 | |
| Founded | 1969; 57 years ago (1969) |
|---|---|
| Region | England |
| Teams | 320 |
| Current champions | Aldershot Town (1st title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Scarborough* Woking Telford United* (3 titles each) |
| Broadcaster(s) | TNT Sports (final only) |
| Website | thefa.com/fa-trophy |
 2025–26 FA Trophy | |
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as theIsuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men'sfootballknockout cup competition run by and named afterThe Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainlyNational League teams. The competition was introduced in 1969.
Eligibility rules have changed over time, but from 2008 onwards the competition has been open to clubs playing in Steps 1–4 of theNational League System, equivalent to tiers 5–8 of the overallEnglish football league system. This covers theNational League, theSouthern League,Isthmian League, andNorthern Premier League.[1]
The final of the competition was held at the originalWembley Stadium from the tournament's instigation until the stadium closed in 2000. The final has been played at the newWembley Stadium since its opening in 2007. The record for the most FA Trophy wins is shared byWoking and two defunct clubs,Scarborough andTelford United, with three victories each.
The Trophy is currently held byAldershot Town, who beatSpennymoor Town in the2025 final held on 11 May 2025.
The competition was created bythe Football Association in 1969 to affordsemi-professional teams an opportunity to compete for the chance to play at theWembley Stadium. Fully-amateur clubs took part in the long-standingFA Amateur Cup, but most of the leadingnon-league clubs made at least some form of payment to their players and were therefore ineligible to enter the Amateur Cup.[2] The first winners of the competition wereMacclesfield Town of theNorthern Premier League, who defeatedTelford United of theSouthern League in the final.[3] Northern Premier League clubs dominated the first decade of the competition, withTelford United the onlySouthern League team to break the northern clubs' hold on the competition.[4] In the early years of its existence, the competition struggled to achieve the same level of prestige as the long-established Amateur Cup.[5]
In 1974 the FA abolished the distinction between official professional and amateur status and discontinued the Amateur Cup, and the Trophy soon had 300 entrants.[5] This figure was gradually reduced until by 1991 only around 120 clubs took part.[5] In 1978 the FA moved the final of the Trophy to the Saturday immediately following theFA Cup Final, so as to give it a longer build-up and avoid conflict with clubs' league programmes, which had previously reduced the competition's prestige.[6]
In 1979 the leading Southern and Northern Premier League teams formed the newAlliance Premier League,[7] and teams from this league dominated the Trophy during the 1980s, although in the1980–81 seasonBishop's Stortford of the comparatively lowlyIsthmian League First Division entered at the preliminary round and won twelve matches to reach the final, where they defeatedSutton United.[8]Telford United's win in 1989 made them the second team to win the Trophy three times.[9] Between 1990 and 2000 three more teams claimed multiple wins. FormerNorthern Ireland internationalMartin O'Neill, in his third managerial role, ledWycombe Wanderers to two wins, and Geoff Chapple managedKingstonian to victory twice andWoking three times, all within the space of seven years.[10][11] After Chapple's period of success,Mark Stimson became the first man to manage the Trophy-winning team in three successive seasons, when he ledGrays Athletic to victory in 2005 and 2006 and repeated the feat with his new clubStevenage Borough in 2007.[12]
Originally the competition included as many qualifying rounds as were required to reduce the number of teams to 32. In 1999 the format was amended to match that of theFA Cup, with six rounds prior to the semi-final stage, albeit without qualifying rounds. Teams from theFootball Conference received byes through the early rounds, in a similar manner to the way in which the leading clubs receive byes in the FA Cup.[5] As of 2001 the competition was sponsored by Umbro; in the 2007-08 season it was sponsored by Carlsberg.[13][14]
The competition is aknockout tournament with pairings drawn at random. Since the2021–22 season all drawn games are immediately settled via a penalty shootout. This was introduced to ease fixture congestion.[15]
The Semi-Finals follow the same procedure as the preceding rounds: hosted by the team drawn first out of the hat and decided by a penalty shootout if the scores remain level after 90 minutes.[16]
The Final is held atWembley Stadium. Thirty minutes of extra-time is played if the scores are level at full-time. A penalty shootout is used if the scores further remain level at the end of extra-time.
As of 2022–23 and the recent non–league restructuring, the competition has featured a maximum of 320 teams representing all clubs from levels 5-8 on theEnglish football league system. The competition features three qualifying rounds (three less than the FA Cup) and eight rounds proper (the same as the FA Cup). Teams from Step 4 (level 8) enter at the first qualifying round stage, those from Step 3 (level 7) at the third qualifying, those from Step 2 (level 6) at the second round proper, and those from Step 1 (level 5) at the third round proper (similar to the FA Cup).[16]
The months in which rounds are played are typical, with exact dates subject to each calendar. The FA pays a cumulative prize fund that rises round-by-round, with exact figures subject to each new edition. Seethe list of FA Trophy seasons for specific details.
| Round[16] | Month | Leagues entering this round[16] | New entries this round | Winners from previous round | Number of fixtures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying Competition[16] | |||||
| First Round | September | Step 4 clubs | 160 | none | 80 |
| Second Round | none | 80 | 40 | ||
| Third Round | October | Step 3 clubs | 88 | 40 | 64 |
| Competition Proper[16] | |||||
| First Round | October/November | none | 64 | 32 | |
| Second Round | November | Step 2 clubs | 48 | 32 | 40 |
| Third Round | December | Step 1 clubs | 24 | 40 | 32 |
| Fourth Round | January | none | 32 | 16 | |
| Fifth Round | February | 16 | 8 | ||
| Sixth Round | March | 8 | 4 | ||
| Semi-Finals | April | 4 | 2 | ||
| Final | May | 2 | 1 | ||
The final was traditionally held at the originalWembley Stadium, but was moved toVilla Park during Wembley's redevelopment, and a final was also played atWest Ham United'sBoleyn Ground.[2] Three replays were required, two of which were held atThe Hawthorns, home ofWest Bromwich Albion,[17][18] and one atStoke City F.C.'sVictoria Ground.[19]
In 2007 the final moved to the newWembley Stadium, and a record crowd of 53,262 sawStevenage Borough beatKidderminster Harriers.[2]
Scarborough (1973, 1976, 1977),Telford United (1971, 1983, 1989), andWoking (1994, 1995, 1997) share the record for the most victories (three) in the final. In 1985Wealdstone became the first team to win the "Non-League Double" of FA Trophy andFootball Conference championship (although in the pre-Conference era bothMacclesfield Town andStafford Rangers had done the double ofNorthern Premier League championship and FA Trophy in 1970 and 1972 respectively). Since thenColchester United in 1992 andWycombe Wanderers in 1993 have equalled Wealdstone's achievement.
ThreeWelsh clubs have reached FA Trophy finals;Bangor City (1984),Newport County (2012), andWrexham in 2013, 2015 and 2022. Wrexham became the first Welsh winners of the FA Trophy in 2013.[20]
From the 2004–05 season Sky Sports had a deal to show the final of the FA Trophy. This changed in 2007 when the FA agreed a new deal withSetanta Sports to provide coverage of FA Trophy matches with effect from the 2008–09 season.[21] In March 2013 it was announced thatS4C would broadcast the2013 Final betweenWrexham andGrimsby Town.[22]
BT Sport showed the2015 FA Trophy Final live.[23] BT Sport also showed the2016 FA Trophy Final betweenFC Halifax Town andGrimsby Town live on 22 May as part of a double-header along with the2016 FA Vase Final.[24]
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