2025-26 EFL Trophy

The 2025-26 English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship reasons as the Vertu Trophy, is the tenth season that the competition has invited Category One development teams to participate. Sixteen development teams will join the 48 club sides from League One and League Two, split into sixteen regionalised groups of four. Development teams are required to field a minimum of six Under-21 players in their starting eleven, while Football League clubs must field a certain number of first team players.

In the event of a group game ending in a draw, there will be a penalty shootout whereby the victors can earn an additional point. Each team will face each other once, either at home or away. Development teams will play all group games away from home. The top two from each group then progress to Round 2, a last-32 knockout round, which remains regionalised with group winners and runners-up meeting. Round 3 is also regionalised before the quarter-final becomes a 'free draw'. The final is due to take place at Wembley Stadium in April 2025.

Teams

There is a minimum of one development team, one club side from League One and one club side from League Two in each group.

Development teams

There are sixteen Category One development teams participating in this season's competition: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Wolves

League One teams

Barnsley, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Burton Albion, Cardiff City, Doncaster Rovers, Exeter City, Huddersfield Town, Leyton Orient, Lincoln City, Luton Town, Mansfield Town, Northampton Town, Peterborough United, Plymouth Argyle, Port Vale, Reading, Rotherham United, Stevenage, Stockport County, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon, Wycombe Wanderers

League Two teams

Accrington Stanley, Barnet, Barrow, Bristol Rovers, Bromley, Cambridge United, Cheltenham Town, Chesterfield, Colchester United, Crawley Town, Crewe Alexandra, Fleetwood Town, Gillingham, Grimsby Town, Harrogate Town, Milton Keynes, Newport County, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Salford City, Shrewsbury Town, Swindon Town, Tranmere Rovers, Walsall

Group Stage

North

Group A

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Salford City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Stockport County	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Wigan Athletic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group B

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Barrow	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Blackpool	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Tranmere Rovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Nottingham Forest	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group C

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bradford City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Doncaster Rovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Grimsby	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Everton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group D

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Barnsley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Lincoln City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Notts County	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Manchester United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group E

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bolton Wanderers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Oldham Athletic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Rotherham United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Manchester City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group F

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Harrogate Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Huddersfield Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Mansfield Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Newcastle United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group G

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Accrington Stanley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Fleetwood Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Port Vale	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Leeds United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group H

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Burton Albion	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Chesterfield	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Crewe Alexandra	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Liverpool	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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South

Group A

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Cardiff City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Exeter City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Newport County	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Arsenal Under-21s	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group B

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bristol Rovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Cheltenham Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Plymouth Argyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Tottenham Hotspur	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group C

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Northampton Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Shrewsbury Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Walall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Chelsea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group D

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Milton Keynes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Reading	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Swindon Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	West Ham United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group E

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Wimbledon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Bromley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Stevenage	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Crystal Palace	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group F

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Crawley Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Leyton Orient	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Peterborough United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Aston Villa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group G

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Colchester United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Gillingham	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Wycombe Wanderers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Fulham	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group H

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Barnet	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Cambridge United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Luton Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Round Two

The last-32 knockout round remains regionalised and pits group winners against runners-up in a one-off tie, with the group winners afforded home advantage. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout determines the winner.

Round Three

The 16 winners from the previous knockout round advance to the final regionalised round of the competition.