Carabao Cup 2026/27 – Preliminary Draw
The draw for the Preliminary Round of the 2026/27 Carabao Cup will be held later today, with details published on EFL channels at 4pm.
The draw will be presented by Sanny Rudravajhala (Sky Sports News and Track Radio), with the teams drawn by former Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City goalkeeper Lee Camp.
The Preliminary Round draw for next season’s Carabao Cup will include four Clubs – Tranmere Rovers, Crawley Town, York City and Rochdale – and is required due to the participation of nine Premier League Clubs in European competition next season. This was confirmed following Crystal Palace’s victory in the UEFA Europa Conference League Final last week.
With the Premier League teams competing in Europe entering the Carabao Cup at Round Three, a Preliminary Round is required to ensure that a total of 32 teams are in the pot at that stage – the nine Clubs in European competition, and 23 winners from Round Two.
Last season’s Carabao Cup also required a preliminary round, however due to the more obvious north-south split of the four Clubs, no draw was required. For this season’s preliminary round, the four teams will be randomly drawn.
The Spireites will again enter the competition at the first round stage, which will be drawn on Thursday, June 25, which is also fixture release day.
Preliminary Draw numbers are as follows:
- Crawley Town
- Rochdale
- Tranmere Rovers
- York City
The winner of the Preliminary Round tie involving the team based furthest south club will proceed to the Southern section of the Round One draw, with the winner of the other tie involving two northern based clubs proceeding into the Northern section. The regionalised sections of the draw will be re-adjusted ahead of Round Two of the competition.
This is because the Northern and Southern sections of the Round One draw need to be confirmed ahead of that draw taking place on Thursday 25 June, which is also fixture release day.
