2017 EFL Trophy Final


The 2017 EFL Trophy Final was an association football match which was played on 2 April 2017 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was played between Coventry City and Oxford United, both of League One, and decided the winner of the 2016–17 EFL Trophy, a knock-out tournament for the 48 teams in League One and League Two and 16 Category One Academy sides representing teams from the Premier League and EFL Championship. It was Coventry's first appearance in the final and the second for Oxford, who were runners up the previous year.
The game, which was refereed by Chris Sarginson, was played on a sunny day in front of a crowd of 74,434, the highest gate for the final since the opening of the new Wembley Stadium. Oxford dominated possession in the first half, but lacked sufficient potency in attack, and it was Coventry who led at half time, scoring through Gaël Bigirimana after 11 minutes with the first meaningful chance of the game. Ten minutes into the second half, George Thomas made it 2–0 to Coventry with a low volley from the edge of the penalty area. Liam Sercombe pulled a goal back for Oxford 12 minutes before the end, but despite a series of shots on goal in a last minute attack, they were unable to equalise and Coventry won 3–1 to earn their first major trophy since their victory in the 1987 FA Cup Final.
The win was a highlight for Coventry's supporters in what was otherwise a disappointing season, as they were relegated to League Two. Oxford were challenging for a play-off place in the league at the time of the final, but were unsuccessful finishing in eighth place. At the end of the season, representatives from EFL League One and League Two clubs voted to continue with the 64-team format for the following two seasons, a decision supported by Coventry manager Mark Robins but opposed by his opposite number Michael Appleton, who stated a preference for reverting to the format involving just League One and League Two clubs.

Background

The EFL Trophy was inaugurated as the Associate Members' Cup in the 1983–84 season and followed on from the short-lived Football League Group Cup. The competition was renamed to the Football League Trophy in 1992, and to the EFL Trophy in 2016, coinciding with the Football League rebranding to the English Football League. It is open to all 48 clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system and, starting with the 2016–17 season, sixteen Category One academy teams, representing clubs from the Premier League and Championship. The tournament originally used a straight knock-out format, but was modified in 2016–17 to incorporate an initial group stage. In the 2016–17 season, and for the three subsequent seasons, it was referred to by its sponsorship name, the Checkatrade Trophy. The 2016–17 tournament was the the 34th edition the competition.
Coventry City and Oxford United both appeared in the competition as a result of their membership of League One for the 2016–17 EFL League One season. Coventry were making their first appearance in a League Trophy final while for Oxford it was their second, following a 3–2 defeat to Barnsley in the previous season's match. Both teams had won a major Wembley cup final during the 1980s – Oxford in the 1986 Football League Cup Final in which they beat Queen's Park Rangers, and Coventry the following season in the 1987 FA Cup Final which they won against Tottenham Hotspur. The two sides had won one game each of the head-to-head league meetings that season. In the game at the Ricoh Arena in October 2016, Coventry were victorious by 2–1 with goals from Ben Stevenson and Marvin Sordell and a late consolation for Oxford by Dan Crowley. The return fixture at the Kassam Stadium a month later was won by Oxford with Kane Hemmings, Jamie Sterry, Chris Maguire and Alex MacDonald all scoring in a 4–1 rout.

