# 2024–25 National League Cup

The 2024–25 National League Cup, is the 26th season in the history of the competition, and the first since its revival. It is a knock-out tournament between clubs in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system, and 16 professional under-21 teams playing in Premier League 2.
A prize fund of £1 million is distributed to non-league clubs in the fifth and sixth tiers, with the intention to provide younger players from the PL2 with senior experience. The relaunch of the competition has otherwise been controversial, with criticism and negativity from non-league clubs and their supporters.

## Participating clubs

* 16 invited clubs from the National League.
* 16 invited Premier League 2 under-21 teams.
| | National League | Premier League 2 |
| Clubs | Aldershot Town Altrincham Boston United Braintree Town Dagenham & Redbridge Ebbsfleet United FC Halifax Town Forest Green Rovers Gateshead Maidenhead United Oldham Athletic Rochdale Sutton United Tamworth Wealdstone Woking | Blackburn Rovers Brighton & Hove Albion Derby County Fulham Leeds United Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Total | 16 | 16 |

## Competition format
### League phase

* Four groups of eight teams.
* All groups will include four National League sides and four academy sides.
* All National League clubs will play each academy side once, and all academy sides will play each National League side once (academy sides will play all group matches away from home).
* Clubs will be awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw. Drawn matches will end in a penalty shoot-out with an extra point for the winners.
* The top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout stage.

### Knockout stage

* In Round 2, the group winners will be seeded and the group runners-up will be unseeded in the draw.
* In Round 2, teams who played in the same group as each other in the group stage will be kept apart.

## Broadcasting

The National League announced all fixtures would be streamed live and free on NLTV.

## Group stage

The group stage draw was made on 19 September 2024, when the competition was announced.

### Group A

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | NL | Aldershot Town (A) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | ACA | Brighton & Hove Albion U21 (A) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | NL | Maidenhead United (E) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 8 | |
| 4 | NL | Wealdstone (E) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | |
| 5 | NL | Woking (E) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 6 | |
| 6 | ACA | Fulham U21 (E) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
| 7 | ACA | Southampton U21 (E) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 4 | |
| 8 | ACA | Derby County U21 (E) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 1 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | ACA | Manchester United U21 (A) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | +11 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | NL | Altrincham (A) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | NL | Rochdale (E) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 7 | |
| 4 | ACA | Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 (E) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 7 | |
| 5 | NL | Oldham Athletic (E) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 7 | |
| 6 | ACA | Stoke City U21 (E) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 3 | |
| 7 | NL | Forest Green Rovers (E) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 3 | |
| 8 | ACA | Blackburn Rovers U21 (E) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 1 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | ACA | Newcastle United U21 (A) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | ACA | Leeds United U21 (A) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | NL | Boston United (E) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 8 | |
| 4 | ACA | Middlesbrough U21 (E) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 | |
| 5 | NL | Gateshead (E) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 5 | |
| 6 | ACA | Sunderland U21 (E) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 4 | |
| 7 | NL | FC Halifax Town (E) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 4 | |
| 8 | NL | Tamworth (E) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 4 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | NL | Braintree Town (A) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | NL | Sutton United (A) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | NL | Dagenham & Redbridge (E) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 7 | |
| 4 | ACA | West Ham United U21 (E) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 | |
| 5 | NL | Ebbsfleet United (E) | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 5 | |
| 6 | ACA | Nottingham Forest U21 (E) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| 7 | ACA | Tottenham Hotspur U21 (E) | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 4 | |
| 8 | ACA | West Bromwich Albion U21 (E) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 2 | |

## Quarter-finals

Teams who played in the same group in the group stage are kept apart. The draw was completed on 13 February 2025.

### Qualified teams

| Group | Winners | Runners-up |
| A | Aldershot Town | Brighton & Hove Albion U21 |
| B | Manchester United U21 | Altrincham |
| C | Newcastle United U21 | Leeds United U21 |
| D | Braintree Town | Sutton United |

## Semi-finals

The semi-finals were originally scheduled to be played on 11–12 March. Leeds United U21 is the only remaining semi-finalist who plays in Premier League 2

### Qualified teams

Altrincham (Group B)
Braintree Town (Group D)
Leeds United U21 (Group C)
Sutton United (Group D)