The EFL Trophy (English Football League Trophy), known as the Leasing.com Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to the 48 clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system and, since the 2016–17 season, 16 under-21 sides from Premier League and EFL Championship clubs.
It is the third most prestigious knockout trophy in English football after the FA Cup and EFL Cup.

The competition was inaugurated as the Associate Members' Cup in the 1983–84 season and followed on from the short-lived Football League Group Cup.
It was renamed the Football League Trophy in 1992. This was in the same year of the reorganisation that followed after Division One broke away to form the Premier League and the Football League became responsible for just the lower three professional divisions.

The competition was renamed again in 2016, becoming the EFL Trophy, coinciding with the Football League rebranding to the English Football League.
The first season under the new name saw sixteen Category One academies, of Premier League and Championship clubs, join the competition,
a move which has been criticised for attempting to insert Premier League 'B', or academy U21 teams into the English football pyramid.

Exeter in the Football League trophy

The Grecians reached the Southern Area Final in 1992/93, under the leadership of Alan Ball. Over 15000 fans watched the final, played over two legs. Eventually losing 3-2 on aggregate, just one match from Wembley. The game at St James's Park that day was electric. 

The leading scorers in the competetion for City are:-
Matt Jay 7.
Ryan Harley 5.
Nicky Ajose 4
Ray Pratt 4.
Steve Moran 4.
Daniel Nardiello 4.
Nicky Marker 3.
Jamie Cureton 3.
Liam McAlinden 3.
Jonathan Forte 3.
Joel Randall 3.


2021/22

Date	Versus	Venue		Result	Score	Att	Goalscorers
24/08/2021	Chelsea U-21	Home	Group	D	1-1	1669	Jay (pen)			Lost 4-3 on pens
05/10/2021	Cheltenham	Away	Group	D	2-2	987	Daniel	Collins		Won 3-2 on pens
10/11/2021	Bristol Rovers	Home	Group	W	5-3	1479	Coley 2	Dieng	Amond 2	Won the Group
07/01/2022	Portsmouth	Home	2R	L	2-3	2146	Jay	Collins

2020/21

2020/2021
08/12/2020	Northampton Town	Home	R2	1-2	Attangana	718	Papa John's EFL Trophy	Restricted Crowd
17/11/2020	West Bromwich Albion	Home	Group	4-0	Kite, Seymour, Sparkes, Law	0	Papa John's EFL Trophy	Behind closed doors
06/10/2020	Swindon Town	Away	Group	4-3	Kite, Seymour, Attangana, Hartridge	0	Papa John's EFL Trophy	Behind closed doors
08/09/2020	Forest Green Rovers	Home	Group	3-2	Ajose, Jay, Key	0	Papa John's EFL Trophy	Behind closed doors

2019/20

18/2/2020	Portsmouth	Away	S-F	2-3	Taylor, Burgess (OG)	14375	EFL Trophy	Portsmouth scored two goals in injury time to win the game.
21/1/ 2020	Stevenage	Home	Q-F	3-0	Ajose, Jay 2	1190	EFL Trophy
4/1/2020	Ipswich Town	Home	R3	2-1	Ajose, Martin (L)	2299	EFL Trophy
3/12/2019	Oxford United	Home	R2	0-0	(Jay. Sweeney, Seymour (pens))	483	EFL Trophy	Won 3-0 on Pens, Dino Visser saved all 3
13/11/2019	West Ham Utd U23s	Home	Group	3-1	Randall 2, Tillson	807	EFL Trophy	Won the group. Unbeaten
8/10/2019	Newport County	Away	Group	2-0	Jay 2	683	EFL Trophy
3/9/2019	Cheltenham T	Home	Group	1-0	Ajose	783	EFL Trophy

2018/19

2018/19
4/12/ 2018	Peterborough United	Home	R2	0-2	:	746	EFL Trophy
13/11/2018	Bristol Rovers	Home	Group	2-0	Forte, Randall	873	EFL Trophy	Won the group.
25/09/2018	West Ham Utd U23s	Home	Group	2-0	Forte 2,	1114	EFL Trophy
04/09/2018	Yeovil Town	Away	Group	0-0	:	1518	EFL Trophy	Won 4-3

2017/18

November 28, 2017	Chelsea	Home	Group	1-3	R.Reid	1294	EFL Trophy	Did not qualify for R2
October 3, 2017	Plymouth Argyle	Away	Group	2-2	McAlinden, Edwards (Kyle)	3800	EFL Trophy	Lost 5-3 on Pens
August 29, 2017	Yeovil Town	Home	Group	1-3	Sparkes	1509	EFL Trophy