Route to the final

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry's 2016–17 Football League Trophy campaign commenced in the group stage, competing in southern group D along with Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton Town, and a team from the West Ham United Academy. West Ham were one of sixteen academy teams from Premier League and EFL Championship clubs appearing following a revamp of the tournament's format in the summer of 2016. In their first match, played on 30 August 2016, they hosted the West Ham academy team at the Ricoh Arena. The game's attendance – 2,091, of whom just 98 were away supporters – setting a record for the lowest gate at a Coventry first-team game since their move to the stadium. West Ham took the lead against the run of play after 33 minutes with a Toni Martínez goal, but Coventry quickly equalised with Jordan Turnbull's first goal for the club. They took the lead early in the second half through Ruben Lameiras with a Jordan Willis goal and Turnbull's second sealing the win. The final score was 4–2 as Martínez scored a late consolation goal for the visitors.
Their second group game was at home to Northampton in early August, with an attendance – 2,085 – even lower than that of the West Ham game. Coventry took the lead after just 20 seconds through Dan Agyei but Northampton levelled 70 seconds after that through Marc Richards. Jodi Jones restored City's lead in the seventh minute and Lameiras scored in the second half to seal a 3–1 win. Both Coventry and Wycombe had already qualified for the last 32 when the teams met at Adams Park in November, but the match was relevant in determining which team would have home advantage in the next round, as group winner. Prioritising their league campaign over the Trophy, they fielded a weakened team with just five starters from the previous league game – the minimum permitted under competition rules. The hosts took a 2–0 lead through Stephen McGinn and Scott Kashket but a brace from Ryan Haynes and a George Thomas tap-in, all in the space of nine second-half minutes, turned the match around. Jones added another to make it 4–2 to Coventry.
The Sky Blues' first fixture in the knock-out phase was against Crawley Town at the Ricoh Arena. The match came amid a poor run of form for Coventry, and the crowd of 1,338 represented the third time the stadium's low attendance record for a first-team game had been broken in the 2016–17 competition. Marvin Sordell scored the only goal after 35 minutes, in a game which lacked quality by either side. On 10 January 2017, Coventry played their last-16 game against the Brighton & Hove Albion Academy team. With a line-up significantly changed from their regular league team, they played their best football of the tournament so far. Goals from Lameiras, Thomas and Haynes secured a comfortable 3–0 win and passage to the quarter finals.
The quarter final match was played later in January, as City travelled to Wales for a match against the academy side of Swansea City F.C. After a lacklustre first half, Swansea won a penalty after the interval when Haynes fouled Oli McBurnie. The Swansea striker took the kick and put his side in front. Coventry then equalised close to the end of normal time through an own goal by Adnan Maric, as he fought for a header with Jordan Willis in the penalty area. The game went to a penalty shoot-out, which Coventry won 4–2. Thomas, Gaël Bigirimana, Kyel Reid and Lameiras all scored their kicks while goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook saved penalties by Swansea's Botti Biabi and George Byers.
Coventry's semi-final saw them play Wycombe Wanderers for the second time in the campaign, this time at the Ricoh Arena. A crowd of 11,672 watched the game and it was also televised on Sky Sports. Coventry scored two early goals through Stuart Beavon and George Thomas, and looked comfortable at half-time with a 2–0 lead. Wycombe were much stronger in the second half, buoyed by the arrival of striker Adebayo Akinfenwa. Akifenwa pulled a goal back on 55 minutes and Wycombe dominated remainder of the match, launching a succession of attacks on the City goal. But Coventry hung on, the 2–1 victory earning them their first match at Wembley Stadium since the 1987 FA Charity Shield match, which followed their triumph in the FA Cup.

