The 2010–11 Football League Trophy, known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is the 30th season in the history of the competition. It is a knock-out tournament for English football clubs in League One and League Two, the third and fourth tiers of English football.

In all, 48 clubs entered the competition. It is split into two sections, Northern and Southern, with the winners of each section contesting the final at Wembley Stadium. The first round took place on 30 August 2010.

Southampton were the defending champions, but lost to Swindon Town in the first round.

Carlisle United, the previous year's runner-up, won the competition, beating Brentford 1-0 in the final.

First round The draw for the first round of the competition took place on 14 August 2010."Byes awarded" . Football League. Retrieved 6 August 2010. Sixteen clubs were given a bye into the second round, and the remaining 32 clubs, including the holders, were divided into four geographical regions. Among the clubs receiving a bye in the northern section were Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United, while in the southern section West Country clubs Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle entered at the second round stage."League awaits Trophy draw". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 August 2010.

Northern Section

Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceNorth-West 1 Macclesfield Town1–0 Morecambe 720 2 Oldham Athletic 0–1Shrewsbury Town2,703 3 Port Vale2–1 Rochdale 2,442 4 Tranmere Rovers1–1Accrington Stanley 2,020 Accrington Stanley won 5 – 3 on penalties but later withdrew from the competitionNorth-East 5 Hartlepool United 4–0 Northampton Town 1,359 6 Rotherham United1–0 Lincoln City 1,677 7 Sheffield Wednesday2–1 Notts County 10,551 8 Walsall 1–2Chesterfield1,793

Southern Section

Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceSouth-West 1 Aldershot Town2–0 Oxford United 1,607 2 Bournemouth 0–0Torquay United3,140 Torquay United won 3 – 0 on penalties 3 Southampton 0–3Swindon Town8,333 4 Yeovil Town 1–3Exeter City2,954 South-East 5 Brighton & Hove Albion 0–2Leyton Orient3,124 6 Charlton Athletic1–0 Dagenham & Redbridge 4,630 7 Southend United0–0 Gillingham 3,073 Southend United won 4 – 3 on penalties 8 Stevenage 0–1Brentford 1,916

Byes

Northern section Bradford City, Burton Albion, Bury, Carlisle United, Crewe Alexandra, Huddersfield Town, Peterborough United, Stockport County.

Southern section Barnet, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Hereford United, Milton Keynes Dons, Plymouth Argyle, Wycombe Wanderers.

Second round The second round draw took place on 4 September 2010, with matches played in the week commencing 4 October 2010."Johnstone's Paint Trophy second round draw". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 September 2010. Accrington Stanley were due to play Stockport County but the game was postponed because Accrington played an ineligible player in their first round match against Tranmere;"Accrington Stanley's JPT tie postponed". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2010. Accrington subsequently withdrew from the competition and Tranmere were reinstated."Accrington withdraw from Johnstone's Paint Trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2010.

Northern Section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceNorth-West1Tranmere Rovers0–0Stockport County2,223 Tranmere Rovers won 4 – 3 on penalties2Macclesfield Town2–4Crewe Alexandra1,1033Bury0–0Shrewsbury Town1,944 Bury won 6 – 5 on penalties4Carlisle United2–2Port Vale2,273 Carlisle United won 4 – 3 on penaltiesNorth-East5Burton Albion1–2Rotherham United1,3606Hartlepool United1–0Bradford City1,7287Sheffield Wednesday2–2Chesterfield15,003 Sheffield Wednesday won 8 – 7 on penalties8Huddersfield Town3–2Peterborough United2,904

Southern Section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceSouth-West1Bristol Rovers1–0Aldershot Town4,0502Swindon Town2–0Torquay United3,6253Cheltenham Town0–2Plymouth Argyle1,5974Hereford United0–3Exeter City1,286South-East5Colchester United0–2Wycombe Wanderers2,3796Leyton Orient0–0Brentford1,152 Brentford won 5 – 4 on penalties7Milton Keynes Dons1–2Charlton Athletic3,7738Barnet1–3Southend United1,356

Area quarter-finals The draw for the area quarter-finals took place on 9 October 2010 on Soccer AM, with matches played in the week commencing 8 November 2010.. The Football League. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010."Johnstone's Paint Trophy third round draw". BBC Sport. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010.

Northern Section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Carlisle United3–1Crewe Alexandra2,1422Rotherham United2–5Huddersfield Town2,1853Bury0–1Tranmere Rovers1,9614Sheffield Wednesday4–1Hartlepool United10,909

Southern Section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Swindon Town1–1Brentford3,469 Brentford won 4–2 on penalties2Plymouth Argyle1–2Exeter City9,4313Southend United0–1Charlton Athletic4,3734Wycombe Wanderers3–6Bristol Rovers1,591

Area semi-finals The draw for the area semi-finals took place on 13 November 2010 on Soccer AM, with matches due to be played in the week commencing 29 November 2010. Due to snow, only one match was eventually played during this week. One match was played on 14 December 2010 and broadcast live."Round 4 draw" . The Football League. 13 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.

Northern Section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Tranmere Rovers0–2Huddersfield Town2,5982Carlisle United3–1Sheffield Wednesday3,149

Southern Section Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Brentford0–0Charlton Athletic2,783 Brentford won 3–1 on penalties2Bristol Rovers2–2Exeter City3,881 Exeter City won 5–4 on penalties

Area finals The area finals, which serve as the semi-finals for the entire competition, were contested over two legs, home and away.

Northern Section

Carlisle United won 4–3 on aggregate

Southern Section

Brentford won 3–2 on aggregate

Final

References

External links Official website