2017 EFL Trophy Final Winning Squad, Where Are They Now?

Goalkeeper Lee Burge made two crucial second half saves which confirmed the Skyblues victory at Wembley on the day. He was a product of the Skyblues academy and went on to make over one hundred and fifty appearances in total including being named in the League Two team of the season following the Skyblues promotion to League One In 2018. 

Arguably one of the most popular players in the recent decade at the club, captain Jordan Willis was another product of the Skyblues academy and played a key role in the creation of the Skyblues first goal on the day. He also had a key role in Coventry’s promotion to League One and scored the opening goal in the play-off final with a screamer from outside the area.

After making almost two hundred appearances for the Skyblues, Jordan Willis left the club in June 2019 and like Burge, Willis joined League One rivals Sunderland. After a poor start, he eventually found his place in the Black Cats side and became a reliable centre back and to date has made over fifty appearances. However in April 2021, Willis was ruled out with a very serious knee injury and was ruled out of the entire 2021/2022 season without kicking a ball and has since been released by the Black Cats. 

Mr reliable Chris Stokes played a key role at the back in the final making some brilliant tackles and was one of the standout players in a very poor 2016/2017 side for the club. He went on to help the Skyblues earn promotion to League One the following season before leaving at the end of that season. 

In Summer 2018, Stokes was sold to Bury FC where despite the off-field issues, Stokes played a very key role in earning Bury promotion in their final season as a club. However, he left Bury in July 2019 and joined Stevenage where he made twenty-five appearances in total in a struggling side. He subsequently left the club and re-joined former side Forest Green Rovers where he spent eighteen months there and became club captain before leaving in June 2021 as his contract expired. He then joined Scottish Championship side Kilmarnock  where he’s struggled for regular game time due to an injury but has earned a title medal after his side won the Scottish Championship. 

Jordan Turnbull wasn’t the most popular of players at the club at the time having made a fair few mistakes in a miserable Skyblues season. However, at Wembley he actually played very well throughout the match keeping Oxford’s Rob Hall quiet. However due to a “relegation clause” he began messing with the clubs hierarchy and was sent out on loan to Partick Thistle. 

In Summer 2018, Turnbull joined Northampton Town for an undisclosed fee where he made over eighty appearances and scored whilst playing a key role in The Cobblers promotion back to League One in his final season. However, he left Northampton that summer and eventually joined Salford City in Summer 2020 where he now plays almost week in and out in League Two making over sixty appearances but finds himself out of contract this summer and is current yet to extend his Salford stay. 

Wing-back Ryan Haynes is the third academy graduate already in this Skyblues winning squad and he enjoyed a fairly average season in truth constantly swapping places at left-back with Chris Stokes throughout and played a key role in the lead up to the final. Haynes remained at his boyhood club up until July 2018. 

Haynes was sold to League One rivals Shrewsbury Town for an undisclosed fee but found himself out of favour very early on making just sixteen appearances in all competitions all season. Unsurprisingly, Haynes left Shrewsbury at the end of the season and joined Newport County in 2019. To date, Haynes made over one hundred appearances for Newport and became a very popular figure in County’s defence ever since his arrival but has since been let go by the club following the expiry of his contract. 

One of the heroes of the afternoon, Welsh winger George Thomas was another product of the Skyblues academy and finished the 2016/2017 as the clubs top goalscorer as well as scoring an excellent solo goal in the EFL Trophy final on the day. That final proved to be one of the Welshman’s final matches for the club as he left the club after turning down a fresh contract that summer. 

Midfielder Ben Stevenson was one of the breakthrough players in the 2016/2017 season and put in an excellent performance at Wembley Stadium on the day. He stayed at the Skyblues but fell out of favour under Mark Robins and has very limited game time during the 2017/2018 season. 

In January 2018, Stevenson was sold to Premier League side Wolves for an undisclosed fee and on the same day he was loaned out to Colchester United who were also in League Two at the time. He enjoyed a very good loan spell before returning to Wolves. In the first half of the 2018/2019 season, Stevenson joined Wolves affiliate club Jumilla in Spain but failed to impress. In January 2019, Stevenson re-joined Colchester United on a permanent deal and became a first team regular making around eighty appearances but left in June 2021. He then joined Forest Green Rovers on a free transfer last summer but has struggled for game time all season despite Forest Green winning the title. 

Bigirimana is the sixth academy graduate in this side already and had a memorable weekend celebrating the birth of his newborn baby and then scoring the opening goal at Wembley in the space of two days. He was a strong figure in Coventry’s midfield but like Thomas, Wembley was one of Bigirimana’s final matches for the club. 

In June 2017, Bigirimana joined Scottish Premiership side Motherwell making over forty appearances in a two year spell before leaving the club when his contract expired. He then joined Scottish Premiership rivals Hibernian but failed to make any sort of impression landing just two appearances for the club. Upon his release in 2019, Bigirimana joined National League side Solihull Moors but failed to make an impression their either and missed a vital penalty on his debut in the FA Trophy. In 2020, Bigirimana joined Irish Premiership side Glentoran FC where he’s made forty plus appearances for the club enjoying success in Ireland. 

Kyel Reid had a disappointing season with the Skyblues during the 2016/2017 season and managed just two goals including one very memorable finish. At Wembley, he provided the key assist for Coventry’s second goal as he excellently picked out George Thomas. He spent the 2017/2018 season on loan at Colchester United before being released in June 2018. 

