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The Ins And Outs Of The English Football League Trophy

The nature of English football allows for breaks, different competitions to shine through on any given week, and a lot of variety both in the big clubs and the smaller ones. One such example of a competition that doesn’t receive a great deal of attention is the English Football League Trophy, also known as the EFL Trophy, which is also known as the Checkatrade Trophy. It’s a competition that has probably spent more time in the spotlight on Soccer AM than anywhere else since its inception, which is both an entertaining fact and a sad one at the same time.

This year’s tournament marks the 36th edition of the Trophy, which has always served as another way in which League One and League Two teams can push for a piece of silverware. That, in itself, has been the ‘base definition’ of how things have worked with the Trophy since it began, and it has taken on many different criticisms and forms of praise over the years. Some believe that it’s a great method in which lower placed clubs can make a run towards Wembley, whereas others continue to feel like it’s the Football League equivalent to the Carabao Cup – in the sense that not too many people care that much about it.

For what it’s worth, we think that people do care, but it’s just the ‘cool’ thing to do to mock it at every available turn. That’s the case with a lot of things in this game, and it’s a little bit sad that we still find ourselves in that position. As much as we can learn to agree that money is starting to progressively take over, in terms of what is and isn’t going to shape the future of football, we’d still like to believe that every competition holds some kind of value, and we’re even including some of the pre-season showdowns in that.

Perhaps the thing that’s tipping the Trophy over the edge for a lot of fans is the recent addition of under 21 teams from the Premier League clubs. It was an idea that was thrown out there a few years back, and the reception was pretty negative, to say the least. Still, even though it may come across as a bizarre idea to some, it seems to have helped several players to go out there and get some game time in an environment that suits their style of play. The negatives are there, but they don’t outweigh the positives in this particular situation.

Sure, it can be embarrassing for some clubs who lose to the under 21s teams, but that should only serve to motivate them further in their mission to win the competition. Eventually, after thinking that they probably didn’t need to put in so much effort given the stakes weren’t as high as the FA Cup, they’ll realise that the EFL Trophy is a much more logical avenue towards winning silverware. It may sound like we’re being a little bit repetitive in saying that, but it’s something that needs to be recognised by some fans who are choosing to be pessimistic.

Something else that we touched on was the fact that English football allows for a few ‘breaks’ from the trials and tribulations of domestic football, at least, for those teams and players who are lucky enough to have a big presence in the world of international football. For those who aren’t quite on that level there’s still plenty of domestic football to be played, with the Checkatrade (we hate the name too) Trophy being set to take centre stage this week. Sure, you may not enjoy everything that it has to offer, but at least you’re still able to sample non-international football.

Because as much as people want to claim otherwise, there isn’t that much of an appetite for the UEFA Nations League. It’s a nice idea in theory but the fact that there are still friendlies taking place makes the whole thing a little bit redundant because we were told that it’d serve as an alternative to pointless friendly matches. Sure, you could argue that the EFL Trophy doesn’t have as many stakes as some of these competitions either, but do you really want to live in a world without teams scraping and clawing to climb up the ladder?

We don’t, which is why we’re excited to have a quick look ahead to everything on display in the competition this week. There are some intriguing encounters from top to bottom, and while we know that there are still some who insist on protesting over the nature of these games, we’d encourage you to reconsider. Not only does this competition give you another chance to see your club live and in person, but it’s also a much better ‘Road to Wembley’ than the FA Cup, because nine times out of ten, the third and fourth tier sides don’t make it particularly far. You can say that’s harsh, but it’s the truth.

Checkatrade Trophy Preview

As we noted there are several intriguing games that have us interested this week, with one of the big ones being Doncaster Rovers vs Grimsby Town. As much as it may seem like another game that will pass us by without much of note happening, it’s a local derby of sorts between two clubs who have really passionate fanbases. They’re realistic about their respective expectations but they still know what it means to be situated towards the top of the table, and we’re interested to see how they’ll mesh together.

In terms of the Premier League’s big boys and what they’re going to try and achieve, Tottenham Hotspur’s U21s will travel to Gillingham for what should be an intriguing clash of styles. Wolves U21s will play Mansfield Town, Newcastle U21s will travel to Notts County, and we’ll also see a series of upper-Championship sides inserting their under 21s into the mix to see what they’re capable of. Sure, it might not be quite as ‘appealing’ for the L1 and L2 teams, but it’s a challenge all the same.

In regards to the Doncaster/Grimsby showdown we can see Donnie Rovers pulling off the victory, given that they’re probably one of the leading contenders for promotion to the Championship this season. When you forget about all of that, though, all that remains to do is sit back and watch a bunch of games that we can virtually guarantee are going to be entertaining. If they aren’t, then at least you can say you’ve given the ‘Checkatrade’ Trophy a chance when many others wouldn’t even give it the time of day.