Luton to take on Gillingham in Carabao Cup and Ipswich academy side in EFL Trophy

Luton Town will be taking on Gillingham in the Carabao Cup First Round and Ipswich Town’s academy side in the EFL Trophy.

A busy day of announcements saw the release of the fixtures for the 2026/27 season, as well as the draw for the Carabao Cup First Round and the drawing of academy sides for the EFL Trophy.

The First Round of the Carabao Cup, which also doubles up as this season’s first match, will see the Hatters make the trip to Kent to take on Gillingham at Priestfield.

Luton’s trip to play the League Two side will take place on the weekend surrounding Saturday 8 August, with a specific date, kick-off time, ticket information and broadcast details to come in due course.

The trip to Gillingham will be Luton’s first visit to their ground for a competitive meeting since a 3-1 win in November 2018, in a season that ended with Luton winning promotion to the Championship.

The contest will see Luton face a Gillingham side who finished 17th in League Two last season, with the Gills preparing for a fourth consecutive season in the fourth tier of English football.

Luton were knocked out in the first round of the Carabao Cup last season, as they were beaten by the season’s Championship title winners Coventry City 1-0.

Meanwhile, Luton have seen Ipswich’s junior side added to their EFL Trophy group. The Tractor Boys’ under-21s will complete the Southern Section’s Group C of the EFL Trophy group stage.

In a pre-draw earlier this week, Luton had been assigned to Group C alongside League One side Peterborough United and League Two’s Colchester United.

The Hatters are defending EFL Trophy champions, having won 3-1 at Wembley in the final against Stockport in a competition that famously saw them reinstated at the expense of Swindon Town after the Wiltshire club beat Luton 2-1 only to be excluded for fielding ineligible players.

Group stage matches of the EFL Trophy will begin in September, with details of the 3 group stage game’s fixture dates being confirmed in due course.