Gillingham to face League 1 Wycombe Wanderers and League 2 Colchester United in the 2025/26 Vertu Trophy group stage

Gillingham will come up against manager Gareth Ainsworth’s old club Wycombe Wanderers in next season’s Vertu Trophy.

The EFL competition for League 1 and 2 clubs, which has a Wembley final, will start with a group stage, where the Gills will come up against Wycombe and Colchester United.

One of the other eight south section invited under-21 teams will complete the four-team group, with the draw taking place tomorrow (Thursday) as part of ‘fixture-release day’.

Ainsworth managed Wycombe between 2012 and 2023.

Gillingham are in southern section group G and will facing a top-flight under-21 side as part of the opening stage at Priestfield.

The eight invited under-21 teams are from Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham.

Gillingham finished bottom of their EFL Trophy group last season, which was topped by eventual winners Peterborough United, claiming back-to-back success in the competition with a win over Birmingham City.

The Gills will get their confirmed League 2 fixtures tomorrow and the first round draw of the Carabao Cup will also take place.