The English Football League (EFL) has secured a three-year partnership with an automotive dealer, Bristol Street Motors.
In this deal, Bristol Street Motors, part of the larger Vertu Motors company, has been named the EFL’s official car dealer in addition to serving as the tournament’s title sponsor until the conclusion of the 2025–26 season. Thus, the name of the competition will now be the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
The Bristol Street Motors Trophy is a youth development tournament that provides an opportunity for the forthcoming generation of footballers at both EFL Clubs and invited under-21 teams.
Various top players of today’s generation like Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Reece James, and Conor Gallagher, made their professional debuts in this competition.
Up until and including the quarterfinals of the previous season, half of all players included in the matchday squads of EFL League One and Two clubs were under the age of 21, with 64% of those players being eligible to play for England.
With the investment from Bristol Street Motors, the over £3 million total prize fund—which generates substantial income for both League One and League Two clubs—will grow over the following two years. Bristol Street Motors’ investment will see a rise in the prize fund over the next two years, from its current level of approximately £3 million, which generates considerable revenue for both League One and League Two clubs.
Last season, the competition drew in over 300,000 viewers, up over 50,000 from the previous year. The trophy was won by Bolton Wanderers in front of 79,389 spectators at Wembley, the most attended match in all of Europe that weekend.
Chief Executive Officer, Bristol Street Motors, Robert Forrester, said, “As a national business, Bristol Street Motors is hugely proud of the connections we have developed with communities across the UK through our dealership network. Across the communities, football is something that brings people together, so the opportunity to join forces with the EFL and Clubs that are such an important part of life for our customers was something that was simply too good to turn down.”