Birmingham City vs Peterborough United. Vertu Trophy Final.
Wembley StadiumAttendance71,722.
Birmingham City 0-2 Peterborough United: Harley Mills scores stunning free-kick as Posh become first team ever to retain Vertu Trophy
Report and free match highlights from the 2024/25 Vertu Trophy final between Birmingham City and Peterborough United at Wembley on Sunday; goals from Harley Mills and Hector Kyprianou ensured Darren Ferguson's Posh became the first team to retain the trophy
Sunday 13 April 2025 18:27, UK
Birmingham were denied a historic league and cup double as Peterborough upset the odds to lift the Vertu Trophy after a 2-0 win at Wembley.
The Blues were promoted back to the Championship on Tuesday night - ironically after a 2-1 win against Darren Ferguson's Posh - and won the Sky Bet League One title without kicking a ball on Saturday when Wrexham drew at Wigan.
Supported by a travelling crowd of around 50,000, the Blues looked bright in the opening stages - until they were stopped in their tracks by one of the great Wembley goals.
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Nineteen-year-old Harley Mills - who started the season on loan at Enfield Town in the National League South - hit an unstoppable free-kick from 30 yards that went in via the underside of the crossbar.
And, on the stroke of half-time, Mills hand a big hand in the second, as his cross from the left was helped on by Ricky-Jade Jones to captain Hector Kyprianou, who slammed home to double the lead, right in front of the opposition fans.
Jones had the chance to make it three himself just after the hour, but he mis-kicked under pressure from Seung-Ho Paik, before Ryan Allsop made two strong follow-up saves.
Surprisingly for a team that has scored 100 goals in all competitions, the Blues were thoroughly uninspiring going forward and limp in attack. By the 80th minute, they had generated just 0.41 xG.
They thought they had pulled one back after 84, but when Jay Stansfield tucked home after Jed Steer had made a save, the offside flag was raised and the strike was correctly ruled out.
And so Peterborough became the first side in history to retain the EFL Trophy - following last season's win over Wycombe - and the second to win it on three occasions, after Bristol City.
Deeney: Defeat could be a blessing for Birmingham
Former Birmingham striker Troy Deeney on Sky Sports:
"Everything under the new ownership has gone up and it's gone on a massive trajectory of going up and being great.
"Sometimes you need a humbling experience and this may be that for them. Football has a way of humbling you. It could be a blessing in disguise (for Birmingham).
"I've said this before - my greatest experience was playing here in a 6-0 loss in an FA Cup final against Man City. This is something I get to talk about to my kids forever. That happens for both sets of players today.
"The Birmingham players will be frustrated, they'll feel that they're going on to bigger and better. Today was a humbling experience for them, but they'll talk about this for the rest of their lives.
"And all the Peterborough players who got to play here, not only last year, but this year, this is a template for them now to go on to bigger and better things.
"It's a selling point for the club. They can say 'Come here, we win stuff. We're used to playing in big games'."
Davies: Incredible goals rocked us - we couldn't find our quality
Birmingham manager Chris Davies on Sky Sports:
"It wasn't our best day. There were two incredible goals that rocked us. We've been behind many times before and we've come back, we just couldn't find our quality.
"We got to the final third so many times but, from there, we couldn't connect that to actual chances at goal until quite late on.
"I wanted us to be a bit quicker, a bit sharper around the box, more decisive without crossing, put them under a little bit more pressure, but we just couldn't quite find it.
"As I've said to the players, they will be hurting and we all hate losing, but what today shows you is what they've done this season. You can have a game like that where they score two worldie goals and don't do a lot else and you can lose. That's football.
"We've lost three games all season. We've won the league with six games to go, which is very unusual. For all the people that say Birmingham should win the league, Birmingham should do that, that's what can happen.
"That's why, for 40 games this season, they've been amazing. I'm not going to stand here saying this, this and this about people because they deserve respect for what they've done this season."
Ferguson: It's massive to win at Wembley twice in a row
Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson on Sky Sports:
"We've made a bit of history. We knew we had to give a really top performance and I felt the players did that. We knew we had to start the second half well. The first 15 minutes were going to be important. The first goal today was always going to be important and it was and proved that way. Two really good finishes. I thought we deserved to win.
"Kwame wanted to take the free-kick and I'm screaming at him, 'let Harley take it!' He's fantastic at free-kicks. His deliveries are on the money all the time. You could say he's similar to Harrison Burrows; he's come through the academy, he's scored at Wembley. Fantastic day for the boy.
"Maybe Tuesday was a good game for us because they didn't blow us away, which they've done to many teams. We were well in the game and I think the lads took belief from that.
"Before the game, the last thing I said to them was that we played Huddersfield in a play-off final. They had 40,000 and, at the end of the game, they had zero in the stadium. I said, 'you get on the bus with the trophy. That's what you've got to do. Believe in it. You're going to do it.' They played like they believed.
"It means a lot. Every year, the players know how I approach this tournament. You only get two chances in League One - this and the play-offs. There's so many better players that have never played at Wembley. These guys have done it twice in two years. It's a massive thing. That's why, from the first game, I'm at it with them."
