The 2019–20 EFL Trophy, known as the Leasing.com Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 37th 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. Due to their financial crisis, Bury were expelled from the EFL and automatically eliminated from the competition as well. Portsmouth were the defending champions, and reached the final once again. Because, they were beaten on penalties by Salford City after a 0–0 draw. The final was held on March 13, 2021, having been delayed 11 months as the originally scheduled date of April 5, 2020 was just after suspension of English football due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating clubs 48 clubs from League One and League Two. 16 invited Category One Academy teams. Expelled clubs were automatically eliminated from the tournament. Category One teams relegated to League One missed out on having academies participate in the following tournament. Eligibility criteria for players For EFL clubs Minimum of four qualifying outfield players in their starting XI. A qualifying outfield player will be one who meets any of the following requirements: Any player who started the previous or following first-team fixture. Any player who is in the top 10 players at the club, who have made the most starting appearances in league and domestic cup competitions that season. Any player with 40 or more first-team appearances in their career. Any player on loan from a Premier League club or any EFL Category One Academy club. A club can play any eligible goalkeeper in the competition For invited teams Minimum of six players in the starting line-up who played at under-21 level, as at 30 June 2019. Teams may only include two players on the team sheet who are over the age of 21 and have made forty or more senior appearances, as at 30 June 2019. A senior appearance will be defined as having played in a professional first-team fixture. A non-playing substitute does not count. Competition format Group stage Sixteen groups of 4 teams would be organised on a regionalised basis. All groups would include one invited club. All clubs would play each other once, either home or away (Academies play all group matches away from home). Clubs would be awarded three points for a win and