There were familiar Carlisle United faces on and off the pitch at the Papa John's Trophy final.
Blues co-owner John Nixon was at Wembley for the final of the controversial competition between Rotherham United and Sutton United.
Nixon, who is also an EFL director, met the teams and respective managers before the game at the national stadium.
The United director of external affairs later sat with other directors and officials, including EFL chairman Rick Parry, to watch the game and for the trophy and medal presentation after Rotherham's 4-2 extra-time victory.
Nixon's appearance at Wembley was the latest in his roles with the League, the United man serving as League Two representative on the EFL board and having also until recently been the chairman of the EFL Trust.
The Trophy has long attracted criticism from and been boycotted by some fans of lower-league clubs over its involvement, since 2016, of Premier League Under-21 teams in exchange for increased prize money.
Nixon, speaking at a United fans' forum in February 2020, acknowledged the debate and said there was no "right and wrong" on the issue, adding that the extra money involved came at a time the gap between the Premier League to the Championship and then to the lower leagues was "getting so big it's almost impossible.”
The United co-owner also, at the same forum, said Carlisle would have risked being thrown out of the league had they not been prepared to enter the Trophy.
He said the Blues had voted in favour of the controversial change of format for "economic" reasons, despite fans having voted overwhelmingly against the entry of Premier League move in a survey.
The 2022 final's attendance of 30,688 was the lowest at an EFL Trophy final for 20 years, other than the 2020 and 2021 finals which were played behind closed doors because of Covid-19 rules.
On the pitch, Rotherham gave a start to former Carlisle loan striker Joshua Kayode.
He played the first hour before being replaced by Freddie Ladapo.
Sutton's side included ex-Blues goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis while former United striker Richie Bennett came off the bench in the 82nd minute.
League Two side Sutton twice led, through goals from Donovan Wilson and Craig Eastmond either side of a Ben Wiles strike.
Jordi Osei-Tutu then equalised for League One leaders Rotherham in the last minute, taking the final to extra-time.
The favourites then added two more goals through Chiedozie Ogbene and Michael Ihiekwe, to claim the trophy and £100,000 prize money.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here