FA Trophy

FA Trophy
Founded	1969
Region	England
Number of teams	295
Tournament information
Current champions	Bromley (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Scarborough Woking Telford United (3 wins each)
Current
Website	Official website

The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The competition was instigated in 1969 to cater for those non-league clubs that paid their players and were therefore not eligible to enter the FA Amateur Cup.

Eligibility rules have changed over time, but from 2008 onwards the competition has been open to clubs playing in Steps 1–4 of the National League System, equivalent to tiers 5–8 of the overall English football league system. This covers the National League, the Southern League, Isthmian League, and Northern Premier League.

The final of the competition was held at the original Wembley Stadium from the tournament's instigation until the stadium closed in 2000. The final has been played at the new Wembley Stadium since its opening in 2007. The record for the most FA Trophy wins is shared by Woking and two defunct clubs, Scarborough and Telford United, with three victories each.

The Trophy is currently held by FC Halifax Town who beat Grimsby Town F.C. in the 2016 final.

Venues

The final was traditionally held at the original Wembley Stadium, but was moved to Villa Park during Wembley's redevelopment, and a final was also played at West Ham United's Boleyn Ground.

In 2007 the final moved to the new Wembley Stadium, and a record crowd of 53,262 saw Kidderminster Harriers lose to Stevenage Borough.

External links

• FA Trophy Finals 1969–70 to 2002–03, and links to results for each of these tournaments – RSSSF
• FA Trophy at the FA website