Association football tournament in England

Football tournament
The English Football League Trophy, presently known as the Papa John’s Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English affiliation football knockout rival unfold to the 48 clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two, the third gear and fourthly tiers of the English football league system and, since the 2016–17 season, 16 under-21 sides from Premier League and EFL Championship clubs. [ 1 ] It is the third base most prestigious hard contest in English football after the FA Cup and EFL/League Cup.

It began in the 1983–84 temper as the Associate Members ‘ Cup, but in 1992, after the lower-division clubs became full members of the Football League, it was renamed the Football League Trophy. It was renamed again in 2016, as the EFL Trophy. [ 1 ] There had been an earlier competition called the Football League Trophy for one temper in 1982-83, but this is not considered to be the like contest. The first withdraw are made in August, then the rival runs as 16 regional groups, each containing four teams. The top two from each group qualify for the knockout stages before the two winners meet in recently March or early April in the concluding at England ‘s national stadium, Wembley. The basic north/south format of the competition has existed since its beginnings, with some Midlands and East Anglian clubs fluctuating between the north and south draws each season. early details have varied over the years, including in some years inviting club from the semi-professional Conference Premier, and holding a round-robin group stage anterior to moving into knockout rounds. The current ( 2020–21 ) champions are Sunderland, who beat Tranmere Rovers 1–0 in the 2021 final, which was played merely one day after Salford City won the previous season ‘s final, which had been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The most successful club is Bristol City, who have lifted the trophy three times, in 1986, 2003 and 2015, and were finalists in 1987 and 2000 .

history [edit ]

The competition was inaugurated as the Associate Members ‘ Cup in the 1983–84 season. It was like to but considered clear-cut from the Football League Trophy, previously known as the Football League Group Cup, which had taken place for the final examination time in the 1982-83 season. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The contest was renamed the Football League Trophy in 1992. This was in the lapp year of the reorganization that followed after Division One broke away to form the Premier League and the Football League became responsible for just the lower three professional divisions. [ 6 ] The contest was renamed again in 2016, becoming the EFL Trophy, coinciding with the Football League rebranding to the English Football League. [ 7 ] The first season under the new name saw sixteen Category One academies, of Premier League and Championship clubs, join the contest, a move which has been criticised for attempting to insert Premier League ‘B ‘, or academy U21 teams into the English football pyramid. [ 8 ]

format [edit ]

current format [edit ]

64 teams enter from Round One, including all 48 teams from League One and League Two, along with 16 class 1 Premier League and EFL Championship academy/under-21 sides. The competition now features 16 regional groups of four teams ( with eight groups in each of Northern and Southern sections ), with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stages, the first two rounds of which remain regionalised before an overt draw from the quarter-finals onwards. [ 1 ] [ 9 ] During the group phase, if the scores are level at the end of the match, then penalties are taken immediately without recourse to extra time. The winning team is awarded 2 points and the misplace team 1 decimal point. [ 10 ]

former formats [edit ]

In the first year of the tournament, the 48 eligible Third and Fourth Division clubs were split into North and South sections of 24 teams each. The inaugural round had 12 smasher ties in each section, and the second had six. In each section the two second-round losers with the ‘narrowest ‘ defeats were reprieved, and joined the six early clubs in the regional quarter-finals. [ 11 ] A major exchange was introduced for the 1985–86 tournament, with 8 three-team groups being set up in each of the two sections. Teams played one home and one away game and the group winners proceeded to the regional smasher stages. [ 12 ] This format was tweaked the following season, with two teams qualifying from each group, resulting in an extra ’round of 16 ‘ smasher stage in each segment. [ 13 ] For a number of seasons in the early to mid-1990s, the competition ran with merely seven three-team groups, two teams in each section receiving a bye into the knockout stages. [ 14 ] This was owing to League reorganization and the death of Aldershot and Maidstone United, which resulted in there being fewer than 48 teams in the 3rd and 4th levels. The group phase was abolished for the 1996–97 tournament ; alternatively, 8 teams in each section received a bye to the second base round, where they were joined by the 8 winners of the first-round ties.

For the 2000–01 competition, eight Football Conference sides besides played in the tournament, resulting in 12 ties in each of the north/south sections in the first round, with entirely four teams in each segment gaining a bye into the moment round off. The number of Conference entrants was increased to 12 starting in 2002–03, resulting in 14 first-round ties, and two teams in each regional section gaining a bye into the second round. league teams no longer participated from the 2006–07 tournament ahead, and the format reverted to 8 first-round teams in each section, with 8 sides gaining byes to the second round. [ 15 ]

Participants [edit ]

The contest has always been contested by all teams at Levels Three and Four of the English football league system. [ citation needed ] Since the 2016–17 season, sixteen Category One academies have taken part in the rival. [ 1 ] between 2000–01 and 2005–06 the competition was besides open to a certain number of Football Conference sides. These are listed by season below : [ 16 ]
Since the addition of the Category One academies in 2016–17, the following sides have competed in the competition :

Finals [edit ]

venue [edit ]

The final of the EFL Trophy is held at the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium in London, the English national football stadium. The first gear final examination in 1984 was due to be played at the then Wembley Stadium, but owing to damage caused to the gear during the Horse of the Year Show, [ 17 ] it was moved to Boothferry Park in Hull. From 2001 to 2007, during the rebuilding of the former Wembley, the Football League Trophy finals were played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. [ citation needed ]

Winners [edit ]

source : napit.co.uk [ 22 ] ( entirely until 2010 )

Records [edit ]

Attendances [edit ]

The overall record attendance for the final is 85,021, set at the newfangled Wembley stadium in 2019 by Portsmouth and Sunderland. The record attendance for the concluding at the erstwhile Wembley Stadium was 80,841, set in the 1988 final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley. [ 23 ] The record attendance for the concluding at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was 59,024, set in the 2007 concluding between Bristol Rovers and Doncaster Rovers. [ 24 ] The 2020 and 2021 finals are being played with no fans present, but clubs have raised money for jacob’s ladder by selling supporters virtual tickets. [ 25 ]
The highest attendance for any crippled apart from the final came on 5 February 2013 for the Northern Area final, when Coventry City lost to Crewe Alexandra 3–0 at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry ( they belated won the aside leg 2–0, going down 3–2 on aggregate ), in front of a crowd of 31,054. [ 26 ] The lowest attendance in the history of the contest came during the 2018–19 temper when barely 202 attended a Middlesbrough academy team ‘s 1–0 victory against Burton Albion in November 2018 at Burton ‘s Pirelli Stadium. [ 27 ] The gloomy attendance can be attributed to a far-flung boycott of the tournament by fans of the third base and fourth tier clubs as a consequence of the competition format changes implemented in 2016–17. ‘Category A ‘ Academy teams, besides known to fans as ‘B teams ‘, from the top floor clubs in the Premier League and Championship were introduced to the contest, a variety prove unpopular among football fans of the lower tier clubs. [ 28 ]

See besides [edit ]

References [edit ]