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford were placed in southern Group C for the group phase, alongside Exeter City and Swindon Town. Like Coventry, they also faced a premier league academy side, that of Chelsea. Their opener was against Exeter at the Kassam Stadium in late August. Tyler Roberts opened the scoring for Oxford early in the game and Chris Maguire doubled their lead on 35 minutes with a penalty. Goals from Matt Jay and Liam McAlinden drew the Devon side level, but strikes by Ryan Taylor and Alex MacDonald in the final 20 minutes sealed a 4–2 win for United. For their second match on 4 October 2016, they made the journey down the A420 to local rivals Swindon Town. It was an ill-tempered game with multiple yellow cards issued, and a straight red card before half time for MacDonald, after he stamped on Swindon's Anton Rodgers. The game finished 0–0, the drawn fixture leading to a penalty shoot-out due to the unusual format of the competition, the winner scoring two points in the group table and the loser just one. Five of the nine penalties taken were saved, but Swindon keeper Will Henry recorded three of those and Oxford's Simon Eastwood only two, resulting in a 3–1 shoot-out win for Swindon.
Oxford travelled to Stamford Bridge for their final group game on 8 November, to face the Chelsea Academy team. United needed just one point to secure qualification, while their hosts were already eliminated following defeats, but it was Chelsea who scored first through Josimar Quintero, shortly before half time. The young Chelsea team appeared to be on the verge of their first ever win in the tournament until Kane Hemmings scored an equaliser for Oxford in injury time at the end of the game. The game therefore went to penalties to decide who would take the bonus point. With 34 penalties taken, 17 by each side, the shoot-out set the English football record for the most kicks, eclipsing the previous record of 32 which had occurred on two occasions. Chelsea were the eventual winners, by a score of 13–12, as the shoot-out concluded with a goal scored and then a goal saved by Blues keeper Bradley Collins. Chelsea therefore scored two points to Oxford's one, but the visitors nonetheless progressed through to the second round as runners-up to Swindon.
For their second round match, Oxford travelled to Roots Hall for a match against Southend United. The match remained goalless until close to the end, when Maguire scored for Oxford, a free-kick from out. The lead was short-lived, as Southend's Anthony Wordsworth equalised immediately. For the third game in a row in the competition, Oxford faced a penalty shoot-out. This time they were successful, scoring all but one of their kicks while goalkeeper Simon Eastwood saved from Southend's Simon Cox and Stephen McLaughlin kicked his shot over the bar. Their reward was a home tie in the last 16, in which they hosted Scunthorpe United. Scunthorpe dominated early and took the lead after ten minutes, Luke Williams scoring a penalty after he had been fouled in the area. Eastwood then saved a shot from Duane Holmes after the latter had beaten all the defenders. But Oxford turned the game around, Marvin Johnson equalising on 18 minutes in the team's first attack of the game and taking the lead four minutes later through Hemmings. Hemmings added two more goals in the second half, one of them a penalty, to complete his hat-trick as Oxford won the game 4–1.
The quarter final, in January 2017, was also played at the Kassam, with Bradford City as their opponents. Weary after a dramatic FA Cup match against Newcastle United during the weekend, United started the game tentatively, relying on two saves by Eastwood to keep the game goalless. They played much better after half-time, following a tactical switch. Midway through the second half, Bradford's Rory McArdle had to leave the pitch to receive treatment for a head injury. Oxford capitalised on the temporary advantage, scoring twice in two minutes through Maguire and Johnson. Jordy Hiwula pulled one back for the visitors with five minutes remaining, but Oxford held on to book their place in the semi-final. Their final-four game was played at Kenilworth Road against Luton Town on 1 March 2017. Once again Oxford relied on Eastwood for crucial saves early in the game, but they then took the lead as Phil Edwards fired in from a seated position after a mis-hit shot by Liam Sercombe. They doubled their lead after 69 minutes through Johnson and appeared to be heading for a comfortable win until Luton retaliated with two goals of their own, from Isaac Vassell and Danny Hylton. Oxford clinched the match shortly after the equaliser, however, Johnson scoring with an left-footed shot to book his team's place in the final.

