Portsmouth and Sunderland's record-breaking EFL Trophy final attendance figure looks safe ahead of Plymouth v Bolton decider

A crowd of 85,021 descended on Wembley for the then Checkatrade Trophy contest, which the Blues won spectacularly on penalties.

League One promotion rivals Plymouth and Bolton will battle it out for this year’s title at the home of football on Sunday, April 2.

And while both are recording huge interest among their respective fan bases for the much-anticipated fixture, early indicators suggest that Blues and Mackems supporters can sit comfortably knowing that their place in the history appears secure for another year at least.

At the same stage of tickets sales back in 2019, with less than two weeks to go to the final, both Pompey and Sunderland were reporting that their allocation of 40,000-plus tickets had been snapped up. That’s after general sale processes were activated.

Fast forward to the present day and both Bolton and Plymouth have some catching up to do.

The last update from Bolton on Thursday revealed the Trotters had surpassed the 33,000 mark, with tickets for their section of the ground still available today.

Plymouth, meanwhile, were reporting that 36,000 Janners were heading to Wembley on Tuesday, with seats still remaining in their end of the stadium.

Those types of figures suggest that the capital is set for another huge invasion of League One fans. And while there’s still 10 days to go until this season’s Papa John’s Trophy final kick-off, the numbers suggest that there will be availability left over.

The winner of this year’s final will pick up £100,000 for being victorious, with the runner-up pocketing £50,000 – the same as in 2019.

Pompey’s match-winner four years ago was Oli Hawkins, who scored the Blues’ fifth and final penalty after Craig MacGillivray saved Lee Cattermole’s effort.

The game – which attracted the biggest sporting crowd in the UK and the second highest in Europe that weekend – finished 2-2 after extra-time.

Yet it’s still short of the 89,874 fans that witnessed Pompey lift the 2008 FA Cup against Cardiff – an attendance that remains Wembley’s biggest for a sporting event other than boxing.