The 2025/26 EFL season is well nearing its halfway, and all 72 teams are now beginning to gain an understanding of what they will be playing for come May, while others, namely Sheffield Wednesday, are already resigned to their fate.
For all 48 teams in Leagues One and Two, there is also the small matter of the Vertu Trophy, which got underway at the beginning of September. The group stages are now complete and only 32 teams remain as the race for Wembley heats up.
The tournament has been named various things over the years for sponsorship reasons, but the premise has remained the same; it's a chance for clubs in the bottom two divisions of the EFL to win a trophy.
Last year, the Vertu trophy was won by Peterborough United for the second consecutive year, after they defeated Birmingham City at Wembley Stadium in April. Posh will be looking to make it a hat-trick of successes this year, but Birmingham won't be taking part after securing promotion to the Championship.
With the group stages of the Vertu Trophy now complete, learn everything you need to know about the competition, including round dates and format, below.
Vertu Trophy 2025/26: Round of 32 draw
The Round of 32 draw took place on 13 November. The draw is as follows:
Northern section
- Lincoln City v Huddersfield Town
- Doncaster Rovers v Chesterfield
- Tranmere Rovers v Fleetwood Town
- Salford City v Rotherham United
- Port Vale v Barnsley
- Harrogate Town v Blackpool
- Bolton Wanderers v Bradford City
- Crewe Alexandra v Stockport County
Southern section
- Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United
- Swindon Town v Peterborough United
- Cardiff City v AFC Wimbledon
- Northampton Town v Wycombe Wanderers
- Colchester United v West Ham United U21
- Luton Town v Exeter City
- Stevenage v Walsall
- Leyton Orient v Plymouth Argyle
All matches will take place on either Tuesday, 2 December or Wednesday, 3 December.
EFL Trophy 2025/26 group stage draw
The Vertu Trophy group stage draw took place on 26 June. Full draw was as follows:
Northern section
- Group A: Salford, Stockport, Wigan, Wolves U21
- Group B: Barrow, Blackpool, Tranmere, Nottingham Forest U21
- Group C: Bradford, Doncaster, Grimsby, Everton U21
- Group D: Barnsley, Lincoln, Notts County, Man Utd U21
- Group E: Bolton, Oldham, Rotherham, Man City U21
- Group F: Harrogate, Huddersfield, Mansfield, Newcastle U21
- Group G: Accrington, Fleetwood, Port Vale, Leeds U21
- Group H: Burton, Chesterfield, Crewe, Newcastle U21
Southern section
- Group A: Cardiff, Exeter, Newport, Arsenal U21
- Group B: Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham, Plymouth, Tottenham Hotspur U21
- Group C: Northampton, Shrewsbury, Walsall, Chelsea U21
- Group D: MK Dons, Reading, Swindon, West Ham U21
- Group E: AFC Wimbledon, Bromley, Stevenage, Crystal Palace U21
- Group F: Crawley, Leyton Orient, Peterborough, Aston Villa U21
- Group G: Colchester, Gillingham, Wycombe, Fulham U21
- Group H: Barnet, Cambridge, Luton, Brighton U21
Vertu Trophy: Format explained
The Vertu Trophy includes all 24 teams in League One and Two, as well as 16 Premier League under-21 teams from Category One academies. All 64 teams enter the group stage, which is split into 16 regional groups of four clubs – with eight in the Northern region and eight in the Southern region.
As per the EFL: “The 16 invited under-21 teams will be placed into their respective Northern and Southern regional Groups, with the 48 EFL Clubs placed into pre-determined Groups prior to the draw.
“Consideration has been given to ensure travel time is minimised and recovery time is maximised for players.”
The top two teams in each group will then advance to the Round of 32, with the group winners seeded and the runners-up unseeded. The Round of 32, Round of 16 and quarter-finals are also regionalised.
The final is typically played in April at Wembley, with the biggest crowd coming in 2019 when over 85,000 people came to watch Portsmouth take on Sunderland.
