'Some day out' - Peterborough celebrate Trophy triumph

Captain Hector Kyprianou and manager Darren Ferguson lift the Vertu Trophy

Maybe they should re-name the EFL Trophy the Darren Ferguson Trophy.

A winner - and goal-scorer - in the final for Wrexham in 2005, he has now guided Peterborough United to victory in the competition for a third time.

No wonder chairman Darragh MacAnthony took to social media to describe the Scot as Posh's "goat manager" - and he certainly wasn't talking about looking after cloven-hoofed creatures with horns.

By beating favourites Birmingham City 2-0 at Wembley on Sunday, Peterborough became the first team to win the final in successive years.

And it also put them alongside Bristol City as the only teams to lift the trophy on three occasions.

"The biggest compliment you can give them is they fully deserved to win that game; I don't think anyone could argue (with that), " Ferguson told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"They (Birmingham) are the best team in the league, arguably the best team League One has seen, but I could feel it with the players. The last thing I said to them was 'you've got to play with conviction' and they did that."

Ferguson is in his fourth spell as Peterborough manager and as well as their three EFL Trophy triumphs, he has also guided them to four promotions.

"It's a wonderful partnership, Darragh MacAnthony and Darren Ferguson. Long may it continue," director of football Barry Fry said in the build-up to Sunday's final.

"Darren Ferguson has given us great excitement here over the years with the entertaining, exciting teams he's put together."

But this season has been a serious test of Ferguson's resilience as well as his coaching skills as Posh have found themselves at the wrong end of the League One table, having reached the play-offs in the previous two campaigns.

They went into the final on the back of two successive home defeats - an embarrassing 4-0 Nene derby loss to Northampton Town followed by a 2-1 reverse against Birmingham, which saw the Blues clinch promotion.

But they rose to the occasion at Wembley as a brilliant free-kick by 19-year-old Harley Mills and Hector Kyprianou's strike gave them victory in front of a crowd of almost 72,000.

'He's got a wand of a left foot'

Harley Mills made his league debut for Peterborough in April 2024

Mills, whose only previous Posh goal came against Crystal Palace Under-21s in November, said: "Kwams (Kwame Poku) won it and he wanted to take it - he was playing well and obviously feeling confident. But I was the (nominated) set-piece taker before the game and free-kicks in that area, I'm licking my lips.

"I didn't want to let him have it, and I'm so glad I didn't. That's why you practise those. You're never going to get 100 out of 100. But in that moment, it's just repetition of what you've been practising."

Ferguson added: "The boy's set-piece delivery is outstanding, he's got a wand of a left foot - it was a fantastic goal."

Developing young talent has been one of the hallmarks of his spells in charge of Posh and the goal was an incredible moment for a young player who began the season on loan with Enfield Town in National League South.

"Since the start of the season, I wanted to be around the first team a little more and found that I wasn't so I had an honest conversation with the manager and he said I needed to go out (on loan) and get some experience in men's football," said Mills.

"I can't praise Enfield enough. It's a great club and gave me a great opportunity and I still keep in touch with a lot of them there, but I got recalled and it's kind of taken off from there."

One of his predecessors at left-back, Harrison Burrows, scored both goals in the 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers in the 2024 final.

"I was watching from just behind the bench last year and thought 'wow, that must feel unbelievable'," added Mills, who was also named player of the match. "Malik (Mothersille) said to me that there must be something about Peterborough left-backs in this competition - long may that continue."

'We always believed'

Jed Steer first joined Peterborough in January 2024 on a short-term deal

A player who had a key role in getting Posh to Wembley was goalkeeper Jed Steer, who saved two penalties in their shoot-out win over Wrexham in the semi-finals.

But he was delighted no such heroics were needed against Birmingham, although he made a crucial reaction save from Lukas Jutkiewicz during 11 minutes of added time to preserve a clean sheet.

"We came in as heavy underdogs, but we always believed. I don't think I had a save to make in the first half, the boys in front of me were brilliant," Steer told BBC Look East.

"We are a team, and a club, that takes this competition very seriously - it's a good competition because you've got this (Wembley) at the end of it.

"Any final we're in, we want to win. From a season's perspective, in the league it probably hasn't gone as well as we'd have wanted it to but we got a day out at Wembley and hopefully going into the last few games, we can take the confidence into those games as well."

Manager Ferguson, who has a season left on his current contract, had to rebuild the team after a number of leading players left last summer - and may face a similar challenge this summer.

But despite his desire for another promotion, the EFL Trophy will remain a special competition for the Scot.

Asked about it being re-named in his honour, he replied: "One thing that is under-estimated in football is how happy you can make people.

"We've given people some day out, and it's a day they'll never forget. Our fans have been spoiled."

Perhaps a name change is unlikely - but how about a freedom of the city honour for Peterborough's 'greatest of all time'?