West Ham United’s Under-21s side were knocked out of the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday evening against AFC Wimbledon, meaning that all Premier League Under-21s sides are now out of the competition.
Furthermore, this season, just West Ham’s team made it out of the group stage, which is made up of teams from across League One and Two (alongside Premier League teams).
With this in mind, the debate has once again rose about National League sides replacing Premier League Under-21s sides in the competition.
As previously mentioned, just one side made it out of the group stage of this year’s tournament, with West Ham United’s Under-21s finishing second in their group to secure a spot in the knockout stages.
Furthermore, West Ham become just the second side in two seasons to do this, following in the footsteps of Aston Villa’s Under-21s side.
But, as with West Ham’s fate, Villa were eliminated from the competition at the last 16 stage against Bradford City (3-1 Bradford).
Meanwhile, in the last five editions of the tournament, no Premier League Under-21 side has made it past the quarter-final point of the competition with Arsenal’s Under-21s being knocked out at that stage in the 2021-22 season before Brighton and Hove Albion’s Under-21s side were knocked out at the same stage two seasons after.
As well as this, a Premier League Under-21s side has never made the final of the tournament with Chelsea’s Under-21s coming closest in the 2017-18 tournament, reaching the semi-final, before being knocked out by Lincoln City.
Meanwhile, in this year’s tournament, the average goals scored against a Premier League Under-21s team has been 2.7 (rounded – 2.6875).
Therefore, it is clear to see that the Under-21s sides are, for the large majority, not competitive in the tournament against the professional status of League One and League Two sides.
Away from results, this season, attendances for the games taking place with Under-21s sides have been arguably pitful, with the highest attendance for a game involving an Under-21s side being 4,170 (Bradford vs Everton Under-21s).
However, this can be said to be due to a overall boycott of the tournament by fans due to the inclusion of Premier League, and sometimes Championship sides, in the competition.
The Vertu Trophy often offers a rare chance to pick up silverware for League One and League Two sides, considering the rarity of sides from the two divisions reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
With this in mind, bringing National League teams into the tournament instead of Premier League Under-21s sides could hand them the opportunity to progress far into the tournament and to potentially pick up silverware.
Meanwhile, for this year’s tournament, the prize pool is a potential £310,000 for the winner (given they win all three of their group stage games).
| Round | Prize Money |
| EFL Clubs Participation | £20,000 per club |
| Group Stages | £10,000 per win, £5,000 per draw |
| Round of 32 | £20,000 per win |
| Round of 16 | £40,000 per win |
| Quarter Finals | £50,000 per win |
| Runners Up | £50,000 |
| Winners | £100,000 |
This could be, for a National League club taking part, money that could aid their survival chances, transfer window, and help them improve their club infrastructure in the possibility of reaching the EFL one day.
As well as this, if Premier League Under-21 sides were to be placed with National League sides, attendances for games in the tournament may increase helping to bring more revenue to the EFL, the League One and League Two taking part, and the National League clubs themselves.
Furthermore, participation in the tournament (for National League outfits), could give them more exposure to potential sponsors.
This, coupled with a potential run in the competition, may help attract new sponsorships and revenue to the club whilst increasing the respective clubs’ commercial potential.
Furthermore, if National League teams do well in the competition, it could help strengthen the case for the 3UP, 3 Down campaign which is currently being supported by National League sides.
If this was to occur, the potential for the campaign to be successful could increase.
Therefore, the benefits of this change occurring can be said to be vast and could be what is needed to promote the National League more.
Looking at fans’ thoughts on the topic can help gain a former understanding of the mood within EFL fanbase currently.
In a poll ran among Lower Tiers writers, 91% of respondents stated that they believe that National League teams should replace Premier League Under-21s sides in the competition
Meanwhile, Dylan Gibbs (a writer for The Lower Tiers) stated: “Personally, I think the EFL would benefit by using NL over PL2.
“I think it would highlight the close in gap of quality over the leagues and push the 3up/down arguments further, and maybe force the EFL’s hand in influencing that vote to a yes.”
Furthermore, Lower Tiers author William Mallard-Smith stated: “I would be completely in favour of a switch to National League teams instead of Academy sides.
“From a fans perspective, it would present the perfect opportunities for new away days and local derbies to be reignited, opening up new grounds that previously wouldn’t have been visited.
“On the clubs perspective, perhaps this would promote the 3UP campaign, displaying how the gap in quality has closed between the divisions in recent years.”
Meanwhile, talking about the Vertu Trophy to Doncaster Free Press, Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann stated: “The Vertu Trophy is not important to anybody until you get to the final” therefore showing an arguable desire for change in the competition.
For the 2025-26 season, 16 academies were invited to take part in the Vertu Trophy with each of these academies fielding a side for the competition.
If the change was to occur from Premier League Under-21s sides to National League sides, we could see the sides that are selected to take part in the National League Cup instead taking part in the Vertu Trophy, with the Cup potentially scraped.
Meanwhile, for a situation where the Cup does not get scraped, the National League sides joining the Vertu Trophy would instead be replaced by National League North and South sides.
If this was to occur, the sides could be decided through choosing the top eight sides from each division that were not promoted the season before, or through a process of random selection.
This could help to level out the playing field in both competitions, considering the competitiveness of Premier League Under-21 sides in both tournaments.
As well as this, it could help to bring more money (considering the prize pool of £1 million, exclusively to the National League sides in the competition, and considering that National League sides keep all the gate receipts for games) to the National League North and South, which could aid sides in their pursuit of success.
Given the reasons laid out in this piece, it is arguably beneficial for the change to occur.
Through putting National League sides into the Vertu Trophy, the EFL would be giving the sides an opportunity to prove themselves to the footballing world.
Meanwhile, the change could help push the participating sides into more positive sponsorship opportunities with runs, whilst giving them the opportunity to win substantial prize money, helping to boost their power in the transfer market.
Furthermore, the popularity of the tournament could increase once again, helping to draw higher attendances and attention towards the competition.
Overall, for the most part, this change would benefit all parties involved.
