Football in England - Cup Competitions

Cup Competitions

There are several cup competitions for clubs at different levels of the football pyramid. The two major cup competitions are the FA Cup and the Football League Cup, with the winners of those competitions qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.

• The FA Cup, first held in 1872, is the oldest and most respected national cup competition in the world. It is open to around 600 clubs in levels 1–11 of the football pyramid.
• The FA Community Shield is a single match played each August between the FA Cup winners and the Premier League champions.
• The Football League Cup (currently known as the Capital One Cup) is England's second major cup competition, and is contested by the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs.
• The Football League Trophy is a competition for clubs in Football League One and Football League Two.
• The FA Trophy is for clubs playing in levels 5–8 of the football pyramid (steps 1–4 of the National League System), i.e. the twelve divisions of the Football Conference, the Southern Football League, the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League.
• The FA Vase is for clubs in levels 9–10 of the football pyramid (steps 5–6 of the National League System)
• The Conference League Cup is for clubs in level 5–6 i.e. the three divisions of the Football Conference. It was formed in 1979.
• The FA Inter-League Cup (NLS Cup) was formed in the 2003–04 to provide an English representative in the UEFA Regions' Cup. It is contested by representative sides from leagues at level 11 of the English football pyramid (level 7 of the National League System), which is roughly the county level, together with a few other leagues permitted by the FA. The first winner of the NLS Cup was the Mid Cheshire League, who beat the Cambridgeshire County League 2–0 in May 2004.
• A number of lower leagues organise their own cup competitions, such as the North West Counties Football League who run a League Cup and a Division One Trophy.
• Many County Football Associations organise their own cup competitions involving Premier League and Football League clubs as well as non-league clubs in some counties. Most league clubs tend to use reserve or youth teams whereas non-league clubs will use their first team. County cups include the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup, which is the third oldest surviving cup competition in the world, the Lancashire Senior Cup which is competed for by Premier League and Football League clubs from the historic county of Lancashire, including Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic along with Blackpool, Burnley, Preston North End, Bury and Morecambe. The Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy is for senior non-league clubs in the same county. Everton, Liverpool and Tranmere Rovers enter the Liverpool Senior Cup using their reserve or youth teams, along with local Merseyside non-league clubs, such as Burscough and Marine. Other competitions include the London Senior Cup and the Middlesex Senior Cup.
• The FA Sunday Cup began in 1964 and is a national knockout competition for all Sunday league teams. The 2008 final was played at Anfield.
• The AFA Senior Cup is an amateur football competition organised by the Amateur Football Alliance and contested by the first teams of clubs affiliated to the Alliance.
• Although not an FA-affiliated contest, the Masters Football contest is a contest between former players and is refereed by former Premier League Referees

There have also been a number of other cup competitions which are no longer run:

• FA Amateur Cup (1893–1974)
• Sheriff of London Charity Shield (1898–1907, 1931–1934 and 1965–1966)
• Anglo-Italian Cup (1970–1973, 1976–1986 and 1992–1996)
• Watney Cup (1970–1973)
• Texaco Cup (1971–1975)
• Anglo-Scottish Cup (1975–1981)
• Super Cup (1985)
• Full Members Cup (1985–1992)