Paint pot luck

Charlton have enjoyed their first positive result of the season - a bye in the first round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The Addicks' fixture list will have an extra splash of colour this season courtesy of a third knock-out competition, and they are one of 16 teams to gain automatic entry to the second round, eight from the south and eight from the north.

Further sub-regionalisation has seen the two sections split into east and west, with Charlton one of 12 clubs in the former group.

The draw will be made for the first round of the competition on Saturday, August 15th, live on Sky Sports television show Soccer AM.

The matches will take place in the first midweek of September, and Charlton will enter the fray at the next stage, which is still sub-regionalised, on the midweek of either October 6th or 7th.

After dropping into the third tier of English football last term, the Addicks will make their inaugural appearance in the tournament, and it will be Charlton's first involvement in a third knockout competition in a season since they contested the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1993/94.

Competition policy dictates teams that were handed a bye into the competition last term were not granted an automatic place in the second round in 2009/10, so in the southern section Cheltenham Town, Gillingham, Hereford United, Milton Keynes Dons, Walsall and Wycombe Wanderers will definitely be involved in the opening exchanges.

Of those six, Gillingham and Milton Keynes Dons are in the south-east section, and they are joined in the eight-team pool by Barnet, Brentford, Colchester United, Dagenham & Redbridge, Millwall and Norwich City. Charlton, Leyton Orient, Southend United and Brighton & Hove Albion will be drawn against the four winners in the second round.

Formerly known as the Associate Members' Trophy, the competition has run since the 1983/84 season and traditionally encompasses teams from the bottom two divisions of The Football League.

In the early days of the competition, higher league teams were permitted into the draw, although English clubs' ban from Europe in the mid-1980s saw the introduction of the Full Members' Cup to fill the continental void.

Charlton, of course, were runners-up in the 1987 Full Members' Cup final at Wembley, going down to an 85th-minute Colin Hendry goal in a 1-0 defeat against Blackburn Rovers.

The sparkling national stadium is the venue for the final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, with Luton Town enjoying a thrilling win against Scunthorpe United to win last season's prize.

Also known previously as the Freight Rover Trophy, the Sherpa Van Trophy, the Leyland DAF Trophy, the Autoglass Trophy, the Auto Windscreens Shield, the LDV Vans Trophy and the Football League Trophy before landing its current moniker in 2006, the competition is a straight knock-out.

Charlton will thus definitely be in action against one of 11 clubs in the second round, on either the Tuesday or Wednesday after their League One trip to Leeds United on Saturday, October 3rd. The Addicks host Oldham Athletic the following weekend.

The regional quarter-finals, including all the teams from the south left in the competition, take place on November 10th or 11th, and the semi-finals are set for December 15th or 16th.

With four teams left in the competition (two apiece from the north and south), the Wembley finalists will be decided in a two-legged regional final on January 19th or 20th and February 16th or 17th.

The showpiece final will take place at the home of English football on Sunday, March 28th. Penalty prowess may well come in handy for the Addicks and any adversaries as there is no extra-time in the competition. Should the tie be all square after 90 minutes, then the passage into the next round will be settled by spot-kicks.

Regional groups for the first-round draw:

Northern Section - West: Accrington Stanley, Bury, Carlisle United, Crewe Alexandra, Morecambe, Oldham Athletic, Stockport County, Walsall

Northern Section - East: Bradford City, Burton Albion, Chesterfield, Darlington, Huddersfield Town, Lincoln City, Rochdale, Rotherham United

Northern Section byes: Grimsby Town, Hartlepool United, Leeds United, Macclesfield Town, Notts County, Port Vale, Shrewsbury Town, Tranmere Rovers

Southern Section - West: AFC Bournemouth, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town, Hereford United, Northampton Town, Torquay United, Wycombe Wanderers, Yeovil Town

Southern Section - East: Barnet, Brentford, Colchester United, Dagenham & Redbridge, Gillingham, Millwall, Milton Keynes Dons, Norwich City

Southern Section byes: Aldershot Town, Brighton & Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic, Exeter City, Leyton Orient, Southampton, Southend United, Swindon Town.