I'm still trying to get my head around all of this.
Read this from March 2016, which discusses B teams, a Trophy revamp, being proposed for the June 2016 EFL AGM.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201 ... the-ashes/
May 2016, the proposed "whole game solution" is announced by the EFL, the key point being expanding the league to 100 teams from 92 and removal of midweek league fixtures (by moving FA Cup games to midweek and doing away with replays).
http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/a- ... 19809.aspx
The Trophy has been a minor distraction since we've been in the league, when fans only really get interested if there is a rivalry, or the club gets to the old area two legged semi-final being just two games from Wembley.
6th July 2016 : So it needed a revamp, and somehow the Premier League and Football League did a deal to increase prize money, and invite 16 Category 1 acadamies with this aim :- "Participation for a selection of Premier League clubs' teams to take part in the EFL Trophy is an important part of a range developments that both we and the EFL believe will help young, talented players progress physically and mentally on top of the technical aspect of their game developed in the Academy system."
However, within weeks (20 July 2016),the Premier League announced Premier League II, which replaced the old U-21 system, mostly negating the benefit of having the invited teams in the Trophy.
https://www.premierleague.com/news/58764
So then several of the invited teams decided not to take part in the Trophy, and the invited teams that did compete were hardly putting out an U-21 team, with several players being older squad players, or overseas players (whereas the whole game solution was to improve the prospects of young English players progressing to the national team).
The whole game solution was then dropped in November 2016
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/ ... iscussions
when the FA sold FA Cup rights forward internationally for I think six years on the basis of weekend fixtures.
So i think in summary, the EPL had already decided that B teams were a non-runner when they launched the Premier League II, backed up by the poor teams and drop outs from the Trophy, but had agreed to the Trophy revamp as a relatively low cost appeasement to the EFL.
Will B teams, come back on the agenda? The EPL could quite easily use the carrot / stick approach of offering to increase / decrease the solidarity payments below Championship level, and many clubs would perhaps welcome an extra million or two each year (us for instance). Perhaps the five leagues of 20 might come about, and B teams be allowed at non-league level? Pep Guardiola wants B teams, but he is used to Spanish leagues which has nowhere near the depth of support below the top division that we have in England, and B teams fit presumanly quite comfortably.