The 2019 EFL Trophy Final was a football match played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 31 March 2019. It decided the winners of the 2018–19 EFL Trophy, the 35th edition of the competition, a knock-out tournament for the 48 teams in League One and

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

and 16 category one academy sides. The Final was contested by League One sides

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, of which the winner received £100,000 and the Runners-Up received £50,000. This was the first Trophy final pitting two English football champions against each other in 31 years. It was also the first

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL ...

Final to be contested by two former

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

clubs. The Portsmouth team used Wembley's West changing room, while Sunderland used the East. A coin toss decided that Sunderland had first choice on kit selection. This meant Portsmouth played in blue away socks to avoid clashing with Sunderland's first choice red socks. Portsmouth won the final after coming from one goal behind with English forward

Oliver Hawkins Oliver Jack Hawkins (born 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker or centre back for League Two side Gillingham. Club career Early career Hawkins began his career at North Greenford United but it was at Hillingdon ...

scoring the winning penalty kick in the shootout to hand Portsmouth their first cup trophy since the

2008 FA Cup 2008 FA Cup may refer to: * 2007–08 FA Cup ** 2008 FA Cup final * 2007–08 FA Women's Cup ** 2008 FA Women's Cup final * 2008–09 FA Cup The 2008–09 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 128th sea ...

. Portsmouth centre back, Matthew Clarke, was named man of the match. The game was attended by 85,021 people, making it the highest attended match in the UK and the second highest in Europe that weekend. It set a new attendance record for the Football League Trophy, surpassing the 1988 final.

Route to the final

Portsmouth

Sunderland

Match

References

{{Sunderland A.F.C. matches

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Events at Wembley Stadium Trophy Final Efl Trophy Final 2019 Efl Trophy Final 2019 Efl Trophy Final Efl Trophy Final Football League Trophy Final 2019