| EFL Trophy | |
| Year: | 2018–19 |
| Other Title: | Checkatrade Trophy |
| Country: | England Wales |
| Num Teams: | 64 |
| Defending Champions: | Lincoln City |
| Champions: | Portsmouth (1st title) |
| Runner-Up: | Sunderland |
| Matches: | 127 |
| Goals: | 313 |
| Top Goal Scorer: | Dom Telford (7 goals) |
| Attendance: | 308713 |
| Prevseason: | 2017–18 |
| Nextseason: | 2019–20 |
The 2018–19 EFL Trophy, known as the Checkatrade Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 38th season in the history of the competition, a knock-out tournament for English football clubs in League One and League Two of the English football system, and also including 16 Premier League and Championship "Academy teams" with Category One status. 127 matches were played in total.[1]
Lincoln City were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the second round by Accrington Stanley. Portsmouth won the competition for the first time, defeating Sunderland in front of an EFL Trophy record attendance in the final. The total attendance for the tournament was 308,713[1]
Of the sixteen invited Category One academies, fourteen competed in the 2017–18 competition; only Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers did not participate. Arsenal rejected an invitation to compete in each of the previous two tournaments,[2] while Wolves were not invited to compete in 2017–18 competition after fielding a side in the 2016–17 edition.
Reading and Sunderland's academy sides missed out after participation in the previous two years; Sunderland's first team competed for the first time since the 1987–88 competition, however, following their relegation to League One. Barnsley and Burton Albion both returned to the competition after relegation; they last competed in the 2015–16 season, when Barnsley won the trophy.
Macclesfield Town competed for the first time since the 2011–12 edition, following their promotion from the National League. Fellow promoted side Tranmere Rovers returned after a four year hiatus.
Liverpool and Manchester United both rejected an invitation to compete for the third successive season.[3]
Knockout Stage
The round 2 draw took place on 16 November with ties due to be played from the week beginning 3 December. Teams were drawn in a regionalised format, with the proviso that no teams from the same Group Stage group can meet. To ensure this, group winners from groups A to D were drawn against group runners-up from groups E to H in the same section, and vice versa. Teams listed 1st are at home and won their group in Round 1.
If scores are level after 90 minutes in Rounds 2, 3, and 4, the game will be determined by the taking of penalties.
The draw for round 3 was held on Saturday, 8 December. Northern and Southern section teams were still segregated this round and will be brought together in the next round (the quarter-finals). No seeding is used from this point: all teams within their denoted section are in a blind draw.
Quarter-final pairings are determined by means of an unseeded draw. There are no further segregated sections of the draw.
The four winners from the quarter-finals will contest the semi-finals, with the pairings determined by an unseeded draw. Matches will be played as one leg, and will advance directly to penalties if the teams are tied after 90 minutes.[6]
See main article: 2019 EFL Trophy Final.
The two winners from the semi-finals, Portsmouth and Sunderland, contested the final at Wembley Stadium on 31 March 2019. Portsmouth won 5–4 on penalties following a 2–2 draw after extra time to win their first EFL trophy.