2021-22 EFL Trophy

The 2021-22 English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship reasons as the Papa John's Trophy, is the sixth season that the competition has invited Category One development teams to participate following a successful trial period. 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 2022.

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, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Wolves

League One teams

Accrington Stanley, Bolton Wanderers, Burton Albion, Cambridge United, Charlton Athletic, Cheltenham Town, Crewe Alexandra, Doncaster Rovers, Fleetwood Town, Gillingham, Ipswich Town, Lincoln City, Milton Keynes, Morecambe, Northampton Town, Oxford United, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth, Rochdale, Rotherham United, Sheffield Wednesday Shrewsbury Town, Sunderland, Wigan Athletic, Wycombe Wanderers, Wimbledon

League Two teams

Barrow, Bradford City, Bristol Rovers, Carlisle United, Colchester United, Crawley Town, Exeter City, Forest Green Rovers, Harrogate Town, Hartlepool United, Leyton Orient, Mansfield Town, Newport County, Northampton Town, Oldham Athletic, Port Vale, Rochdale, Salford City, Scunthorpe United, Sutton United, Stevenage, Swindon Town, Tranmere Rovers, Walsall

Group Stage

North

Group A

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Carlisle United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Hartlepool United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Morecambe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Everton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group B

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Oldham Athletic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Tranmere Rovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Salford City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Leeds United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group C

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Crewe Alexandra	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Shrewsbury Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Wigan Athletic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Wolves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group D

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bolton Wanderers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Port Vale	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Rochdale	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Liverpool	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group E

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Doncaster Rovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Rotherham United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Scunthorpe United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Manchester City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Scunthorpe United v Manchester City

24 August 2021

Scunthorpe United	0-3	Manchester City
		Palmer '6 Bolton '24 McAtee '84

Glanford Park

Group F

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bradford City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Lincoln City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Sunderland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Man Utd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Lincoln City v Manchester United

24 August 2021

Lincoln City	3-2	Manchester United
Scully '23, '32, '57		McNeill '68 Hardley '89

Sincil Bank

Group G

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Accrington Stanley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Barrow	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Fleetwood Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Leicester City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group H

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

South

Group A

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	Ipswich Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	West Ham United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group B

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Wimbledon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Portsmouth	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Sutton United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Crystal Palace	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group C

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Burton Albion	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Milton Keynes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Wycombe Wanderers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Aston Villa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group D

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Forest Green Rovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Northampton Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Walsall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Brighton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group E

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	Exeter City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Chelsea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Exeter City v Chelsea

24 August 2021

Exeter City	1-1	Chelsea
Jay '90+2 (pen)		Fiabema '45
	Penalties
	3-4

St James Park

Group F

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Swindon Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Newport County	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Plymouth Argyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Arsenal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group G

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Crawley Town	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Charlton Athletic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Leyton Orient	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Southampton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group H

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Oxford United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Cambridge United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Stevenage	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Tottenham Hotspur	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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.

Top Goalscorers

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