2016/17

November 8, 2016	Swindon Town	Home	Group	1-1	Wheeler	792	EFL Trophy	Did not qualify for R2
October 18, 2016	Chelsea	Home	Group	3-2	Watkins, Wheeler, McAlinden	1979	EFL Trophy
August 30, 2016	Oxford United	Away	Group	2-4	Jay, McAlinden	1595	EFL Trophy

2015/16

6/10/2015	Plymouth Argyle	Away	R2	0-2	:	9441	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
01/09/2015	Portsmouth FC	Home	R1	2-0	Harley (pen), Nicholls(A)	3223	Johnstone's Paint Trophy

2014/15

October 7, 2014

Coventry City

Away

R1

1-3

Watkins

7273

Johnstone's Paint Trophy

2013/14

September 3, 2013

Wycombe Wanderers

Home

R1

0-2

:

1654

Johnstone's Paint Trophy

2012/13

September 4, 2012

Aldershot

Home

R1

0-0

:

1944

Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Lost 4-3 on Pens

2011/12

04 October 2011	Swindon Town	Home	R2	1-2	Nardiello	2627	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
August 30, 2011	Plymouth Argyle	Home	R1	1-1	Dunne	3940	Johnstone's Paint Trophy	Won 3-0 on Pens

2010/11

February 7, 2011	Brentford	Home	SF2	1-2	Nardiello	5322	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
January 17, 2011	Brentford	Away	SF1	1-1	Cureton	3093	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
December 14, 2010	Bristol Rovers	Away	R4	2-1	Og, Harley	3881	Johnstone's Paint Trophy	Won 5-4 on Pens
November 9, 2010	Plymouth Argyle	Away	R3	2-1	Harley, Nardiello	9431	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
October 5, 2010	Hereford United	Away	R2	3-0	Nardiello, O'Flynn, Duffy	1286	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
August 31, 2010	Yeovil Town	Home	R1	3-1	Cureton 2, Harley	2924	Johnstone's Paint Trophy

2009/10

October 6, 2009

Swindon Town

Home

R1

1-1

Fleetwood

2006

Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Lost 4-3 on Pens

2008/09
September 2, 2008	Shrewsbury Town	Home	R1	1-2	Harley	1530	Johnstone's Paint Trophy

2005/06
October 18, 2005	MK Dons	Away	R1	2-3	Phillips, Tayor (Andy)	2745	LDV

2004/05
November 2, 2004	Swindon Town	Home	R2	1-2	Gaia	1898	LDV
September 29, 2004	Oxford United	Home	R1	2-2	Edwards (Jake), Jeannin	1842	LDV

2003/04
October 21, 2003	Hereford United	Away	R1	0-2	:	1513	LDV

2002/03
12/11/2002	Cardiff City	Home	R2	0-3	:	1360	LDV
22/10/2002	Bristol Rovers	Home	R1	1-0	Sheldon	1613	LDV

2001/02
October 16, 2001	Cambridge United	Home	R1	1-2	Birch	1047	LDV	After extra time

