The 2025–26 EFL Trophy, known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 45th season in the history of the competition, and was a knock-out tournament for clubs in EFL League One and League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system, as well as the "Academy teams" of 16 Premier League teams.
The defending champions were Peterborough United, who defeated Birmingham City 2–0 in the previous season's final, but they were knocked out of round of 32 by Swindon Town. They had won two consecutive EFL Trophy finals, after beating Wycombe Wanderers in the 2024 final and were the first team to retain the trophy.
Participating clubs 48 clubs from League One and League Two. 16 invited Category One Academy teams.
League OneLeague TwoAcademiesClubsAFC Wimbledon 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 Wycombe WanderersAccrington 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 Dons Newport County Notts County Oldham Athletic Salford City Shrewsbury Town Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Walsall Arsenal Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Fulham Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wolverhampton WanderersTotal242416
Eligibility criteria for players For EFL clubsEFL: "EFL Trophy Rules Season 2021/22" Minimum of four qualifying outfield players in their starting XI. A qualifying outfield player was one who met any of the following requirements: Any player who started the previous or following first-team fixture. Any player who is in the top 10 players at the club who has made the most starting appearances in league and domestic cup competitions this season. Any player with forty or more first-team starting appearances in their career, including International matches. Any player on loan from a Premier League club or any EFL Category One Academy club. A club can play any eligible goalkeeper in the competition. Any player out on a long loan term at a National League, National League North, or National League South team can play as long as the loaning team agree to allow the player to return for the match.
For invited teams Minimum of six players in the starting line-up who are aged under 21 on 30 June 2025. Maximum of two players on the team sheet who are aged over 21 and have also made forty or more senior appearances.
Competition format Group stage Sixteen groups of four teams will be organised on a regionalised basis. All groups will include one invited club. All clubs will play each other once, either home or away (academy sides will play all group matches away from home). Clubs will be awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw. In the event of a drawn game (after 90 minutes), a penalty shoot-out will be held with the winning team earning an additional point. Clubs expelled from the EFL will be knocked out of the tournament automatically. The top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout stage. In an Event of which group stage match has been postponed, the Postponed Group stage match will be rescheduled to a no further date than the second Tuesday of November 2025. Knockout stage The Round of 32, the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals of the competition will be drawn on a regionalised basis, even with the reinstated teams. In Round 2, the group winners will be seeded and the group runners-up will be unseeded in the draw. Semi-final pairings are determined by means of an unseeded draw with no regionalisation.
Group stage The group stage draw was announced on 24 June 2025, with the Academy teams being drawn on 25 June 2025.
Northern section Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Southern section Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Round of 32
The Round of 32 draw took place live on Sky Sports News on Thursday, 13 November at 14:30 GMT.
Northern section
GroupWinners(seeded in round of 32 draw)Runners-up(unseeded in round of 32 draw)ASalford CityStockport CountyBTranmere RoversBlackpoolCDoncaster RoversBradford CityDLincoln CityBarnsleyEBolton WanderersRotherham UnitedFHarrogate TownHuddersfield TownGPort ValeFleetwood TownHCrewe AlexandraChesterfield
Southern section
GroupWinners(seeded in round of 32 draw)Runners-up(unseeded in round of 32 draw)ACardiff CityExeter CityBBristol RoversPlymouth ArgyleCNorthampton TownWalsallDSwindon TownWest Ham United U21EStevenageAFC WimbledonFLeyton OrientPeterborough UnitedGColchester UnitedWycombe WanderersHLuton TownCambridge United
Round of 16 The Round of 16 was drawn on 6 December 2025.
Northern section
Southern section
Quarter-finals The quarter-final draw was made on 17 January 2026 Northern section
Southern section
Semi-finals The semi-final draw was made on 12 February 2026
Final
References