Vertu Trophy Final: Peterborough United vs Birmingham City
On Sunday afternoon Wembley way was a sea of blue as fans of Peterborough United and Birmingham City both made the trip down to London to watch their teams play in the final of the Vertu trophy. The competition has had many different names over the course of history, initially known as the ‘Football League Group Cup’ when it was formed in 1981, it was rebranded to the ‘Football League Trophy’ and then eventually the ‘EFL Trophy’ in 2016 which it is known as today, despite sponsorship taking over it’s official name. Peterborough United and Birmingham City both have a decent pedigree in the competition, Birmingham had success in the 1990’s during their last stint in the Third Division, winning at Wembley in 1991 and again in 1995. Peterborough have more recent history in the competition, having won it in 2014 and in 2024, as they look to make history by becoming the first team to win the trophy in back to back seasons.
Birmingham City went into this years final as the overwhelming favourites, having beaten Peterborough 2-1 five days earlier at London Road to confirm their promotion back to the Championship. The club have made headlines this season not only for their success on the pitch, but also for what they have done off it. American owners Tom Wagner and Tom Brady have not been afraid to splash the cash to ensure a swift return to the Championship, spending a reported £20-£25 million (according to The Athletic) on transfers in the summer including a League One transfer record fee when they paid an eight figure sum for striker Jay Stansfield. Despite the huge amounts they have spent for a third tier club, manager Chris Davies still had a job to do to get them back to where they want to be at the first attempt. He has done that job emphatically, managing to get Birmingham to 95 points after just 40 games, sweeping aside all competition in their march to promotion.
It is safe to say that Birmingham supporters were in a confident mood then coming into this fixture, being the ‘bigger’ club they managed to sell over 40,000 tickets, more than double the amount that Peterborough were able to sell. Unfortunately for Birmingham however, football isn’t decided by expectation or the amount of fans inside the stadium. It is decided by who turns up on the day and Peterborough United had already caused an upset in the semi final of this competition, coming from 2-0 down to level 2-2 and eventually win on penalties against Wrexham at the Racecourse ground.
Sky would have been salivating about a potential ‘hollywood showdown’ between Wrexham and Birmingham, both of which have star studded American owners which would have fit the TV company’s narrative perfectly. Peterborough United ended that fairytale though as Hector Kyprianou scored the winning penalty to send the Posh to Wembley, to the joy of everyone in the away end who’d made the long trip to Wales.
Before this weekend Posh had made four previous trips to Wembley and won every single one of them. Stockport in 1992, Darlington in 2000, Chesterfield in 2014, and Wycombe last year. Posh also won the other significant final that they played at Old Trafford, rather than Wembley, in 2011 due to a clash with the Champions League final, beating Huddersfield Town 3-0 in yet another famous final win for the club. That 100% record is a proud part of the clubs identity and one that they would’ve been desperate to hold on to despite being underdogs.
Birmingham’s last trip to Wembley came in 2011 when they triumphed against all odds to complete the biggest upset in their history as they beat Arsenal 2-1 to lift the Carling Cup courtesy of a late Obafemi Martins winner. So, their fanbase would’ve known all about how form can go out of the window when it comes down to a one off cup final at Wembley.
The Vertu trophy is renowned for being a competition that helps young players to develop and thrive, and Wembley is the biggest possible stage for those young players to write themselves into history. Harley Mills is 19 and has only played 398 minutes of League One football so far this season for Posh. Earlier this season, Mills was playing on loan for National League South side Enfield Town, a club that we visited back in September when they played Peterborough Sports in an FA Cup tie. Mills was at Enfield at the time but didn’t feature on that day, soon after that he was recalled by Posh who needed back up in defence.
Fast forward to the 13th April at Wembley, and first choice left back Tayo Edun is cup tied meaning that Mills is given a start in the final. Although he has played more regularly in the Vertu trophy, it still may have surprised some people to see him stepping over a free kick in a promising shooting position in the 15th minute. What happened next wrote the young left back into Peterborough United folklore, as he produced a stunning left footed free kick that kissed the underside of the bar and flew into the net, giving Ryan Allsop in goal no chance of getting anywhere near it. Cue wild scenes throughout the east side of Wembley, everyone of a Peterborough persuasion were delirious and slightly in shock at what they’d just witnessed following the opening goal. Moments like that are what makes football so special, and I’m glad that I was there to see it happen.
Despite going behind Birmingham fans will have still been confident of turning the final around and lifting the trophy. Posh value possession and normally like to have the ball more than the opposition, but in this game it was evident that they had a game plan to allow Birmingham to have the ball and to hit them on the counter using the pace of Jade-Jones, Odoh and Poku. Birmingham were trying to get back into the game and make their possession count for something before half time.
Posh fans would’ve been delighted to get into the half time break just with their 1-0 lead intact. Harley Mills had a terrific game aside from his goal, and in a rare Posh attack towards the end of the half he put in a dangerous left footed cross that found it’s way to Hector Kyprianou just outside the box who was in acres of space. From that position he rifled in a shot into the top corner to stun the 40,000+ brummies into silence and double Posh’s lead at a crucial time in the match, sending their fans into dreamland.
The pressure of the occasion looked like it was getting to Birmingham, and Posh’s game plan was working wonders and was frustrating the league champions immeasurably. The second half saw Birmingham attack with more intensity but the final ball was lacking. Oscar Wallin, Emmanuel Fernandez and Harley Mills defended brilliantly, and James Dornelly had a better second half having struggled to cope with Keshi Anderson’s pace and skill in the first half. It was Posh who had the biggest chance of the second half as they sprung yet another swift counter attack and Ricky Jade-Jones used his blistering pace to go 1 on 1 with Allsop, the Birmingham keeper made a good save to deny him though and then stopped Poku’s rebound as well to keep his side in the game.
Birmingham fans thought they had an equaliser in the 84th minute, but Jay Stansfield’s goal was disallowed for offside, much to the delight of the Peterborough contingent. It wasn’t going to be Birmingham’s day. Ex-villa goalkeeper Jed Steer further frustrated the fans behind the goal that Birmingham were attacking in the second half as he made a great reaction save at the death to deny veteran striker Lukas Jutkiewicz. As the game drew closer to its conclusion, Posh fans rallied behind their team, making much more noise despite being outnumbered. By the time the final whistle blew, many of the Birmingham fans had already left the stadium and the celebrations in the east end were underway.
Posh had made history in being the first team to win the EFL Trophy in back to back seasons, and also kept their 100% record at Wembley intact despite being huge underdogs on the day. Out of all of their EFL Trophy triumphs at Wembley, this one was the most satisfying given the context of who they were playing, the size of the crowd and the upset that they managed to pull off thanks to a tactical masterclass from Darren Ferguson and the determination of every player who pulled on the shirt on Sunday afternoon.
The victory puts a positive spin on a poor season for the club. It will have also showcased the club’s willingness to develop and put faith in young players, which will in turn help them continue to be an attractive proposition for young talented footballers wanting to play first team football in an attacking team next season.
Even though they have been crowned League One champions this week, the defeat would have still hurt Birmingham supporters who made the trip to Wembley. They came with expectation of winning a second trophy in only a matter of days and to go and lose at Wembley having brought so many supporters will have been a big disappointment. Owner Tom Wagner spoke after the final saying that the club will not ‘let down’ fans again, and clearly felt that they should’ve won it. Following the trend, Birmingham City are due to bring out an amazon documentary of this season’s journey, and no doubt that Peterborough fans will enjoy watching the episode where they lose the EFL Trophy final against all the odds.
Written by Joe Horne
