2022–23 EFL Trophy

The 2022–23 EFL Trophy, known as the Papa John's Trophy for sponsorship reasons, the 42nd season in the history of the competition, 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 clubs with Category One status.^[1]

The defending champions were Rotherham United but they were unable to defend their trophy due to their promotion to the EFL Championship.

Bolton Wanderers won the trophy for the second time, defeating Plymouth Argyle 4–0 in the final.^[2]

Participating clubs[edit]

• 48 clubs from League One and League Two.
• 16 invited Category One Academy teams.

Eligibility criteria for players[edit]

For EFL clubs^[3]

• 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^[3]

• Minimum of six players in the starting line-up who are aged under 21 on 30 June 2022.
• Maximum of two players on the team sheet who are aged over 21 and have also made forty or more senior appearances.

Competition format[edit]

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 (Academies will as always 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.

Knockout stage

• Round 2 and 3 of the competition will be drawn on a regionalised basis.
• In Round 2, the group winners will be seeded and the group runners-up will be unseeded in the draw.
• In Round 2, teams who played in the same group as each other in the group stage will be kept apart.^[4]

Group stage[edit]

Northern Section[edit]

Group A[edit]

Group B[edit]

Group C[edit]

Group D[edit]

Group E[edit]

Group F[edit]

Group G[edit]

Group H[edit]

Southern Section[edit]

Group A[edit]

Charlton Athletic v Gillingham

31 August 2022	Charlton Athletic	3–0	Gillingham	Charlton
19:00	Walker 15' (o.g.) Henry 52' Leaburn 59'	Report		Stadium: The Valley Attendance: 1,888 Referee: Sunny Gill

Group B[edit]

Group C[edit]

Group D[edit]

Stevenage v Tottenham Hotspur U21

18 October 2022	Stevenage	1–0	Tottenham Hotspur U21	Stevenage
19:00	Roberts 23'		John  48'  84'	Stadium: Broadhall Way Attendance: 1,449 Referee: Samuel Barrott

Wycombe Wanderers v Peterborough United

18 October 2022	Wycombe Wanderers	1–1 (4–3 p)	Peterborough United	High Wycombe
19:00	Horgan 60'		Clarke-Harris 83'	Stadium: Adams Park Attendance: 567 Referee: Paul Howard
	Penalties
	Horgan Wakely Obita Kaikai Wing Freeman		Clarke-Harris Watts Tomlinson Burrows Ward Edwards

Group E[edit]

Group F[edit]