Football League Trophy

History

The history of the Associate Members' Cup and Football League Trophy can be traced back to the Anglo-Scottish Cup that ran between 1970 and 1981 (sponsored by Texaco between 1970 and 1975). This ended in 1981 when the Scottish clubs withdrew, and instead a version containing just English clubs, called the Football League Group Cup (FLGC), was competed for in 1981-82. The entrants were 24 Second, Third and Fourth Division teams, including Reading, divided into six regional groups, the winners going on to the knock-out stages. Reading were eliminated at the group stage. A change of name, to the Football League Trophy, and the addition of two First Division clubs, Watford and Norwich, in 1982-83, did little to encourage interest. There were 32 entrants, divided into eight regional groups. Reading won through their group, beat first division Watford 5-3 in the quarter final, but went out to the eventual winners, Millwall, in the semi-final.

The Football League Trophy proper was founded in 1983-84 as the Associate Members' Cup (AMC), a competition open to the Third and Fourth Division teams (Associate Members) of the Football League. It was organised into Northern and Southern regions, corresponding to the old Division 3 South and Division 3 North Cups, but with a play-off between the two regional winners. A similar Full Members' Cup was started in 1985. The distinction between Full and Associate Members of the Football League was abolished with the formation of the Premier League in 1992, and the name of the competition reverted to the Football League Trophy (FLT). Various innovations have been tried, including admitting the leading Conference clubs between 2000 and 2006, and Category One Academy Sides from 2016. Reading Under 21s competed in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Their results are not included in the main competition records, but are listed separately below.

Finals

The full details of the finals of the various competitions are given on a separate page. The first three finals were played at one of the competitors' grounds. Subsequent finals have been held at Wembley Stadium or the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff (2001-07). A summary of the winners is as follows: Bristol City (3), Birmingham City (2), Blackpool (2), Bolton Wanderers (2), Carlisle United (2), Grimsby Town (2), Port Vale (2), Rotherham United (2), Stoke City (2), Swansea City (2), Wigan Athletic (2), AFC Bournemouth (1), Barnsley (1), Chesterfield (1), Coventry City (1), Crewe Alexandra (1), Doncaster Rovers (1), Lincoln City (1), Luton Town (1), Mansfield Town (1), Millwall (1), Milton Keynes Dons (1), Peterborough Utd (1), Portsmouth (1), Salford City (1), Southampton (1), Sunderland (1), Tranmere Rovers (1), Wolverhampton W (1), Wrexham (1).

Summary of Results

PL W D L GF GA GD P3/PL
TOTAL 44 17 9 18 78 80 −2 1.364
HOME 21 12 3 6 48 33 +15 1.857
AWAY 23 5 6 12 30 47 −17 0.913

Results by Opponent

PL W D L GF GA GD P3
1 Aldershot Town1 4 2 1 1 13 8 +5 7
2 Oxford United 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 6
3 Exeter City 2 1 1 0 11 2 +9 4
4 Leyton Orient2 4 1 1 2 2 5 −3 4
5 AFC Bournemouth 4 1 1 2 5 10 −5 4
6 Swindon Town 1 1 0 0 5 0 +5 3
7 Arsenal U21 1 1 0 0 5 2 +3 3
8 Northampton Town 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 3
9 Bristol Rovers 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3
= Colchester United 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3
11 Hereford United 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3
12 Swansea City 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
13 Fulham 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
14 Watford 2 1 0 1 6 7 −1 3
15 Barnet 2 1 0 1 3 5 −2 3
16 Brighton & Hove A 2 0 2 0 3 3 0 2
17 Charlton Athletic 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
18 Brighton & HA U21 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
19 Bristol City 2 0 1 1 1 5 −4 1
20 Millwall 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0
21 Brentford 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0
22 Southend United 2 0 0 2 1 9 −8 0
1 includes Aldershot
2 includes Orient

Summary of Results (U21)

PL W D L GF GA GD P3/PL
TOTAL 8 1 3 4 15 21 −6 0.750
HOME 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0.000
AWAY 7 1 3 3 15 19 −4 0.857

Results by Opponent (U21)

PL W D L GF GA GD P3
1 Bristol Rovers 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 3
2 Colchester United 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1
= Portsmouth 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1
4 Southampton U21 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
5 Southend United 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0
6 Gillingham 1 0 0 1 5 7 −2 0
7 Yeovil Town 2 0 0 2 2 6 −4 0