2021–22 EFL Trophy

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EFL Trophy 2021–22
Region	England
Dates	31 August 2021–
Number of teams	64
Defending champions	Sunderland
← 2020–21	→

The 2021–22 EFL Trophy, known as the Checkatrade Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is the 38.th season in the history of the competition, a knock-out tournament for English football clubs in League One and League Two of the English football system, and also including 16 Premier League and Championship "B teams" with Category One status.

Participating clubs

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

	League One	League Two	Academies
Clubs	Accrington Stanley AFC Wimbledon Bolton Wanderers Burton Albion Cambridge United Charlton Athletic Cheltenham Town Doncaster Rovers Fleetwood Town Gillingham Ipswich Town Lincoln City Milton Keynes Dons Morecambe Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Rochdale Rotherham United Sheffield Wednesday Shrewsbury Town Sunderland Wigan Athletic Wycombe Wanderers	Barrow Bradford City Bristol Rovers Carlisle United Colchester United Crawley Town Exeter City Forest Green Rovers Harrogate Town Hartlepool United Leyton Orient Mansfield Town Newport County Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Port Vale Rochdale Salford City Scunthorpe United Stevenage Sutton United Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Walsall	Arsenal Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Southampton Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Total	24	24	16

Eligibility criteria for players

For EFL clubs

• 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 was in the top 10 players at the club who had made the most starting appearances in league and domestic cup competitions that season.
  • Any player with forty or more first-team appearances in their career.
  • Any player on loan from a Premier League club or any EFL Category One Academy club.
• A club could play any eligible goalkeeper in the competition.

Competition format

Group stage

• Sixteen groups of four teams were organised on a regionalised basis.
• All groups included one invited club.
• All clubs played each other once, either home or away (Academies played all group matches away from home).
• Clubs were 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 was held with the winning team earning an additional point.
• Clubs expelled from the EFL were knocked out of the tournament automatically.
• The top two teams progressed to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage

• Round 2 and 3 of the competition were drawn on a regionalised basis.
• In Round 2, the group winners were seeded and the group runners-up were unseeded in the draw.
• In Round 2, teams who played in the same group as each other in the group stage were kept apart from each other.
• Academy teams were kept apart from Round 2 to the semi-finals.

Group stage

Northern Section

Group A

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L2	Carlisle United	3	2	1	0	0	7	3	+4	8	Advance to Round 2
2	L2	Hartlepool United	3	1	1	1	0	6	5	+1	6
3	ACA	Everton U21	3	1	0	0	2	1	3	-2	3
4	L1	Morecambe	3	0	0	1	2	2	5	-3	1

Group B

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Tranmere Rovers	3	3	0	0	0	9	3	+6	9	Advance to Round 2
2	L1	Oldham Athletic	3	1	0	0	2	5	6	-1	3
3	L2	Salford City	3	1	0	0	2	5	6	-1	3
4	ACA	Leeds United U21	3	1	0	0	2	7	11	-4	3

Group C

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Crewe Alexandra	3	3	0	0	0	6	0	+6	9	Advance to Round 2
2	L1	Wigan Athletic	3	1	0	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	L1	Shrewsbury Town	3	1	0	0	2	3	4	-1	3
4	ACA	Wolverhampton U21	3	0	1	0	2	1	6	-5	2

Group D

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group E

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group F

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group G

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group H

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Southern Section

Group A

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group B

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group C

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group D

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group E

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group F

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group G

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Group H

Pos	Lge	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0	Advance to Round 2
2	L1		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
3	L2		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
4	ACA		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

External links

• Official website