Match

Pre-match

With Coventry at the bottom of League One and Oxford challenging for a play-off place, City manager Mark Robins was pragmatic about this team's prospects of victory. In a radio interview before the game he said that "there's no pressure on us, we're underdogs in terms of league position". He urged his players to make the most of their day out at Wembley Stadium but also noted that the best way to enjoy the occasion would be to win the match. The club selected coach and former goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic, who had played in the FA Cup winning team 30 years earlier, to lead out the team. Oxford manager Michael Appleton addressed the issue of low supporter turnout following the inclusion of academy teams in the tournament. He voiced his own frustration about the matter, but also asked Oxford supporters to attend the game. "The more support we can get on the day, the better. All we can promise as a club and as a team is that we'll be going all out to try and win the game and bring a bit of silverware back," he commented in an interview with BBC Radio Oxford. Coventry City sold around 42,500 tickets for the match, outnumbering the opposition fans.
The referee for the match was Chris Sarginson, who had officiated Coventry once during the league season, a 0–0 draw with over Oldham Athletic in December. His most recent game involving Oxford was a goalless draw at Exeter in 2014. The assistant referees were Neil Radford and Matthew Parry, with Dean Whitestone named as the fourth official. Chris Husband was the reserve assistant referee. Robins made a number of changes from the side that had beaten Bristol Rovers in the previous league game, including Chris Stokes for Ollie Clarke and Lameiras for Jodi Jones. First team goalkeeper Lee Burge played in goal, rather than Reice Charles-Cook who had played in the semifinal against Wycombe. Oxford named a close to full strength side with midfielder Ryan Ledson returning from international duty with the England under-20 team and Maguire being declared fit to start after injury worries. Joe Rothwell retained his place after playing well in the previous league game against Bury.
The weather on the day of the final was sunny and fans of both sides arrived at the game with what BBC Sport described as "club-based paraphernalia that only seems to make appearances on days like this". Former Coventry manager John Sillett, who had led the club to their FA Cup win 30 years earlier, appeared on the pitch before the kick-off and made a speech to the club's supporters. The national anthem before the game was sung by Natalie Rushdie, performing in her fifth appearance at a Wembley event. The attendance at the game of 74,434 was the third highest in the cup's history, as well as being the highest for the event at the new Wembley Stadium since its opening in 2007.

First half

The match began at 14:30 BST, with both sets of supporters singing loudly. After a quiet opening with just one shot on goal by either side, Coventry took the lead on 11 minutes through a Gaël Bigirimana goal, his second for the club. The Burundian midfielder was the first to react to the loose ball after a Stuart Beavon volley had been stopped. Oxford began pressing more consistently after falling behind and had chances to equalise on 15 minutes, when Curtis Nelson challenged for a corner with Jordan Turnbull, and on 22 minutes when John Lundstram had a clear shot in the penalty area but failed to kick it cleanly. Ledson committed a heavy foul on Coventry's Kyel Reid on 18 minutes, but was not booked. Oxford continued to control the game as the half-hour mark approached, with striker Chris Maguire gaining frequent possession of the ball, but Coventry were able to defend and looked threatening themselves when attacking, particularly through Reid.
Oxford appealed for a penalty after 31 minutes, when Ryan Haynes made contact with Kane Hemmings, but the referee turned them down and replays suggested it was a legal shoulder-to-shoulder challenge. Bigirimana then received the first yellow card of the game after 39 minutes following a foul on Ledson. Coventry went close to scoring a second shortly before half time as a Lameiras shot from the edge of the penalty area was blocked. Attacking on the break following the Coventry attack, Oxford had their best chance of the first half. Marvin Johnson received the ball close to the side line and fired in a cross for Rob Hall, but the Oxford striker kicked his shot wide of the goal. The score remained 1–0 as the half-time whistle blew. In its online commentary of the game, the Oxford Mail reported that despite their team's dominance of possession, they had lacked sufficient potency in attack. The Coventry Telegraph in its minute-by-minute report urged Robins to tell his players that they "need to start asking Oxford a few more questions rather than being forced to defend what appears to be a fragile lead".

