The competition was inaugurated as the Associate Members' Cup in the 1983–84 season and followed on from the short-lived Football League Group Cup.[2] The competition was renamed the Football League Trophy in 1992. This was in the same year of the reorganisation 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.[3]
The competition was renamed again in 2016, becoming the EFL Trophy, coinciding with the Football League rebranding to the English Football League.[4] The first season under the new name saw sixteen Category One academies, of Premier League and Championship clubs, join the competition, a move which has been criticised for attempting to insert Premier League 'B', or academy U21 teams into the English football pyramid.[5]
User Posted Link
Posted By: jampersands, Dec 9, 16:28:43
Written & Designed By Ben Graves 1999-2025