[Lord Snooty]

Huddersfield Town in the Vertu Trophy 2025/26
starting on Tuesday September 2nd
ending on Sunday April 12th
at Wembley Stadium

Huddersfield Town welcome Newcastle United's under 21 team to the MacAccu Stadium on Tuesday evening in the first group game for this season's EFL Trophy. Hopefully, our last ever participation in this tournament.

Four weeks after this first game, we travel to play Harrogate Town in what will be our first official first team meeting. And then five weeks later, we will welcome Mansfield Town to the Nagle Arena for the final group game.

The other group games are.....

Sept 9th: Mansfield v Harrogate
Oct 15th: Mansfield v Newcastle
Nov 11th: Harrogate v Newcastle

Following his red card at Barnsley on Saturday for serious foul play, our number one goalkeeper, Owen Goodman will receive a three match ban. He will be available to play in the match against Newcastle though as this rule applies.....

A player suspended from league competitions can usually play in an EFL Trophy tie because disciplinary sanctions from league and cup competitions are generally specific to their respective competitions. A suspension incurred in an EFL Trophy match only carries over to future EFL Trophy games, and vice versa, meaning a player suspended from their league team is still eligible for an EFL Trophy tie.

So Lee Nicholls will be in goal for the games against Peterborough (h), Bradford City (a) and Burton Albion (h), does this mean that Goodman will play against the geordie kids? Or is Jacob Chapman fit yet? He was at Sunderland the other night, celebrating with the rest of the squad at full time.

Dion Charles is away with the Northern Ireland squad, as far as I can see the only one missing for international duty.

Depending what happens on Deadline Day, this could be a last chance for the likes of Radinio Balker, Freddie Ladapo and Bojan Radulovic. Some of our youngsters should be getting a run out as well. Dan Vost, Cameron Ashia and Jay Sway have already featured in the squad this season, but will we have debuts for any more?

Tom Iorpenda shone in the Trophy games last season, but he's now on loan at Notts County. His younger brother George Iorpenda, spent some time with the first teamers in pre season, so maybe he'll get a run out in defence. Peter Thomas looked lively on his debut in the match at Doncaster last season and he might get another run out.

Or maybe manager Lee Grant will just go full on, first team and show everybody that we mean to get to Wembley and win this thing.





A brief history of Huddersfield Town in the Football League Trophy:

1988/89: Out in Northern quarter final (beaten by Scarborough)
1989/90: Out in 1st round (beaten by Rotherham)
1990/91: Out in Group stage: (humiliated by Hartlepool)
1991/92: Got to Northern semi final (lost at Burnley)
1992/93: Same again (lost at Wigan)
1993/94: Got to Wembley (beaten by Swansea)
1994/95: Quarter final (lost at Bury)
1995 - 2001: Didn't qualify
2001/02: Northern final over 2 legs (beaten in extra time by Blackpool)
2002/03: Out in 1st round (lost at Wrexham)
2003/04: Same again (lost at Carlisle)
2004/05: Out in 2nd round (extra time loss at Blackpool)
2005/06: Out in 1st round (beaten at Boston)
2006/07: Same again (home defeat to Donny)
2007/08: And again (stuffed at Grimsby)
2008/09: And again (lost at Darlington)
2009/10: Out in 2nd round (lost on pens at Chesterfield)
2010/11: Nortern final over 2 legs (aggregate loss to Carlisle)
2011/12: Out in 2nd round (lost on pens to Bradford)
2012 - 24: Didn't qualify
2024/25: Got to 2nd round (lost at Bolton)



A brief history of Newcastle United under 21s in the Football League Trophy:

2017/18: Out in group stage
2018/19: Out in 3rd round (Lost at Sunderland)
2019/20: Finished bottom of group
2020/21: Finished bottom of group
2021/22: Finished bottom of group
2022/23: Finished bottom of group
2023/24: Finished bottom of group
2024/25: Finished bottom of group

They have only got out of the group stage once, in 2018/19. They topped the group, winning all three games. A 3-1 win at Doncaster, a 2-0 win at Notts County and a 3-2 win at Grimsby. That was followed by a home game against Macclesfield Town at Sid James' Park in front of a massive crowd of 1,126 in which they progressed to round three after winning a penalty shoot out, which came after a one all draw.

That third round game had a much bigger crowd when they played away at the Stadium of Light against local rivals, Sunderland. A crowd of 16,654, more than the attendances of the other ties combined with 2,780 from Tyneside.

