page_title: FA Trophy
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: FA Trophy / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This image of the crowd at the FA Trophy Final Cup Win Ebbsfleet United FC vs Torquay United FC on 10th May 2008 was made by "shurm" and was edited by me.
context_page_description: 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 A.F.C. Fylde who beat Leyton Orient in the 2019 final.
context_section_description: The competition was created by the Football Association in 1969 to afford semi-professional teams an opportunity to compete for the chance to play at Wembley Stadium.  Fully amateur clubs took part in the long-standing FA Amateur Cup, but most of the leading non-league clubs made at least some form of payment to their players and were therefore ineligible to enter the Amateur Cup.  The first winners of the competition were Macclesfield Town of the Northern Premier League, who defeated Telford United of the Southern League in the final.  Northern Premier League clubs dominated the first decade of the competition, with Telford United the only Southern League team to break the northern clubs' hold on the competition.  In the early years of its existence the competition struggled to achieve the same level of prestige as the long-established Amateur Cup.
  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.  This figure was gradually reduced until by 1991 only around 120 clubs took part.  In 1978 the FA moved the final of the Trophy to the Saturday immediately following the FA 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.
  In 1979 the leading Southern and Northern Premier League teams formed the new Alliance Premier League, and teams from this league dominated the Trophy during the 1980s, although in the 1980–81 season Bishop's Stortford of the comparatively lowly Isthmian League First Division entered at the preliminary round and won twelve matches to reach the final, where they defeated Sutton United.  Telford United's win in 1989 made them the second team to win the Trophy three times.  Between 1990 and 2000 three more teams claimed multiple wins.  Former Northern Ireland international Martin O'Neill, in his third managerial role, led Wycombe Wanderers to two wins, and Geoff Chapple managed Kingstonian to victory twice and Woking three times, all within the space of seven years.  After Chapple's period of success, Mark Stimson became the first man to manage the Trophy-winning team in three successive seasons, when he led Grays Athletic to victory in 2005 and 2006 and repeated the feat with his new club Stevenage Borough in 2007.
  As of 2001 the competition was sponsored by Umbro; in the 2007-08 season it was sponsored by Carlsberg.
caption: Ebbsfleet United fans at the 2008 final
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