Vertu Trophy key dates 2025/26
The following schedule is what is pencilled in by the EFL for the 2025/26 Vertu Trophy
- Matchday one – W/C 01/09/25
- Matchday two – W/C 15/09/25
- Matchday three – W/C 22/09/25
- Matchday four – W/C 29/09/25
- Matchday five – W/C 06/10/25
- Matchday six – W/C 13/10/25
- Matchday seven – W/C 27/10/25
- Matchday eight – W/C 03/11/25
- Matchday nine – W/C 10/11/25
- Round of 32 – WC/01/12/25
- Round of 16 – TBC
- Quarter-finals – TBC
- Semi-finals – TBC
- Final – 12/04/26
Wembley erupts as Peterborough United RETAIN their Vertu Trophy title 🎇
It's all kicking off on the pitch between the Posh and the League One champions Birmingham City 😬 pic.twitter.com/o8DH5xFtix
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) April 13, 2025
Premier League academy sides' best performances in the Vertu Trophy
Since 2016, the EFL have allowed 16 category one Premier League and Championship teams to join the competition, with organisers believing that it has a positive impact on young players' development.
The best performance of any academy side in the Vertu Trophy so far was back in 2018 when Chelsea made it all the way to the semi-finals. They were desperately close to reaching the final, too, but ultimately lost to Lincoln City in a penalty shootout.
During the 2024/25 edition of the tournament, the furthest any academy side got was the Round of 16. Aston Villa were the only academy side to reach this stage, where they ultimately lost 3-1 to Bradford City at Villa Park.
Vertu Trophy prize money
The prize money for the 2025/26 Vertu Trophy has been confirmed as follows:
- EFL clubs' participation: £20,000 per club
- Group stage win: £10,000
- Group stage draw: £5,000
- Round of 32 win: £20,000
- Round of 16 win: £40,000
- Quarter-finals win: £50,000
- Semi-finals win: £50,000
- Final win: £100,000
List of EFL Trophy finals
- 1981-82 – Grimsby Town 3-2 Wimbledon
- 1982-83 – Millwall 3-2 Lincoln City
- 1983-84 – Bournemouth 2-1 Hull City
- 1984-85 – Wigan Athletic 3-1 Brentford
- 1985-86 – Bristol City 3-0 Bolton Wanderers
- 1986-87 – Mansfield Town 1-1 Bristol City (Mansfield Town won 5-4 on penalties)
- 1987-88 – Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Burnley
- 1988-89 – Bolton Wanderers 4-1 Torquay United
- 1989-90 – Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Bristol Rovers
- 1990-91 – Birmingham City 3-2 Tranmere Rovers
- 1991-92 – Stoke City 1-0 Stockport County
- 1992-93 – Port Vale 2-1 Stockport County
- 1993-94 – Swansea City 1-1 Huddersfield Town (Swansea won 3-1 on penalties)
- 1994-95 – Birmingham City 1-0 Carlisle United
- 1995-96 – Rotherham United 2-1 Shrewsbury Town
- 1996-97 – Carlisle United 0-0 Colchester United (Carlisle United won 4-3 on penalties)
- 1997-98 – Grimsby Town 2-1 Bournemouth (aet)
- 1998-99 – Wigan Athletic 1-0 Millwall
- 1999-00 – Stoke City 2-1 Bristol City
- 2000-01 – Port Vale 2-1 Brentford
- 2001-02 – Blackpool 4-1 Cambridge United
- 2002-03 – Bristol City 2-0 Carlisle United
- 2003-04 – Blackpool 2-0 Southend United
- 2004-05 – Wrexham 2-0 Southend United (aet)
- 2005-06 – Swansea City 2-1 Carlisle United
- 2006-07 – Doncaster City 3-2 Bristol Rovers (aet)
- 2007-08 – MK Dons 2-0 Grimsby Town
- 2008-09 – Luton Town 3-2 Scunthorpe United (aet)
- 2009-10 – Southampton 4-1 Carlisle United
- 2010-11 – Carlisle United 1-0 Brentford
- 2011-12 – Chesterfield 2-0 Swindon Town
- 2012-13 – Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Southend United
- 2013-14 – Peterborough United 3-1 Chesterfield
- 2014-15 – Bristol City 2-0 Walsall
- 2015-16 – Barnsley 3-2 Oxford United
- 2016-17 – Coventry City 2-1 Oxford United
- 2017-18 – Lincoln City 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
- 2018-19 – Portsmouth 2-2 Sunderland (Portsmouth won 5-4 on penalties)
- 2019-20 – Salford City 0-0 Portsmouth (Salford City won 4-2 on penalties)
- 2020-21 – Sunderland 1-0 Tranmere Rovers
- 2021-22 – Rotherham United 4-2 Sutton United (aet)
- 2022-23 – Bolton Wanderers 4-0 Plymouth Argyle
- 2023-24 – Peterborough United 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers
- 2024-25 – Birmingham City 0-2 Peterborough United