Second half

Play resumed at 15:34 and there were no changes by either team during the interval. Coventry had an early corner but it passed through the penalty area without anyone able to connect. Kane Hemmings then stopped playing after he thought he'd been fouled, but the referee adjudged that there was no infringement and Coventry were able to mount an attack. Stuart Beavon's shot was saved by Eastwood, however. Coventry dominated the opening ten minutes of the second half and went close to a second goal when George Thomas beat the United defence. The attack broke down after he his cross was off target. Thomas then forced Eastwood to make a difficult save as he fired a shot from close to the goal. On 55 minutes City finally made the breakthrough. Once again it was Thomas who had the chance, receiving a cross from the edge of the area by Reid and firing the resulting volley low into the corner of the goal. BBC Sport described it as a "stunning, stunning goal". Oxford made a substitution, replacing Ledsom with Liam Sercombe, and responded positively once again to conceding but remained unable to penetrate the City defence. Coventry made their first substitution on the hour mark as Willis went off injured, replaced by Dion Kelly-Evans.
Oxford had their best chance of the second half so far with 15 minutes remaining, as Maguire fired in a free kick but Burge was able to tip it over the crossbar. Three minutes later they finally got on the scoresheet. They won a corner, which was taken by Maguire. Coventry cleared it, but it fell to Sercombe who hit a low shot through several players and into the corner of the net. Burge got one hand to the ball but was unable to stop it. United had the chance to level the game four minutes after scoring, as Rob Hall found himself one-on-one with Burge. But he wasted the opportunity and the City keeper was able to make the save. Oxford threatened another breakaway on 82 minutes but it was stopped by a Birigimana foul. The Coventry man had already been booked and seemed likely to be sent off, but the referee decided to punish him only with a free kick. Oxford continued to press as the game drew to a close. With one minute left of the five minutes of stoppage time allocated, Oxford won a corner. Eastwood joined the attack in the Coventry penalty area as Oxford fired in several shots on goal, but following a Burge save and a clearance off the goalline by the defence, City were able to escape. The game finished shortly afterwards, with a final score of Coventry City 2–1 Oxford United.

Details

Post-match

George Thomas was named the man of the match, telling interviewers that "to get the winner at Wembley in a cup final is what dreams are made of". Like Robins he praised the club's fans, saying they had "been unbelievable throughout the whole season and today everyone came and had a great time". Mark Robins commented on the importance of the victory for Coventry's supporters. "It’s 30 years since they’ve been to Wembley", he said after the game, "and it was really important for us as a football club to show the world that we are still alive and kicking. It gives everybody a reminder that we have a really good fanbase and there’s so much potential at this place." In his post-match interview, Oxford manager Appleton said his principal feeling about the game was one of frustration. "The game was probably decided in both boxes today. Coventry had a hunger and a desire to keep the ball out of the net more than we did. When you need to win finals, that's the type of desire you need," he said. The Lord Mayor of Coventry had commented before the game that he would be open to the possibility of a parade and civic reception, similar to that after the team's victory in the 1987 FA Cup. The club declined to pursue this, however.
Despite the cup win, Coventry were relegated to EFL League Two at the end of the season, finishing 23rd out of 24 teams in League One. Their stay in the league's bottom tier was limited to one season, however, as they returned to Wembley one year later for the 2018 EFL League Two play-off Final, recording a 3–1 win against Exeter City. Oxford United still retained the possibility of reaching the play-offs at the time of the final, but they eventually finished the season ended with an eighth-place finish, four points adrift of Millwall for sixth place and the final play-off berth.
At the end of the 2016–17 season, representatives from EFL League One and League Two clubs met to discuss the future of the League Trophy, in particular whether to retain the inclusion of academy teams. There were three options under consideration – retaining the 64-team format, dropping the academy teams and reverting to a 48-team tournament, or cancelling the competition altogether. There was some disagreement among the clubs, but ultimately the 64-team version was retained for at least the next two seasons, gaining support from two-thirds of the League One and League Two outfits. Mark Robins was among those supporting the format, commenting that it had provided an "invaluable experience for those players at an Under-21 level to participate in senior football", citing the experience of his own young players and the opportunity they had received to play at Wembley. Michael Appleton was more critical of the format, preferring to return to the 48-team version. He commented that the use of loan deals and reserve team football was a better way for top clubs to develop their academy players than participating in the EFL Trophy, citing his own experience playing for Manchester United reserves during the 1990s.