Since then, they haven't won a single game in this competition.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80...EFL_Trophy


2025/26 EFL Trophy:

• The 2025–26 EFL Trophy, known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is the 45th season in the history of the competition, and is a knock-out tournament for clubs in EFL League One and League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system, as well as the "Academy teams" of 16 Premier League teams.
  
  The defending champions are Peterborough United, who defeated Birmingham City 2–0 in the previous season's final. They have won two consecutive EFL Trophy finals, after beating Wycombe Wanderers in the 2024 final.
  
  
  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 is in the top 10 players at the club who has made the most starting appearances in league and domestic cup competitions this season.
  
• Any player with forty or more first-team starting appearances in their career, including International matches.
  
• Any player on loan from a Premier League club or any EFL Category One Academy club.
  
• A club can play any eligible goalkeeper in the competition.
  
• Any player out on a long loan term at a National League, National League North, or National League South team can play as long as the loaning team agree to allow the player to return for the match.
  
  For academy teams.
  
• Minimum of six players in the starting line-up who are aged under 21 on 30 June 2025.
  
• Maximum of two players on the team sheet who are aged over 21 and have also made forty or more senior appearances.
  
  
  Competition format:
  Group stage:
  
• Sixteen groups of four teams will be organised on a regionalised basis.
  
• All groups will include one invited club.
  
• All clubs will play each other once, either home or away (academy sides will play all group matches away from home).
  
• Clubs will be 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 will be held with the winning team earning an additional point.
  
• Clubs expelled from the EFL will be knocked out of the tournament automatically.
  
• The top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout stage.
  
• In an Event of which group stage match has been postponed, the postponed group stage match will be rescheduled to no further date than the second Tuesday of November 2025.
  
  Knockout stage
  
• The Round of 32, the Round of 16 and the quarter finals of the competition will be drawn on a regionalised basis.
  
• In Round 2, the group winners will be seeded and the group runners-up will be unseeded in the draw.
  
• Semi-final pairings are determined by means of an unseeded draw with no regionalisation.
  

[theo_luddite]

Nice 'n' clear explanation of how this daft if now pointless Cup works in the early stages Snoots.

A lot of Non-League clubs have said stuff it when it comes to their version of this type of farce. I think, (might check, but why change the habits of a lifetime) it involves 16 invited National League & NL N&S clubs plus 16 of the the spoilt brats we have to play against. The Champions of Europe won it last season in a final played at Sutton that drew a mahoosive 3000 and change crowd. They mostly don't see why they should put their players at risk of injury for a game against a bunch of Prima Donna League club kids that costs more to run the floodlights and pay the away sides expenses than they take through the gate. From somewhere they magic up a total prize fund of £1m but spread across 32 sides it don't impress anyone much.

I don't suppose we get that option of not playing without some sanction from the EFL. We might as well host the game at Emley or Brighouse Town for the number of folk that will turn up and I doubt they'd thank us if we did either. Some bloke that wants to take his whippets to home games might be happy about it though.

I fail to see how this competition makes enough money even with the sponsors brass to pay out the round by round prizes (such as they are) as only the Northern/Southern finals and the Final at Wemberlee regularly draw crowds of any size. Time to tell the Prima Donna's to sod off unless they share a lot more of their £billions with the lower leagues. They don't join in for our benefit. I'd rather we invited National League sides to play than that lot.

[Lord Snooty]

Good idea that, theo. Take the team on tour of the local clubs, a bit like when England play friendlies away from Wembley.

[theo_luddite]

The old West Riding Senior Cup used to draw bigger pre-season crowds than this load of bollox. L666s, Sadfud, 'Fax and Town. Park Avenue too many moons ago. No doubt similar existed elsewhere around the County and the Country too as there was usually a big'un or two in amongst the minnows to pull in a crowd for a game you'd normally only see once in a life-time in the big leagues and cups. They'd rather go off to furrin lands to play sides we never see anyway in front of a couple of hundred these days. I think the likes of Brighouse and Elland play for that Cup or it's nearest version now. The original competition apparently died in 1999 due to lack of interest, mainly from Beeston. Sad really.

