2022–23 EFL Trophy


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The 2022–23 EFL Trophy, known as the Papa John's Trophy for sponsorship reasons, the 42nd season in the history of the competition, was a knock-out tournament for clubs in EFL League One and League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system, as well as the "Academy teams" of 16 Premier League clubs with Category One status.[1]

2022–23 EFL Trophy
Papa John's Trophy
Tournament details
CountryEngland
Wales
Teams64
Final positions
ChampionsBolton Wanderers (2nd title)
Runner-upPlymouth Argyle
Tournament statistics
Top goal scorer(s)Tom Cannon (5 goals)

The defending champions were Rotherham United but they were unable to defend their trophy due to their promotion to the EFL Championship.

Bolton Wanderers won the trophy for the second time, defeating Plymouth Argyle 4–0 in the final.[2]

League One League Two Academies
Clubs
Total 24 24 16

Eligibility criteria for players

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For EFL clubs[3]
  • Minimum of four qualifying outfield players in their starting XI. A qualifying outfield player was one who met 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 has made the most starting appearances in league and domestic cup competitions this season.
    • Any player with forty or more first-team starting appearances in their career, including International matches.
    • 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.
  • Any player out on a long loan term at a National League, National League North, or National League South team can play as long as the loaning team agree to allow the player to return for the match.
For invited teams[3]
  • Minimum of six players in the starting line-up who are aged under 21 on 30 June 2022.
  • Maximum of two players on the team sheet who are aged over 21 and have also made forty or more senior appearances.
Group stage
  • Sixteen groups of four teams will be organised on a regionalised basis.
  • All groups will include one invited club.
  • All clubs will play each other once, either home or away (Academies will as always play all group matches away from home).
  • Clubs will 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 shoot-out will 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 in each group will 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 will be seeded and the group runners-up will be unseeded in the draw.
  • In Round 2, teams who played in the same group as each other in the group stage will be kept apart.[4]
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 ACA Everton U21 3 1 1 1 0 10 4 +6 6 Advance to Round 2
2 L1 Morecambe 3 0 2 0 1 4 5 −1 4
3 L2 Harrogate Town 3 1 0 1 1 3 4 −1 4
4 L2 Hartlepool United 3 1 0 1 1 2 6 −4 4
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Bolton Wanderers 3 2 0 1 0 9 3 +6 7 Advance to Round 2
2 L2 Tranmere Rovers 3 1 1 0 1 6 7 −1 5
3 ACA Leeds United U21 3 1 0 1 1 5 6 −1 4
4 L2 Crewe Alexandra 3 0 1 0 2 1 5 −4 2
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Port Vale 3 3 0 0 0 7 0 +7 9 Advance to Round 2
2 ACA Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 3 2 0 0 1 4 4 0 6
3 L2 Stockport County 3 1 0 0 2 2 3 −1 3
4 L1 Shrewsbury Town 3 0 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L2 Salford City 3 1 2 0 0 4 3 +1 7 Advance to Round 2
2 L1 Accrington Stanley 3 1 1 1 0 6 5 +1 6
3 L2 Rochdale 3 1 0 2 0 6 5 +1 5
4 ACA Liverpool U21 3 0 0 0 3 3 6 −3 0
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Lincoln City 3 2 0 0 1 6 2 +4 6 Advance to Round 2
2 L1 Barnsley 3 2 0 0 1 6 5 +1 6
3 L2 Doncaster Rovers 3 1 1 0 1 4 5 −1 5
4 ACA Newcastle United U21 3 0 0 1 2 0 4 −4 1
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L2 Grimsby Town 3 1 1 0 1 4 4 0 5 Advance to Round 2
2 L2 Mansfield Town 3 1 1 0 1 4 5 −1 5
3 ACA Manchester City U21 3 1 0 1 1 6 5 +1 4
4 L1 Derby County 3 1 0 1 1 5 5 0 4
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 ACA Manchester United U21 3 2 0 1 0 6 4 +2 7 Advance to Round 2
2 L2 Barrow 3 1 1 0 1 4 3 +1 5
3 L1 Fleetwood Town 3 0 1 2 0 4 4 0 4
4 L2 Carlisle United 3 0 1 0 2 2 5 −3 2
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Burton Albion 3 3 0 0 0 11 4 +7 9 Advance to Round 2
2 L2 Bradford City 3 1 0 1 1 5 7 −2 4
3 L1 Sheffield Wednesday 3 1 0 0 2 5 6 −1 3
4 ACA Leicester City U21 3 0 1 0 2 4 8 −4 2
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 Charlton Athletic 3 2 0 0 1 6 3 +3 6
3 L2 Gillingham 3 1 1 0 1 4 6 −2 5
4 ACA Brighton & Hove Albion U21 3 0 0 0 3 4 7 −3 0
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L2 AFC Wimbledon 3 2 0 1 0 6 4 +2 7 Advance to Round 2
2 L1 Portsmouth 3 1 1 1 0 8 3 +5 6
3 L2 Crawley Town 3 1 1 0 1 9 7 +2 5
4 ACA Aston Villa U21 3 0 0 0 3 3 12 −9 0
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 L1 Cheltenham Town 3 2 0 0 1 5 4 +1 6
3 ACA West Ham United U21 3 2 0 0 1 3 3 0 6
4 L2 Walsall 3 0 0 0 3 1 5 −4 0
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L2 Stevenage 3 3 0 0 0 6 1 +5 9 Advance to Round 2
2 L1 Peterborough United 3 1 0 1 1 5 3 +2 4
3 L1 Wycombe Wanderers 3 0 2 0 1 1 4 −3 4
4 ACA Tottenham Hotspur U21 3 0 0 1 2 0 4 −4 1
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Plymouth Argyle 3 2 1 0 0 5 2 +3 8 Advance to Round 2
2 L1 Bristol Rovers 3 2 0 1 0 6 1 +5 7
3 ACA Crystal Palace U21 3 1 0 0 2 2 3 −1 3
4 L2 Swindon Town 3 0 0 0 3 1 8 −7 0
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Forest Green Rovers 3 3 0 0 0 9 3 +6 9 Advance to Round 2
2 L2 Newport County 3 2 0 0 1 5 4 +1 6
3 L1 Exeter City 3 1 0 0 2 4 7 −3 3
4 ACA Southampton U21 3 0 0 0 3 3 7 −4 0
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 ACA Chelsea U21 3 2 0 0 1 5 4 +1 6 Advance to Round 2
2 L2 Sutton United 3 2 0 0 1 4 3 +1 6
3 L1 Oxford United 3 1 0 0 2 6 4 +2 3
4 L2 Leyton Orient 3 1 0 0 2 5 9 −4 3
Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Ipswich Town 3 2 0 0 1 8 1 +7 6 Advance to Round 2
2 ACA Arsenal U21 3 2 0 0 1 5 3 +2 6
3 L1 Cambridge United 3 2 0 0 1 3 2 +1 6
4 L2 Northampton Town 3 0 0 0 3 1 11 −10 0

