FL CEO Feels EFLTrophy Format Is Worth Doing

Last updated : 28 March 2017 By CNS Sport

Football League CEO Shaun Harvey has that he feels that the current format of the EFL Trophy was worth doing.

Coventry City have won enough matches to have won the trophy in previous versions of the competition but still have the final to play on Sunday.

Speaking about the competition to the BBC, Harvey said: "Ultimately the comparison was a competition previously where clubs were as interested in getting knocked out in the first round as they were in getting to the final. That can't bode well for the longevity of the competition.

"What we have created gives us a real opportunity of using this competition for the benefit of our clubs, the benefit of young players in this country and, as we will see on Sunday, the benefit of in excess of 70,000 fans hoping to cheer their side to victory."

There has been plenty of concern about Premier League and Championship sides being able to field U21 and U23 teams in the competition and Harvey said: "There is no doubt this competition would benefit from the more senior, higher-profile clubs playing in it next year. They will make their own choice.

"The support we have had from the Category One clubs that did compete will make it a lot easier for those clubs to join next season when they can see, very clearly, the benefits that come from competing."

Attendances have been poor for most games but Harvey said: "Some were exceptionally disappointing. Some of that was due to the speed it was put into format. Some of it was uncertainty about whether it was the thin end of the wedge in terms of trying to get B teams into the established league programme. There was never a suggestion, from anybody at the EFL, Premier League or the Football Association, that this was a precursor to that.

"Even with the Champions League there is often reference in the media to meaningless games in the group stages. We created group football in a competition that has not got the same profile as the Champions League. Yet we seem to have been set upon for creating this competition that nobody wanted. The reality is the competition was in decline. We have tried to do something to reinvigorate it. We believe we have."