The 2011–12 Football League Trophy, known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is the 31st season in the history of the competition. It is a knock-out tournament for English football clubs in League One and League Two, the third and fourth tiers of English football.
In all, 48 clubs will enter the competition. It is split into two sections, Northern and Southern, with the winners of each section contesting the final at Wembley Stadium.
Carlisle United are the defending champions, but were beaten by Accrington Stanley in the first round.
The winners of the competition were Chesterfield, beating Swindon Town 2-0 in the final.
First round The draw for the first round of the competition took place on 13 August 2011. Sixteen clubs were given a bye into the second round, and the remaining 32 clubs, including the holders, were divided into four geographical regions.
Northern section
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceNorth-West 1 Bury 0–0 Crewe Alexandra1,295 Crewe Alexandra won 4 – 2 on penalties 2 Tranmere Rovers 1–1 Port Vale 2,546 Tranmere Rovers won 4 – 2 on penalties 3 Walsall 2–1 Shrewsbury Town 2,605 4 Accrington Stanley 3–2 Carlisle United 1,069North-East 5 Scunthorpe United 2–0 Hartlepool United 1,763 6 Bradford City 0–0 Sheffield Wednesday 3,519 Bradford City won 3 –1 on penalties 7 Northampton Town 1–2 Huddersfield Town1,776 8 Burton Albion 1–2 Sheffield United2,725
Southern section
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceSouth-West 1 Bournemouth 4–1 Hereford United 2,489 2 Cheltenham Town 2–1 Torquay United 1,247 3 Exeter City 1–1 Plymouth Argyle 3,940 Exeter City won 3 – 0 on penalties 4 Wycombe Wanderers 3–1 Bristol Rovers 771South-East 5 Milton Keynes Dons 3–3 Brentford4,175 Brentford won 4 – 3 on penalties 6 Colchester United 1–3 Barnet1,747 7 Leyton Orient 1–1 Dagenham & Redbridge 1,420 Dagenham & Redbridge won 14 – 13 on penalties 8 Southend United 1–0 Crawley Town 2,053
Byes
Northern section Chesterfield, Macclesfield Town, Morecambe, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Preston North End, Rochdale, Rotherham United.
Southern section AFC Wimbledon, Aldershot Town, Charlton Athletic, Gillingham, Oxford United, Stevenage, Swindon Town, Yeovil Town.
Second round The second round draw took place on 3 September 2011, with matches played in the week commencing 3 October 2011.
Northern section
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceNorth-West 1 Accrington Stanley 0–1 Tranmere Rovers 1,509 Note: First match was abandoned 2 Morecambe 2–2 Preston North End 4,385 Preston North End won 7 – 6 on penalties 3 Crewe Alexandra 1–0 Macclesfield Town 2,271 4 Rochdale 1–1 Walsall 2,089 Rochdale won 3 – 1 on penaltiesNorth-East 5 Rotherham United 1–2 Sheffield United 6,737 6 Scunthorpe United 0–1 Oldham Athletic 2,106 7 Notts County 1–3 Chesterfield 2,293 8 Huddersfield Town 2–2 Bradford City 10,489 Bradford City won 4 – 3 on penalties
Southern section
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceSouth-West 1 Bournemouth 3–2 Yeovil Town 1,416 2 Wycombe Wanderers 1–3 Cheltenham Town 931 3 Aldershot Town 1–2 Oxford United 1,429 4 Exeter City 1–2 Swindon Town 2,627South-East 5 AFC Wimbledon 2–2 Stevenage 1,416 AFC Wimbledon won 4 – 3 on penalties 6 Charlton Athletic 0–3 Brentford 3,486 7 Gillingham 1–3 Barnet 1,278 8 Dagenham & Redbridge 1–3 Southend United 2,395
Area Quarter-finals The area quarter finals draw took place on 8 October 2011, with matches played in the week commencing 8 November 2011.
Northern section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance 1 Rochdale 1–1 Preston North End 2,395 Preston North End won 4 – 2 on penalties 2 Chesterfield 4–3 Tranmere Rovers 3,152 3 Sheffield United 1–1 Bradford City 5,692 Bradford City won 6 – 5 on penalties 4 Oldham Athletic 3–1 Crewe Alexandra 2,163
Southern section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance 1 Swindon Town 1–1 AFC Wimbledon 4.329 Swindon Town won 3 – 1 on penalties 2 Cheltenham Town 0–2 Barnet 1,388 3 Oxford United 0–1 Southend United 2,415 4 Brentford 6–0 Bournemouth 3,015
Area Semi-finals The area semi finals draw took place on 12 November 2011, with matches played in the week commencing 5 December 2011.
Northern section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance 1 Oldham Athletic 2–0 Bradford City 5,697 2 Preston North End 1–1 Chesterfield 5,835 Chesterfield won 4 – 2 on penalties
Southern section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance 1 Southend United 1–2 Swindon Town 3,981 2 Barnet 0–0 Brentford 1,970 Barnet won 5 – 3 on penalties
Area finals The area finals, which serve as the semi-finals for the entire competition, were contested over two legs, home and away. 1st Leg ties due to be played by 18 January 2012. A 2nd Leg tie will be played on Monday 30 January 2012 and another on 7 February 2012
Northern section
Chesterfield won 3–1 on aggregate
Southern section
Swindon Town won 2–1 on aggregate
Final
References
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20120328055822/http://www.football-league.co.uk/johnstonespainttrophy/news/20111207/trophy-area-finals-draw_2293332_2540268 07/12/2011
External links Official website