Never mind the paint drying trophy! The successor to the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, the Checkatrade Trophy, gets under way tonight.
Cautions and sending-offs are exclusive to the tournament and in normal circumstances won’t affect other EFL or Premier League fixtures. The EFL clubs will field a minimum of five ‘First Team’ players in the starting 11 as defined under the competition’s existing rules, whilst the invited clubs will have at least six under-21 players in their starting line-up.
Never mind the paint drying trophy! The successor to the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, the Checkatrade Trophy, gets under way tonight.
Cautions and sending-offs are exclusive to the tournament and in normal circumstances won’t affect other EFL or Premier League fixtures. The EFL clubs will field a minimum of five ‘First Team’ players in the starting 11 as defined under the competition’s existing rules, whilst the invited clubs will have at least six under-21 players in their starting line-up.
The trophy has been roundly condemned across the country. Even many Premier League clubs have refused to have anything to do with this competition, including Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Spurs. So one is left with B list clubs putting out B list teams in a D list trophy.
Many fans see this as a Trojan horse for allowing top Premier League clubs to enter their development sides in an expanded Football League. The Football League’s response is that people don’t like change and the competition needed rejuvenating. Or perhaps abandoning?