A Crystal Palace Under-21 team will participate in the 2021/22 English Football League Trophy as one of 16 invited teams from the top-flight.
The tournament, also known as the Papa John’s Trophy, is open to all 48 clubs in England’s third and fourth tiers, and includes 16 Under-21 teams from clubs with Category 1 Academies in the top two divisions.
In 20/21, both Palace’s Under-18s and Under-23s enjoyed landmark seasons in their first campaigns as Category 1 sides, with Shaun Derry’s U23s earning promotion through the play-offs and Paddy McCarthy’s U18s finishing second in the U18 Premier League South.