There’s a chill in the air and the wind is swirling around Fratton Park as the rain begins to fall – this is Portsmouth vs AFC Wimbledon in an EFL Trophy group stage on a cold, wet Tuesday night.
With Wimbledon already qualifying for the knock-out phase and Portsmouth just needing a draw to qualify themselves, the match was effectively a dead rubber.
Cue the anticipated wholesale squad rotation which, alongside the torturous weather, meant only 124 hardy Wimbledon souls made the trip to the South Coast – the majority of which were not hanging around to mingle outside pre-match, instead quickly bolting into the dry inner sanctum of the away stand.
Even Portsmouth, winners in 2019 and runners-up the following year, were reduced to a hardcore home fan attendance of just over 2,000 all retained in one stand.
There was a real sense of apathy around the ground; no real atmosphere, two empty stands, a lot of on-the-whistle arrivals and a sense that neither set of fans were overly bothered about the result or progressing to the next round. Welcome to a typical EFL Trophy match night.
Before the match, Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley spoke about squad rotation and keeping certain players fresh ahead of their upcoming FA Cup tie away to Hereford. In all, seven changes were made from the team that started their previous League One encounter against Shrewsbury.
Cowley is not alone in effectively fielding a reserve side in the competition, especially in the group stages. At this point in the season, teams are looking to get a good start in the league and more often use the competition as a way of keeping fringe players fresh whilst not putting excessive strain on key first-team players.
Similarly Wimbledon made nine changes with manager Johnnie Jackson telling London Football Scene: “We don’t prioritise this [competition] as such but we had a target to get out of the group stage.
“You use this as a chance to utilise your squad, give players minutes and tonight was an opportunity to play some of the younger lads.
“Obviously, we’ll look at the next round, see where it fits in with our schedule and how many bodies we’ve got fit.”
No-one is disguising the EFL Trophy is treated as a second-rate competition with clubs resigned to three-figure attendances – Charlton Athletic even recording their lowest ever Valley attendance (662) for a first-team fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion U21s.
Fans are voting with their feet, managers are playing their reserves – so should the EFL just face facts and jack the competition in?
At a time when the cost of living is rising on a monthly basis, should fans be asked to splash out a few more quid for these de facto friendlies? Of course, no-one has to go and few do, but there will always be a hardcore set that will go no matter what.
Even the draw of a Wembley final isn’t as big a carrot as the EFL may think as clubs don’t show much interest until the latter stages when the famous arch is in sight and vast amounts of money has already been squandered turning floodlights on in practically empty stadia.
And the addition of Premier League Academy teams? Initially questioned by cynics as a back door to Academy teams entering the pyramid, their inclusion has most certainly backfired.
When you consider the volume of players loaned out by Premier League clubs, those that remain at the Academies (arguably deemed not good enough for even League Two) make up the squads you see playing in the EFL Trophy.
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So it’s perhaps no surprise that 11 of the 16 Academy teams failed to progress to the next round of this season’s competition, with many actually finishing bottom of their respective groups.
Add to the mix that Premier League first-teams occasionally play on the same night and the number of potential fans from these clubs looking to see the next generation in action is further restricted.
If question marks are continually raised at the legitimacy of the League Cup, what chances does the EFL Trophy have?
At least with the League Cup some Premier League teams play their strongest line-ups from the off and the competition is generally more accepted by fans.
Of course, there are still exceptions, even amongst EFL teams, where they will look at the bigger picture and not go full strength but it is still far more sustainable than the EFL Trophy.
Perhaps the answer is to merge the League Cup and EFL Trophy, creating one competition for only EFL teams, consisting of fourteen regional groups of five with the group winners joining the two best teams relegated from the Premier League, who have received a bye into the knock-out stage.
Even with the final at Wembley, it’s still a concept that would be hard to sell but at least managers and fans would probably be on the same level when it comes to approaching these two ever-diluted competitions.
As for Portsmouth vs AFC Wimbledon? The game finished 1-1 with Pompey winning the proceeding penalty shoot-out (simple draws are seemingly frowned upon in the competition) and, with it being enough for both sides to qualify, the spot-kicks largely became irrelevant.
Arguably a fitting summarisation for the entire competition….