitted in the EA Sports Cup as they are deemed as competitive matches.

That proved a considerable stumbling block with the vast majority of sides now prepared to find alternative dates in the calendar for the cup competition.

The EA Sports Cup did not take place this season as it was pulled from the Covid-hit schedule to ensure the shortened league campaign was completed on time.