Upon his release, Reid signed for Chesterfield where he spent the entire 18/19 season making over twenty appearances but failed to score in the league. The following season he joined Sutton United in the National League but failed to score in twenty appearances there and left in June 2020. He then made thirteen appearances for National League South side Billericay Town where he did score and as of 2021, Reid signed for semi-professional side Cray Wanderers in the seventh tier of English Football where a promotion would take them back into the National League system. 

One of the more popular players of the 2016/2017 side, Portuguese midfielder Ruben Lamerias put in a fairly average performance at Wembley Stadium in a tricky game for him but again this was one of his final Coventry City appearances before being released by Mark Robins in June 2017. 

Experienced striker Stuart Beavon had a very disappointing spell at Coventry but did have a part to play in Coventry’s opening goal with him having the initial blocked effort which set up Bigirimana. After another disappointing 17/18 season, Beavon was loaned out to National League side Wrexham where he did fairly well scoring five times but was released in June 2019.

Upon his release,  Beavon eventually called an end to his professional career by joining semi-professional side Nuneaton Borough but only made a handful of appearances. He then joined Mickelover Sports on loan scoring seven in fifteen matches and eventually joined the Derbyshire side permanently where he remains today in the seventh tier of English Football where promotion would send him into the National League North if that was to happen. 

Goalkeeper Reece Charles-Cook was the first unused substitute at Wembley Stadium and was the back up to Lee Burge under Mark Robins despite being number one under Tony Mowbray the season before. Charles-Cook made over fifty appearances when he left. 

Full-back Dion Kelly-Evans was another product of the Skyblues academy and came on as a second half substitute replacing Jordan Willis who picked up a knock just minutes into the second half. In League Two, Dion made two appearances in total and was let go by the Skyblues alongside his twin brother Devon in June 2018. 

Centre back Cian Harries is the final Coventry academy graduate in this squad and he was an unused substitute at Wembley Stadium. After making nine total appearances for Coventry, Harries was moved on at the end of the 2016/2017 season. 

Cian Harries was sold to Swansea City for roughly £250,000 in July 2017 and returned to Wales where he’d played for their youth teams. At Swansea, Harries made just two appearances for the first team in three years at the club and was sent out on loan to Dutch side Fortuna Sittiard in the 2019/2020 season where he scored once in eight league matches.  Upon his return, he was let go by Swansea and joined Bristol Rovers and after a tough start, he found himself as one of the regular defenders within the squad having made fifty plus appearances. However, following their promotion, Harries has been released. 

An unused substitute on the day, midfielder Vladimir Gadzhev made twenty-six total appearances for the Skyblues in a one season spell and scored his only goal during a victory against Portsmouth in the EFL Cup in early August. However, after the final he barely played and was released that summer. 

After his release, Gadzhev joined Cyprus first division side Anorthosis where he made twenty-four appearances scoring once. For the following 2018/2019 season, Gadzhev returned to his native Bulgaria signing for Beroe where he made nine first team appearances but never really impressed. On the back of that, he joined Bulgarian second tier side Hebar FC where he made a further nine appearances but left in the Summer of 2020 and hasn’t played for a club since. In 2021, he joined the Coventry City former players association but still remains a free agent.

Winger Jodi Jones was the only player from this entire matchday squad that was still at Coventry City. Jodi came on as a late substitution replacing goalscorer George Thomas. The following season Jodi enjoyed an excellent start to the season scoring eight goals in the league and had scouts from Leeds United, Everton & Manchester City scouting him. 

However, during November 2018, Jodi suffered the first of three very serious ACL injuries which has put a massive hault to his career. The first caused him to miss the remainder of the 2017/2018 season ending all the interest in him. He scored a crucial winner against Southend on his return during the 2018/2019 season but redone his ACL again just a couple of matches later against Peterborough and missed the remainder of the 18/19 and some of the 19/20 season. When he returned he did well but he failed to start the next season after suffering an ACL again to his other knee this time which ended his 20/21 dreams. When he eventually returned this season, he has operated from the bench and has played quite well including an important assist against Huddersfield Town in December 2021. Unfortunately, he was released by Coventry this summer and is now a free agent. 

Folivi joined the Skyblues on loan from Watford but made just one single appearance and was an unused substitute at Wembley but still received a winners medal. He returned to Watford in May 2017 when his loan expired. 

Experienced striker Marcus Tudgay played his final match of professional football with the Skyblues and he came on in the dying seconds at Wembley replacing striker Stuart Beavon. He finished the season with the Skyblues before being released in June 2017.

As I said in the beginning, Mark Robins returned to the club for a second spell just a week or so before the final at Wembley. He took over and attempted to steady the ship despite Coventry facing certainly relegation to League Two which even Mark Robins could do nothing about. 

In Summer 2017, he had a huge clear out and brought in a brand new side ready for League Two including former captain Michael Doyle, Jack Grimmer and Marc McNulty. He guided the Skyblues to their first top six finish in almost fifty years as well as their first promotion since that time as well by winning the play offs. In the 18/19 season, Coventry finished just outside the playoffs in League One and produced an excellent season overall including that 5-4 win against Sunderland. In the next season, he guided Coventry City to the League One title despite the club playing their home matches at St Andrews and having the season stopped in early March due to the outbreak of COVID-19. In 19/20 behind closed doors, he produced another excellent season as he kept the Skyblues up as well as signing some big names like Matty James & Leo Ostigard. This season he has produced wonders again as Coventry returned to the city and finished twelfth, their first top-half finish since 2005/2006.