 | |
| Founded | 1979 (original) 2024 (revived) |
|---|---|
| Region |  England |
| Teams | 32 |
| Current champions | Leeds United U21 (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Leeds United U21 (1 title) |
 2025–26 National League Cup | |
TheNational League Cup is an annualassociation football competition inEngland. The National League Cup is open to clubs playing in theNational League and, since its revival in 2024, professional under-21 teams playing in thePremier League 2.
The competition was formed for the inaugural season of what was then called the Alliance Premier League, in1979–80 and existed for twenty-two seasons before being axed at the end of the2000–01 season.[citation needed] It was briefly reformed for the2004–05 season, in the form of the Conference Challenge Cup,[1] but following a poor response it was again agreed not to renew the competition for the next season.[citation needed]
With the transfer of sponsorship of the Conference toBlue Square for the start of the2007–08 season two seasons later, the re-introduction of the competition was announced, scheduled to commence that year.[2] On 23 June 2009, the Conference League Cup's sponsor, Setanta's GB division, went intoadministration[3] and ceased broadcasting.[4]
In the 2024–25 season, the competition was revived as the 32-team National League Cup, with 16 National League clubs and 16 under-21 teams from Premier League 2.[5]
The competition was aknockout tournament with pairings drawn at random – like theFA Cup there is a minimal form of seeding, in that members of the (higher-level)Conference National entered together at a later stage in the tournament, and the draw for each round took place after the completion of the round before.[citation needed]
The revived edition for 2024–25 consists of four groups of four National League and four Premier League 2 teams each, with each National League team playing four home games against the under-21 teams in their group. The top 2 teams from each group advance to the quarter-finals.[5]
| Season | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Lord Challenge Trophy | ||
| 1979–80 | Northwich Victoria | Altrincham |
| 1980–81 | Altrincham | Kettering Town |
| 1981–82 | Weymouth | Enfield |
| 1982–83 | Runcorn | Scarborough |
| 1983–84 | Scarborough | Barnet |
| 1984–85 | Runcorn | Maidstone United |
| 1985–86 | Stafford Rangers | Barnet |
| 1986–87[6] | Kettering Town | Hendon |
| 1987–88 | Horwich RMI | Weymouth |
| 1988–89 | Barnet | Hyde United |
| 1989–90 | Yeovil Town | Kidderminster Harriers |
| 1990–91 | Sutton United | Barrow |
| 1991–92 | Wycombe Wanderers | Runcorn |
| 1992–93 | Northwich Victoria | Wycombe Wanderers |
| 1993–94 | Macclesfield Town | Yeovil Town |
| 1994–95 | Bromsgrove Rovers | Kettering Town |
| 1995–96 | Bromsgrove Rovers | Macclesfield Town |
| 1996–97 | Kidderminster Harriers | Macclesfield Town |
| 1997–98 | Morecambe | Woking |
| 1998–99 | Doncaster Rovers | Farnborough Town |
| 1999–2000 | Doncaster Rovers | Kingstonian |
| 2000–01 | Chester City | Kingstonian |
| Conference Cup | ||
| 2004–05 | Woking | Stalybridge Celtic |
| Setanta Shield | ||
| 2007–08 | Aldershot Town | Rushden & Diamonds |
| 2008–09 | AFC Telford United | Forest Green Rovers |
| National League Cup | ||
| 2024–25 | Leeds United U21 | Sutton United |
Source:[7] (note: source does not list finals for 1986–87 to 1988–89)
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