Darren Ferguson Proud As Peterborough Write History

16/04/2025 17:33 Share

Darren Ferguson Proud As Peterborough Write History

Darren Ferguson hailed his Peterborough United players for their achievement after the Posh became the first team in tournament history to successfully retain the Vertu Trophy title.

Only three teams had previously made it to the final on the back of winning the competition in the shape of Bristol City, Tranmere Rovers and Portsmouth.

Having scored a first win back in 1986, Bristol City slipped to defeat on penalties against Mansfield Town twelve months later, whilst Tranmere’s defence after winning at Wembley in 1990 was ended on their return the following year thanks to a late Birmingham City winner.

Portsmouth were the most recent defending trophy holders to make the final but having beaten Sunderland on penalties in 2019 in front of the biggest audience in competition history, were beaten in the same fashion in the delayed 2020 finale – one of two played behind closed doors due to the pandemic.

Peterborough’s run to the final saw them go through the competition undefeated, with a 100 per cent record in the group stages before beating Northampton Town, Walsall, Cheltenham Town and Wrexham to book a Wembley return.

Birmingham went into the game as favourites having been confirmed as League One champions the previous day, but a strong defensive display from Peterborough and two impressive goals saw Posh emerge on top for the third time in the competition – matching Bristol City for trophy wins.

“It’s an amazing moment for the team and for the club, and I don’t know if it [defending the title] will be done again so we’ve written history,” he said.

“The biggest compliment I can give the team is that we deserved it. We were compact and we were brave, and we threw our bodies in the way which is what you have to do. Jed [Steer] made a great save from [Lukas] Jutkiewicz late on as well that was key – that was a big moment.”

Peterborough’s success came with the youngest squad in the competition, aside from the various academy teams, with the starting eleven in the final having an average age of 23.18

Harley Mills opened the scoring and was named as Man of the Match at the age of 19 as the youngsters once again delivered the goods on the big stage.

“They’ve done us proud once again, and we’ve played 21 academy players in the competition this season which is a reflection of the club and the philosophy that we have,” he said. “Harley Mills, what a performance. I know there was the goal, but defensively he was up against Ethan Laird who is a really good player, and then Keshi Anderson who is a top player and he handled them both very well. They did a fantastic job.”

Ferguson himself is now the most successful manager in Vertu Trophy history with three wins, with Peterborough ‘keeper Jed Steer amongst those to give him praise for the achievement.

“I think it’s brilliant and to be the first manager to win this three times is something he deserves,” he said. “He approaches every game like no other manager whether it’s in the league, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup or the Vertu Trophy.

“Every single game, we prepare in the same way and at other clubs, you can sometimes tell it isn’t a league game by the team that is chosen. Here, we go out to win every single game and team selection and training reflect that.

“The fact that the manager has now won three of these is a reflection of that, and congratulations to the gaffer.”