Walsall vote to change Checkatrade Trophy

The competition, officially known at the EFL Trophy, came in for fierce criticism last season after teams from English football’s top two tiers were invited to enter under-23 sides.

That decision prompted thousands of supporters to boycott attending games amid fears Premier League ‘B’ teams could filter into the Football League.

And that boycott led to Walsall recording their lowest ever attendance at Bescot Stadium when just 925 fans watched their clash with Oldham back in December.

Today Football League clubs were asked to submit their views on how they want to see the competition progress in the future.

Clubs could vote for a 48-team straight knockout competition, a 48-team format with group stage followed by knockout rounds or a 64-team format to include 16 invited clubs.

Another option was to abolish the tournament all together.

Walsall voted in favour of keeping the group stage format first implemented for the 2016/17 season.

But they voted against inviting 16 extra teams – sides that would have been made up from teams in the Premier League or the Championship.

A statement released by the Saddlers said: “As a football club, we voted for Option 3 – to see a return to a 48-team format with a group stage followed by knock-out rounds.

“We feel this best represents the views of our supporters following a number of consultative exercises undertaken in recent months.

“Each club in League One and Two had until 10.00am today (Tuesday) to cast their vote and we now await a decision on the outcome of today’s vote.”