2019–20 EFL Trophy
# 2019–20 EFL Trophy

The 2019–20 EFL Trophy, known as the Leasing.com Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 38th season in the history of the competition, a knock-out tournament for English football clubs in League One and League Two of the English football system, and also including 16 Premier League and Championship "Academy teams" with Category One status. Due to their financial crisis, Bury were expelled from the EFL and automatically eliminated from the competition as well.

Portsmouth were the defending champions, and reached the final once again. They were beaten on penalties by Salford City after a 0–0 draw. The final was held on March 13, 2021, having been delayed 11 months as the originally scheduled date of April 5, 2020 was just after suspension of English football due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Participating clubs

* 48 clubs from League One and League Two.
* 16 invited Category One Academy teams.
* Expelled clubs were automatically eliminated from the tournament.
* Category One teams relegated to League One missed out on having academies participate in the following tournament.

| | League One | League Two | Academies |
| - | - | - | - |
| Clubs | Accrington Stanley AFC Wimbledon Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Bristol Rovers Burton Albion Bury Coventry City Doncaster Rovers Fleetwood Town Gillingham Ipswich Town Lincoln City Milton Keynes Dons Oxford United Peterborough United Portsmouth Rochdale Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Sunderland Tranmere Rovers Wycombe Wanderers | Bradford City Cambridge United Carlisle United Cheltenham Town Colchester United Crawley Town Crewe Alexandra Exeter City Forest Green Rovers Grimsby Town Leyton Orient Macclesfield Town Mansfield Town Morecambe Newport County Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Salford City Scunthorpe United Stevenage Swindon Town Walsall | Arsenal Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea Everton Fulham Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Norwich City Southampton Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Total | 23 | 24 | 16 |

## Eligibility criteria for players

### For EFL clubs

* Minimum of four qualifying outfield players in their starting XI. A qualifying outfield player will be one who meets any of the following requirements:
   * Any player who started the previous or following first-team fixture.
   * Any player who is in the top 10 players at the club, who have made the most starting appearances in league and domestic cup competitions that season.
   * Any player with 40 or more first-team appearances in their career.
   * Any player on loan from a Premier League club or any EFL Category One Academy club.
* A club can play any eligible goalkeeper in the competition

### For invited teams

* Minimum of six players in the starting line-up who played at under-21 level, as at 30 June 2019.
* Teams may only include two players on the team sheet who are over the age of 21 and have made forty or more senior appearances, as at 30 June 2019.
   * A senior appearance will be defined as having played in a professional first-team fixture. A non-playing substitute does not count.

## Competition format

### Group stage

* Sixteen groups of 4 teams would be organised on a regionalised basis.
* All groups would include one invited club.
* All clubs would play each other once, either home or away (Academies play all group matches away from home).
* Clubs would be awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw.
* In the event of a drawn game (after 90 minutes), a penalty shootout would be held with the winning team earning an additional point.
* Clubs expelled from the EFL will be knocked out of the tournament automatically.
* The top two teams would progress to the Knockout Stage.

### Knockout stage

* Round 2 and 3 of the competition will be drawn on a regionalised basis.
* In Round 2, the group winners shall be seeded and the group runners-up shall be unseeded in the draw.
* In Round 2, teams who played in the same group as each other in the Group Stage shall keep apart from each other.

## Group stage

### Northern Section

**Group A**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ACA | Leicester City U21 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Scunthorpe United | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | Sunderland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 3 | |
| 4 | L2 | Grimsby Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 0 | |

**Group B**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L1 | Accrington Stanley | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Fleetwood Town | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L2 | Oldham Athletic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 3 | |
| 4 | ACA | Liverpool U21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 1 | |

**Group C**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L2 | Salford City | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Tranmere Rovers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | ACA | Aston Villa U21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 | |
| 4 | L1 | Bury (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Automatically disqualified from competition |

* ↑ It was known as the Papa John's Trophy for the Final due to the sponsorship changing for the 2020–21 season, with the 2020 Final having been delayed by a year. Leasing.com no longer sponsor the competition in 2021.
* ↑ This group originally included the expelled Bury.

**Group D**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L2 | Port Vale | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Shrewsbury Town | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L2 | Macclesfield Town | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | ACA | Newcastle United U21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | |

**Group E**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ACA | Everton U21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Mansfield Town | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L2 | Crewe Alexandra | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 | |
| 4 | L1 | Burton Albion | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |

**Group F**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ACA | Manchester City U21 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Bolton Wanderers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | Rochdale | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 5 | |
| 4 | L2 | Bradford City | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 2 | |

**Group G**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L1 | Blackpool | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | ACA | Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L2 | Morecambe | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | |
| 4 | L2 | Carlisle United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 3 | |

**Group H**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ACA | Manchester United U21 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Doncaster Rovers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | Lincoln City | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | L1 | Rotherham United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 | |

### Southern Section

**Group A**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L2 | Colchester United | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Ipswich Town | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | Gillingham | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 3 | |
| 4 | ACA | Tottenham Hotspur U21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 2 | |

**Group B**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L1 | Portsmouth | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 8 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Oxford United | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 7 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | ACA | Norwich City U21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | L2 | Crawley Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | |

**Group C**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ACA | Brighton & Hove Albion U21 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Leyton Orient | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | AFC Wimbledon | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | L1 | Southend United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | |

**Group D**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L2 | Walsall | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 7 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Coventry City | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L2 | Forest Green Rovers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 5 | |
| 4 | ACA | Southampton U21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 0 | |

**Group E**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L2 | Exeter City | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Newport County | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 3 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | ACA | West Ham United U21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | L2 | Cheltenham Town | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 3 | |

**Group F**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L1 | Bristol Rovers | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | ACA | Chelsea U21 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L2 | Plymouth Argyle | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 | |
| 4 | L2 | Swindon Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | |

**Group G**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L1 | Milton Keynes Dons | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Stevenage | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | ACA | Fulham U21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | L1 | Wycombe Wanderers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |

**Group H**

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L1 | Peterborough United | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Northampton Town | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | ACA | Arsenal U21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | L2 | Cambridge United | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 1 | |
