Darren Ferguson toasted his record-breaking Peterborough team after an inspired display by teenager Harley Mills helped them register a shock 2-0 victory over Birmingham in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley.
The all-conquering Blues had sealed promotion from Sky Bet League One with an away win at Posh on Tuesday before they clinched the title on Saturday – after Wrexham dropped points – but they were stunned by two former Aston Villa players in London.
Firstly, ex-Villa trainee Mills struck a wonderful free-kick in the 15th minute before his cross led to a superb second from Hector Kyprianou on the stroke of half-time, and one-time Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer then stood strong amid a Birmingham onslaught during the final exchanges.
Peterborough navigated 11 minutes of stoppage-time to become the first club to win this tournament back-to-back and Ferguson – who lifted silverware for a fourth time at Posh – celebrated being the first manager to win the English Football League Trophy on three occasions.
“Yeah, we’ve made a bit of history. We knew we had to give a really top performance and I felt the players did that,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.
“Birmingham are a top team. They are one of the best teams that League One has seen and you have to congratulate them, they’ve won the league but today was our day.
“Maybe Tuesday was a good game for us because they didn’t blow us, which they’ve done to many teams but we were well in the game and I think the lads took belief from that.
“We just said we’ve got to turn up and be the best version of us. Today we were.”
Ferguson was also relieved 19-year-old Mills was stubborn enough to take the early free-kick.
He added: “Kwame (Poku) wanted to take it and I was screaming, ‘let Harley take it’, because he’s fantastic at free-kicks. His deliveries are on the money all the time and fantastic.
“No, it wasn’t my decision. Kwame is good at many things, but not that.
“For the kid (Harley), he’s come through the academy, scored at Wembley, a fantastic day for the boy.”
Birmingham were left to lick their wounds, 24 hours after the League One title had been sealed, but boss Chris Davies vowed they would grow from defeat at Wembley.
“It wasn’t our best day. It was obviously Peterborough’s day, so firstly congratulates to Peterborough,” Davies said.
“Suffering is part of life, part of football and you have to feel it, take your medicine, grow from it and learn from it.
“We’re suffering because we’ve come to Wembley with all our fans and lost and that’s going to hurt obviously, but we do have to grow from it and we will do.”
Iliman Ndiaye scored the last goals at Goodison Park as Everton signed off 133 years of history with a fitting 2-0 win over an abject Southampton.Nottingham Forest’s Horace Pike had the honour of being first on the scoresheet here in September 1892 – Fred Geary registered the Toffees’ first in the 2-2 draw – but Senegal international Ndiaye had the final say.The 2,791st men...
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner hailed his players for writing a new chapter in Crystal Palace’s history following their 1-0 FA Cup triumph over Manchester City.Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute goal and Dean Henderson’s penalty save paved the way for Palace to land their first major trophy and a spot in the Europa League next season.“We said before the game that we wanted t...
Pep Guardiola was unhappy about Dean Henderson’s time wasting in Manchester City’s FA Cup final defeat – but the Spaniard refused to be drawn on whether the Crystal Palace goalkeeper should have been sent off.An angry Guardiola exchanged words with Henderson after the final whistle following City’s 1-0 loss at Wembley, which leaves them without a trophy this season and stil...
Airdrieonians secured their place in the Scottish Championship for another season as they beat Cove Rangers 2-1 on aggregate in their play-off final after a 0-0 second-leg draw at Excelsior Stadium.The early stages saw Lewis McGrattan bring a good save out of Cove goalkeeper Nicholas Suman, before counterpart Cade Melrose did well at the other end as he blocked Adam Emslie’s shot with his fo...
Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute goal fired Crystal Palace to the first major trophy in their history as they secured a 1-0 FA Cup victory over Manchester City at Wembley.Eze put Palace ahead with their first attack of the match before an inspired Dean Henderson saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty.However, Henderson could count himself fortunate to still be on the pitch after he earlier appeared t...
East Kilbride won promotion to Scottish League Two for the first time and sent Bonnyrigg Rose down after a 0-0 draw at New Dundas Park saw the visitors triumph 3-1 on aggregate.Bonnyrigg goalkeeper Paddy Martin did well to keep out a Joao Balde strike in the 24th minute, before Aaron Arnott fired over at the other end.Kerr Young was unable to make the most of two chances for the hosts midway throu...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Manchester City's nightmare season will end without a trophy Dean Huijsen is just a chill guy joining Real Madrid Pep, Arteta Crystal Palace FA Cup Champion 2024/25🏆Crystal Palace 1-0 Man City In a world of elite strikers… there stands one king OFFICIAL: Lionel Messi will face The BEAST He Created! Has he got the Arsenal curse? Please stay tuned...
Carlo Ancelotti's future as the new Brazil manager is in serious danger as the five-time World Cup winners have been warned they could be expelled from the 2026 competition.Ancelotti had been announced as the new Brazil manager for the upcoming World Cup campaign, joining after the season with Real Madrid comes to an end.Since then, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) risks being barred fro...
Manchester United have already decided they will not sack Ruben Amorim if they lose the Europa League final.The Red Devils face Tottenham in Bilbao on Wednesday night with a chance for silverware and Champions League football next season on offer to salvage their dire campaign.Amorim took over in November and has overseen United's lowest finish in 50 years, but his future appears to be safe for th...
WHAT HAPPENED?Muller featured in Bayern's convincing 4-0 win over Hoffenheim at the PreZero Arena, marking the end of his domestic league journey with the Bavarian giants. Despite stepping away from the German top-flight, Muller has yet to announce where his career will head next. At 35, the attacking midfielder remains committed to continuing his playing days, but he emphasised that he's in no ru...
- 1 Richie Wellens hails Leyton Orient’s ‘outstanding’ victory over Stockport
- 2 Man Utd are losing the feeling of being a massive club – Ruben Amorim
- 3 We will see – no Unai Emery assurances over future of tearful Emiliano Martinez
- 4 Leyton Orient book Wembley date by beating Stockport on penalties
- 5 Liverpool cleared to complete signing
- 6 Brendan Rodgers hits out at ‘needless challenge’ on Reo Hatate
- 7 Mat Sadler hails Walsall’s ‘fighting performance’ after win in play-off first leg
- 8 David Gray thanks Hibernian board for showing faith in him after securing third
- 9 Airdrieonians earn first-leg lead over Cove in play-offs
- 10 Flick lauds Yamal, as Barca nears title