2011–12 Football League Trophy

The 2011–12 Football League Trophy, known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is the 31st 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.

2011–12 Football League Trophy

Johnstone's Paint Trophy
Tournament details
Country	England Wales
Teams	48
Final positions
Champions	Chesterfield
Runners-up	Swindon Town
Tournament statistics
Matches played	49
Goals scored	137 (2.8 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Shefki Kuqi Mike Grella (4 goals each)
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

In all, 48 clubs will enter the competition. It is split into two sections, Northern and Southern, with the winners of each section contesting the final at Wembley Stadium. Carlisle United is the defending champion, having beaten Brentford in the previous year's final, 1–0 but were beaten in the Northern Section First round by Accrington Stanley 3–2.

First round

The draw for the first round of the competition took place on 13 August 2011. Sixteen clubs were given a bye into the second round, and the remaining 32 clubs, including the holders, were divided into four geographical regions.

Northern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance North-West 1 Bury 0–0 Crewe Alexandra 1,295 Crewe Alexandra won 4 – 2 on penalties 2 Tranmere Rovers 1–1 Port Vale 2,546 Tranmere Rovers won 4 – 2 on penalties 3 Walsall 2–1 Shrewsbury Town 2,605 4 Accrington Stanley 3–2[permanent dead link] Carlisle United 1,069 North-East 5 Scunthorpe United 2–0 Hartlepool United 1,763 6 Bradford City 0–0 Sheffield Wednesday 3,519 Bradford City won 3 –1 on penalties 7 Northampton Town 1–2 Huddersfield Town 1,776 8 Burton Albion 1–2 Sheffield United 2,725

Southern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance South-West 1 Bournemouth 4–1 Hereford United 2,489 2 Cheltenham Town 2–1 Torquay United 1,247 3 Exeter City 1–1 Plymouth Argyle 3,940 Exeter City won 3 – 0 on penalties 4 Wycombe Wanderers 3–1[permanent dead link] Bristol Rovers 771 South-East 5 Milton Keynes Dons 3–3 Brentford 4,175 Brentford won 4 – 3 on penalties 6 Colchester United 1–3 Barnet 1,747 7 Leyton Orient 1–1 Dagenham & Redbridge 1,420 Dagenham & Redbridge won 14 – 13 on penalties 8 Southend United 1–0 Crawley Town 2,053

Byes

Northern section Chesterfield, Macclesfield Town, Morecambe, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Preston North End, Rochdale, Rotherham United.

Southern section AFC Wimbledon, Aldershot Town, Charlton Athletic, Gillingham, Oxford United, Stevenage, Swindon Town, Yeovil Town.

Second round

The second round draw took place on 3 September 2011, with matches played in the week commencing 3 October 2011.^[1]

Northern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance North-West 1 Accrington Stanley 0–1 Tranmere Rovers 1,509 Note: First match was abandoned 2 Morecambe 2–2 Preston North End 4,385 Preston North End won 7 – 6 on penalties 3 Crewe Alexandra 1–0 Macclesfield Town 2,271 4 Rochdale 1–1 Walsall 2,089 Rochdale won 3 – 1 on penalties North-East 5 Rotherham United 1–2 Sheffield United 6,737 6 Scunthorpe United 0–1 Oldham Athletic 2,106 7 Notts County 1–3 Chesterfield 2,293 8 Huddersfield Town 2–2 Bradford City 10,489 Bradford City won 4 – 3 on penalties

Southern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance South-West 1 Bournemouth 3–2 Yeovil Town 1,416 2 Wycombe Wanderers 1–3 Cheltenham Town 931 3 Aldershot Town 1–2 Oxford United 1,429 4 Exeter City 1–2 Swindon Town 2,627 South-East 5 AFC Wimbledon 2–2 Stevenage 1,416 AFC Wimbledon won 4 – 3 on penalties 6 Charlton Athletic 0–3 Brentford 3,486 7 Gillingham 1–3 Barnet 1,278 8 Dagenham & Redbridge 1–3 Southend United 2,395

Area Quarter-finals

The area quarter finals draw took place on 8 October 2011, with matches played in the week commencing 8 November 2011.^[2]

Northern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Rochdale 1–1 Preston North End 2,395 Preston North End won 4 – 2 on penalties 2 Chesterfield 4–3 Tranmere Rovers 3,152 3 Sheffield United 1–1 Bradford City 5,692 Bradford City won 6 – 5 on penalties 4 Oldham Athletic 3–1 Crewe Alexandra 2,163

Southern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Swindon Town 1–1 AFC Wimbledon 4.329 Swindon Town won 3 – 1 on penalties 2 Cheltenham Town 0–2 Barnet 1,388 3 Oxford United 0–1 Southend United 2,415 4 Brentford 6–0 Bournemouth 3,015

Area Semi-finals

The area semi finals draw took place on 12 November 2011, with matches played in the week commencing 5 December 2011.

Northern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Oldham Athletic 2–0 Bradford City 5,697 2 Preston North End 1–1 Chesterfield 5,835 Chesterfield won 4 – 2 on penalties

Southern section Tie no Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Southend United 1–2 Swindon Town 3,981 2 Barnet 0–0 Brentford 1,970 Barnet won 5 – 3 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. 1st Leg ties due to be played by 18 January 2012. A 2nd Leg tie will be played on Monday 30 January 2012 and another on 7 February 2012

Northern section

Chesterfield v Oldham Athletic

17 January 2012	Chesterfield	2–1	Oldham Athletic	B2net Stadium, Chesterfield
19:45 GMT	Boden 49' Whitaker 66' Thompson  52' Hurst  53' Davis  71' Lester  79'	Report	Simpson 57'	Attendance: 5,724 Referee: Phil Gibbs

Oldham Athletic v Chesterfield

30 January 2012	Oldham Athletic	0–1	Chesterfield	Boundary Park, Oldham
19:45 GMT	Simpson  69'	Report	Lester 89' Robertson  38' Hurst  62' Davis  76'	Attendance: 5,622 Referee: Roger East

Chesterfield won 3–1 on aggregate

Southern section

Barnet v Swindon Town

10 January 2012	Barnet	1–1	Swindon Town	Underhill Stadium, London
19:45 GMT	Hughes 72' Deering  29'	Report	Flint 44' McCormack  77'	Attendance: 3,915 Referee: Nigel Miller

Swindon Town v Barnet

7 February 2012	Swindon Town	1–0	Barnet	County Ground, Swindon
19:45 GMT	Connell 17' Kennedy  80' Risser  90'		Hughes  28' Saville  37' Dennehy  63' Taylor  85' Mustoe  90'	Attendance: 10,406 Referee: Darren Deadman

Swindon Town won 2–1 on aggregate

Final

Main article: 2012 Football League Trophy Final

25 March 2012

14:00 BST

Chesterfield	2–0	Swindon Town
Risser 47' (o.g.) Westcarr 90+4'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 49,602

Referee: Anthony Bates