2000/01
December 5, 2000	Wycombe Wanderers	Away	R1	0-1	:	1022	LDV

1999/00
March 14, 2000	Bristol City	Home	Final South 2	1-1	Speakman	2929	Auto Windscreens Shield
February 29, 2000	Bristol City	Away	Final South 1	0-4	:	12742	Auto Windscreens Shield
February 15, 2000	Brentford	Home	SF S	3-2	Breslan, Alexander, Og	2392	Auto Windscreens Shield
January 25, 2000	Torquay United	Home	QF S	1-0	Speakman	2599	Auto Windscreens Shield
January 11, 2000	Swansea City	Home	R2	2-0	Aleaxander, Buckle	954	Auto Windscreens Shield
1998/99
January 19, 1999	Cambridge United	Away	QF S	1-1	Flack	2758	Auto Windscreens Shield
January 5, 1999	Southend United	Home	R2	3-1	Quailley, Clark, Flack	1143	Auto Windscreens Shield
1997/98
January 6, 1998	Bristol Rovers	Home	R2	1-2	Illman	1851	Auto Windscreens Shield
1996/97
January 28, 1997	Peterborough United	Home	QF S	0-1	:	1478	Auto Windscreens Shield
January 14, 1997	Cardiff City	Away	R2	1-1	Rowbotham	793	Auto Windscreens Shield
1995/96
November 7, 1995	AFC Bournemouth	Home	Group	0-2	:	1898	Auto Windscreens Shield
October 17, 1995	Brentford	Away	Group	1-1	Came	1431	Auto Windscreens Shield
1994/95
January 10, 1995	Shrewsbury Town	Away	QF S	1-3	Richardson (J)	1960	Auto Windscreens Shield
November 29, 1994	Cardiff City	Home	R2	1-0	Brown (Jon)	1452	Auto Windscreens Shield
November 15, 1994	Cardiff City	Home	Group	1-1	Minett (Pen)	1203	Auto Windscreens Shield
October 18, 1994	Plymouth Argyle	Away	Group	3-1	Cecere 2 , Cooper	1847	Auto Windscreens Shield
1993/94
December 7, 1993	Swansea City	Away	R2	1-2	Worboys	1500	Autoglass Trophy
November 9, 1993	Plymouth Argyle	Home	Group	1-0	Worthington	3626	Autoglass Trophy
October 19, 1993	Swansea City	Away	Group	0-2	:	2071	Autoglass Trophy
1992/93
April 21, 1993	Port Vale	Home	Final South 2	1-1	Minett	7060	Autoglass Trophy
March 16, 1993	Port Vale	Away	Final South 1	1-2	Bailey	8866	Autoglass Trophy
February 23, 1993	Swansea City	Away	SF S	3-2	Dolan, McIntyre, Jepson	4971	Autoglass Trophy
February 17, 1993	Brighton & Hove Albion	Away	QF S	1-0	Daniels	1875	Autoglass Trophy
February 9, 1993	Reading	Home	R2	2-2	Hodge, Tonge	1677	Autoglass Trophy
January 5, 1993	Plymouth Argyle	Away	Group	1-1	Cook	3761	Autoglass Trophy
December 8, 1992	Torquay United	Home	Group	5-0	Moran 3 (1 pen), Collins, Dolan	2188	Autoglass Trophy
1991/92
February 25, 1992	Peterborough United	Away	QF	0-1	:	2321	Autoglass Trophy
January 14, 1992	West Bromwich Albion	Away	R2	1-0	Robson	6034	Autoglass Trophy
January 7, 1992	Hereford United	Away	Group	1-2	Marshall	1564	Autoglass Trophy
October 23, 1991	Torquay United	Home	Group	2-1	Whiston, Moran	2957	Autoglass Trophy
1990/91
February 20, 1991	Cambridge United	Home	QF	0-1	:	2258	Leyland DAF Cup
January 23, 1991	Aldershot	Home	R2	1-0	Marshall	2015	Leyland DAF Cup
November 28, 1990	Hereford United	Home	Group	2-2	Batty, Neville	1962	Leyland DAF Cup
November 13, 1990	Cardiff City	Away	Group	1-0	Bailey	1024	Leyland DAF Cup
1989/90
February 21, 1990	Maidstone United	Away	QF	0-2	:	1685	Leyland DAF Cup
January 23, 1990	Shrewsbury Town	Away	R2	1-0	McDermott	1462	Leyland DAF Cup
January 17, 1990	Bristol Rovers	Away	Group	0-3	:	3136	Leyland DAF Cup
January 15, 1990	Torquay United	Home	Group	2-0	Benjamin, Neville	4737	Leyland DAF Cup
1988/89
December 14, 1988	Bristol Rovers	Home	Group	1-1	Rowbotham	1609	Sherpa Van Trophy
December 6, 1988	Bristol City	Away	Group	0-2	:	3642	Sherpa Van Trophy
1987/88
November 24, 1987	Newport County	Home	Group	0-1	:	1006	Sherpa Van Trophy
October 26, 1987	Port Vale	Away	Group	0-2	:	2176	Sherpa Van Trophy
1986/87
January 20, 1987	Port Vale	Home	R2	0-1	:	1635	Freight Rover Trophy
January 7, 1987	Bristol Rovers	Away	Group	1-1	Marker	1608	Freight Rover Trophy
November 26, 1986	Bristol City	Home	Group	1-1	Marker	1338	Freight Rover Trophy
1985/86
29/01/1986	Torquay	Away	Group	0-1	:	1046	Freight Rover Trophy
14/01/1986	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Home	Group	1-1	Marker	1278	Freight Rover Trophy
1984/85
06/02/1985	Newport County	Home	Group	1-1	Harrower	1272	Associate Members Cup
22/01/1985	Newport County	Away	Group	0-3	:	1017	Associate Members Cup
1983/84
14/03/1984	Wrexham	Away	R2	0-2	:	834	Associate Members Cup
22/02/1984	Bristol City	Home	R1	3-1	Pratt 2, Neville	1754	Associate Members Cup
1982/83
21/08/1982	Torquay	Away	Group	2-3	Pullar, Pratt	2384	Football League Trophy
18/08/1982	Newport County	Away	Group	1-5	Howarth	1084	Football League Trophy
14/08/1982	Bristol City	Home	Group	2-1	Kellow, Pratt	1040	Football League Trophy