According to WIKI

Recent West Riding FA Finals, no longer Senior)
2013 Final
14 May 2013 FC Halifax Town 1 – 0 (a.e.t.) Guiseley AFC Valley Parade
2014 Final
9 April 2014 Harrogate Town 0 – 1 Eccleshill United Valley Parade
2015 Final
15 April 2015 Bradford (Park Avenue) 1–0 Garforth Town Valley Parade, Bradford
2016 Final
19 April 2016 Bradford (Park Avenue) 3–2 Harrogate Town Valley Parade, Bradford
2017 Final
11 April 2017 Tadcaster Albion 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(2–4 p) Farsley Celtic Ings Lane, Tadcaster
2018 Final
17 April 2018 Selby Town 1–4 Farsley Celtic Fleet Lane, Leeds
2019 Final
9 April 2019 Ossett United 2–1 Guiseley AFC Ingfield, Ossett
2022 Final
6 May 2022 Liversedge 3 – 1 Brighouse Town Yorkshire Payments Stadium
2023 Final
28 April 2023 Liversedge 1–2 Campion Clayborn
2024 Final
6 May 2024 Knaresborough Town 0–4 Pontefract Collieries Ingfield

Ingfield Stadium is Ossett Utd's ground. Apparently Valley Parade wasn't big enough for the finals after 2016.

[Lord Snooty]

Newcastle's u21s have lost every game this season.

[theo_luddite]

So have Town's U21's

[Lord Snooty]

Huddersfield Town Manager Lee Grant has named eight changes to his side ahead of our Vertu Trophy tie with Newcastle United U21s at the Accu Stadium tonight; Tuesday 2 September 2025.

The changes begin in goal for Town with Lee Nicholls given the nod between the sticks, with the goalkeeper now in line for a run of games in the side due to Goodman’s unavailability in the league. He will be behind a defence that includes tonight’s captain Murray Wallace, Lasse Sorensen, Jack Whatmough and Sean Roughan, with Lynden Gooch and Joe Low not in this evening’s squad.

As they have in the Carabao Cup this season, David Kasumu and U21 Dan Vost are partners in midfield, with Club captain Ryan Ledson and Herbie Kane not involved at all tonight. Ahead of them, Joe Taylor leads the line with Marcus Harness and Ruben Roosken keeping their places from the weekend as Leo Castledine steps in alongside them.

Despite his red card at the weekend, Owen Goodman remains available this evening in the Vertu Trophy, and will take a place on the bench as a result. He is joined by Ben Wiles, Josh Feeney and Cameron Ashia from Saturday’s match day squad, with Bojan Radulović and Jay Sway also amongst Lee Grant’s options.

Deadline day arrival Will Alves is also amongst the substitutes tonight and could make his Huddersfield Town debut if selected. It wouldn’t be his first appearance at the Accu Stadium though, having started for parent side Leicester City in the First Round of the Carabao Cup last month, playing the opening 45 minutes.

As previously confirmed, the Terriers remain without Antony Evans (knee), Mickel Miller (hamstring) and Marcus McGuane (groin) this evening. Dion Charles is unavailable as he has been selected for international duty by Northern Ireland.

TOWN’S TEAM vs NEWCASTLE UNITED U21s

22. Lee Nicholls
2. Lasse Sorensen
3. Murray Wallace ©
6. Jack Whatmough
9. Joe Taylor
10. Marcus Harness
11. Ruben Roosken
18. David Kasumu
23. Sean Roughan
24. Leo Castledine
38. Dan Vost

SUBSTITUTES

Owen Goodman; Ben Wiles, Josh Feeney, Bojan Radulović, Will Alves, Cameron Ashia, Jay Sway

---

Newcastle Utd u21s:
59, A. Harrison
38, C. Heffernan ©
47, D. Charlton
65, M. Pivaš
42, C. Thompson
46, S. Bailey
43, C. McArthur
64, Park Seung-Soo
44, A. Harrison
53, F. Harper
62, S. Neave

Subs:
55, J. Brayson
77, A. O'Donovan
35, J. Taylor
80, Mohamed Waddani
63, L. Watts
81, K. Wooster
52, B. Yildiz

[theo_luddite]

It looks like a couple of dozen have turned up to watch so far. There might be a few more scoffing a hot dog or downing a freezing cold pint of something fizzy below the seats. The fewer that turn up to watch charades like this the better. I know there won't be full houses for the other two games either but we've no need for games like this.

[Lord Snooty]

Whatmough 1-0

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Harness. Pen. 2-0

[Amelia Chaffinch]

2-1

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3-1 Castledine

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4-1 Taylor

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5-1 Taylor

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6-1 og

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McArthur?