[5]

The draw for the Round of 32 was made on Friday 11 November 2022, with ties scheduled to take place on the week commencing 21 November.[6] Despite finishing top of their group, Chelsea U21's match with Peterborough United was moved to London Road Stadium.[7] However, Everton U21 were kept as the home team in their tie against Mansfield Town, which was scheduled to take place at Goodison Park.[8] This round also saw two U21 teams, Manchester United U21 and Wolverhampton Wanderers U21, drawn together. In this case, after a consulation between both clubs and the EFL it was decided that the game would be played at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium, despite Manchester United U21 finishing first in their group.[9]

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 24 November 2022. [11] The matches for this round took place on 13 December 2022[12] except for two ties postponed due to frozen pitches.[13]

The draw for the Quarter-finals was held on 15 December 2022, with the teams no longer being separated geographically in the draw. The matches are scheduled for the week beginning 9 January 2023.[14]

The draw for the Semi-finals was held on 14 January 2023.[15]

  1. ^ "About The Competition". EFL.com. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Bolton win EFL Trophy final after smashing four past Plymouth". Guardian. 2 April 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b EFL: "EFL Trophy Rules Season 2021/22"
  4. ^ "EFL Trophy explained". Premier League. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  5. ^ Group Stage Draw
  6. ^ "Papa Johns Trophy: Round of 32 draw confirmed". www.efl.com. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  7. ^ "Peterborough United vs Chelsea U21". www.theposh.com. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  8. ^ "Everton U21s to play Mansfield Town at Goodison Park". www.toffeeweb.com. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  9. ^ "Details confirmed for Wolves v United cup tie". www.manutd.com. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  10. ^ "Match report for AFC Wimbledon 1 Sutton United 0". Sutton United.
  11. ^ "Round of 16 Draw on Thursday". EFL.
  12. ^ "Papa Johns Trophy: Round of 16 draw confirmed". EFL.
  13. ^ "Matches called off because of frozen pitches". BBC Sport. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  14. ^ "Papa Johns Trophy: Quarter-Final draw confirmed". www.efl.com. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  15. ^ "The Semi-Final Draw!". Papa Johns Trophy on Twitter. Retrieved 2023-01-14.