The Imps Vertu Trophy Group has been partially confirmed, with the ‘proper’ teams we’ll face now set in stone.
The Under 21s will be added later, because they’re so special, but we’ll come up against Notts County and Barnsley in our group this season. It’s a kind draw, as both teams are going through something of a transitional period. They’re also teams we’ve faced in the competition before, but that’s kinda obvious when you’re only pitched in with clubs close by.
Barnsley did the double over us in the league last season, but we have the Football League Trophy crown currently – we beat them 3-0 in 2022. Jovon Makama’s 90th-minute strike came after two Teddy Bishop goals and a red card for James Norwood. Thrilling stuff.
We faced Notts County in the competition in 2023/24, winning 2-0 at home. It featured a rare Jack Vale goal, and another from Jack Burroughs, and came after we’d already beaten them 2-0 in the League Cup. We also beat them en route to winning the trophy in 2017, with a Josh Ginnelly strike the difference in a 2-1 win.
We even played them in the earliest incarnation of the trophy, the old Football League Cup, back in 1981. Our 1-1 draw was played out in August, with Gordon Hobson giving us the lead, only for Gordon Mair to level. At the time, the Magpies were a top-flight outfit and the draw was seen as a good result.
While the trophy is controversial, City have a decent record since returning to the EFL. We’ve only failed to emerge from the group once, in 2019/20, and as well as winning the 2017/18 competition, we’ve appeared in the semi-final (20/21) and the quarter-final (2022/23) in recent seasons.
The rich kids will be added to the group in due course.
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