Peterborough To Kick-Start Bristol Street Motors Trophy Defence

Peterborough To Kick-Start Bristol Street Motors Trophy Defence

Peterborough United’s quest to become the first team to successfully defend the Bristol Street Motors Trophy will get underway this evening with a trip to Gillingham in Southern Group D.

Peterborough secured the title in dramatic fashion last season after a 2-1 victory over Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley Stadium, with boyhood club hero Harrison Burrows netting a brace as he led his team to success in the competition for a second time.

Whilst Burrows has since moved on to Sheffield United, his double will forever be etched into club history as Posh lifted the trophy under the famous Wembley arch.

“It was a great day for the players and for the supporters,” Posh manager Darren Ferguson told Bristol Street Motors. “I think it ended up being a fairytale story with Harrison Burrows, an Academy graduate who joined us when he was nine, scoring the winner. You couldn’t write that script.

“We have always taken this competition seriously in my time here and two successes in the competition prove that.”

Those two successes are part of a strong Wembley record for the Club, with Peterborough yet to taste defeat at the national stadium.

It’s an enviable record to hold, although Ferguson admitted he couldn’t put his finger on the key reason for that success.

“I honestly don’t know,” he reflected. “Obviously two of those successes have been under me, one under Barry Fry and one under Chris Turner.

“It is certainly a good place for the Club and it is why I was so disappointed we couldn’t get over the line against Oxford United in the play-off semi-final, we were unlucky on that night. I felt if we had won that game, we would have won at Wembley.”

Going into the opening game in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy this season, Peterborough have won both games on the road in League One, with a 4-1 success at Shrewsbury Town and a 2-1 victory at Exeter City – although the two league games at London Road have both ended in defeat.

Gillingham meanwhile sit top of League Two after three wins from four matches, and are set to provide a stern test on the pitch.

“The group stages are always tough because you don’t know how other teams will treat the competition in terms of their selection,” Ferguson said. “Gillingham have a good manager and squad and will want to get out of League Two, we have played Stevenage a lot of late and they are always competitive and Crystal Palace have a good Academy system that produce a lot of players.

“We will certainly be approaching the competition wanting to be successful. I always try and win the first two games in the group because that ultimately means you will be through and then you can use the third game to give some of the younger players an opportunity. This competition is good for that, but certainly we will be treating the competition with the respect it deserves.

“As a League One footballer or manager, you have two (realistic) chances to get to Wembley; the Bristol Street Motors Trophy and the Play-offs.”

Further success would also allow Ferguson to further cement his legacy at the Club, with the son of Sir Alex having now been in charge for more than 600 games during a managerial career that has also spanned spells at both Preston North End and Doncaster Rovers.

"This club means a lot to me, it’s probably why I keep coming back!” he said, in reference to the fact that his current stint in charge is his third. “There are good people here, I have a great relationship with the chairman. I know how this Club work and they know how I work, it just seems to work for all of us.”