In 1983-4, the Associate Members of the FA were given their own competition to keep clubs busy once they had been knocked out of the major trophies-especially the FA Cup. The clubs came from the 3rd and 4th Divisions and played out in small groups of three teams until "semi-finals" which were actually regional finals North-South.
North winners (Hull City) then met South winners (Bournemouth), at Hull City's ground (it was going to be either Boothferry Park or Dean Court); decided by the toss of a coin. The competition was regarded as a success and soon, not only were lower Football League divisions involved but Non-League clubs too.
In 1984-5, the competition was renamed when sponsors, Freight Rover, gave a trophy which was won by Wigan Athletic over Brentford. Sherpa Van got their name on the trophy in 1987/8, then Leyland Daf, Autoglass in 1991, then Auto Windscreens. The competition grew to involve Second Division clubs, the 3rd/4th Divs and the top end of the Non-League Pyramid.
On April 24th 1994, in what was known as the AutoGlass Windscreens Trophy Final, Huddersfield Town and Swansea City had to rely on a 1-3 penalty shoot out to decide their tie, which after 90 minutes had been drawn 1-1.
The last time Huddersfield Town had been at Wembley was in April 1938, v Preston NE, losing to a George Mutch penalty 0-1. 93,000+ watched the last minute of extra time spot kick. This was the first full match broadcast on TV through the BBC, with estimated viewers of 10,000 and it was the first time an FA Cup final had been decided from the spot.
In 1922 Preston had lost to Huddersfield in what was described as "the worst Final of all time". The match was decided by a controversial penalty, when the "foul" was regarded by many as being outside the area, confirmed later by news reel! The Preston "amateur" goalkeeper, James Mitchell, (below) who wore glasses and a bandeau (forehead scarf), was dancing along his goal line, distracting the penalty taker by waving his arms. Despite this, Huddersfield Smith scored. NEXT, the FA decided on a new law that insisted that the goalkeeper should "keep still" before the penalty was taken. Thanks James.
48 teams contested the trophy until 2016-17 when Premier League "B"/Academy teams were invited, totalling 64 (if all invitations were accepted).
By 2000, LDV Vans were sponsors until 2006-7 when Johnstone's Paint took charge and sponsored the competition through to 2016. Checkatrade then did 2017-19 with 64 teams taking part, first sponsored by Leasing.com and now:
Bristol City has won the EFL Trophy 3 times and Birmingham C, Carlisle Utd,
Swansea C, Blackpool and Port Vale twice each.
No comments:
Post a Comment