List of FA Trophy finals

The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, organised by and named after The Football Association (the FA). It was staged for the first time in the 1969–70 season,^[1] and was initially open to all semi-professional teams, complementing the existing FA Amateur Cup.^[2] After the abolition of official amateur status by the FA in 1974, the leading teams from the Amateur Cup entered the Trophy, while lower-level teams competed in the new FA Vase.^[3] As of 2008, the Trophy is open to all clubs in the top four levels of the National League System, equivalent to levels five to eight of the overall English football league system, although a club's home stadium must meet certain requirements before the club can enter the tournament.^[4]

Darlington players celebrate their team's victory in the final in 2011

The record for the most wins is jointly held by Scarborough, Telford United, and Woking, with three each.^[1] Scarborough and Telford United are both defunct and therefore not able to add any further wins.^[5][6] Scarborough, Woking, Grays Athletic and Kingstonian have each won the Trophy in two consecutive seasons.^[1] Manager Mark Stimson has the unique distinction of having managed the winning team in three consecutive finals.^[7] The Trophy is currently held by Bromley who beat Wrexham in the 2022 final, held on 22 May 2022.

History

Further information: FA Trophy

 

York City players celebrate winning the Trophy in 2012

The first FA Trophy final was won by Macclesfield Town, who also won the championship of the Northern Premier League in the same season.^[8] 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.^[9] Scarborough reached the final four times in five seasons and won the Trophy three times between 1973 and 1977.^[5] In 1979, the leading Southern and Northern Premier League teams formed the new Alliance Premier League,^[10] and teams from this league dominated the Trophy during the 1980s.^[11] In the 1980–81 season, however, Bishop's Stortford of the comparatively lowly Isthmian League First Division won through nine rounds to reach the final, where they beat Sutton United.^[12] Telford United's win in 1989 made them the second team to win the Trophy three times.^[11]

Between 1990 and 2000, a smaller number of clubs claimed the Trophy, as Wycombe Wanderers and Kingstonian each won the competition twice, and Woking became the third team to win it three times.^[11] Manager Geoff Chapple led Woking and Kingstonian to all their victories, a total of five wins in seven seasons.^[13][14] 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.^[7] In 2019 AFC Fylde became the first team to have won both the FA Trophy and FA Vase.^[15] The 2020 final was delayed until May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and won by Harrogate Town, who in the intervening period had been promoted to the English Football League, making them the only EFL team to lift the trophy.^[16]

Finals

Originally, if the final finished with the scores level after extra time, the teams would play again in a replay at a later date;^[11] more recently the final has always been decided on the day, with a penalty shootout as required.^[17] The winning club receives the FA Trophy itself and, as of 2021, prize money of £60,000, in addition to that accumulated for winning earlier rounds.^[18]

Key

(R)	Replay
*	Match went to extra time
†	Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time

Results

Season	Winner^[1]	Score^[1]	Runners–up^[1]	Venue^[11]
1969–70	Macclesfield Town	2–0	Telford United	Wembley Stadium (original)
1970–71	Telford United	3–2	Hillingdon Borough	Wembley Stadium (original)
1971–72	Stafford Rangers	3–0	Barnet	Wembley Stadium (original)
1972–73	Scarborough	†2–1 *	Wigan Athletic	Wembley Stadium (original)
1973–74	Morecambe	2–1	Dartford	Wembley Stadium (original)
1974–75	Matlock Town	4–0	Scarborough	Wembley Stadium (original)
1975–76	Scarborough	†3–2 *	Stafford Rangers	Wembley Stadium (original)
1976–77	Scarborough	2–1	Dagenham	Wembley Stadium (original)
1977–78	Altrincham	3–1	Leatherhead	Wembley Stadium (original)
1978–79	Stafford Rangers	2–0	Kettering Town	Wembley Stadium (original)
1979–80	Dagenham	2–1	Mossley	Wembley Stadium (original)
1980–81	Bishop's Stortford	1–0	Sutton United	Wembley Stadium (original)
1981–82	Enfield	†1–0 *	Altrincham	Wembley Stadium (original)
1982–83	Telford United	2–1	Northwich Victoria	Wembley Stadium (original)
1983–84	Northwich Victoria	†1–1 *	Bangor City	Wembley Stadium (original)
1983–84 (R)	Northwich Victoria	2–1	Bangor City	Victoria Ground
1984–85	Wealdstone	2–1	Boston United	Wembley Stadium (original)
1985–86	Altrincham	1–0	Runcorn	Wembley Stadium (original)
1986–87	Kidderminster Harriers	†0–0 *	Burton Albion	Wembley Stadium (original)
1986–87 (R)	Kidderminster Harriers	2–1	Burton Albion	The Hawthorns
1987–88	Enfield	†0–0 *	Telford United	Wembley Stadium (original)
1987–88 (R)	Enfield	3–2	Telford United	The Hawthorns
1988–89	Telford United	†1–0 *	Macclesfield Town	Wembley Stadium (original)
1989–90	Barrow	3–0	Leek Town	Wembley Stadium (original)
1990–91	Wycombe Wanderers	2–1	Kidderminster Harriers	Wembley Stadium (original)
1991–92	Colchester United	3–1	Witton Albion	Wembley Stadium (original)
1992–93	Wycombe Wanderers	4–1	Runcorn	Wembley Stadium (original)
1993–94	Woking	2–1	Runcorn	Wembley Stadium (original)
1994–95	Woking	†2–1 *	Kidderminster Harriers	Wembley Stadium (original)
1995–96	Macclesfield Town	3–1	Northwich Victoria	Wembley Stadium (original)
1996–97	Woking	†1–0 *	Dagenham & Redbridge	Wembley Stadium (original)
1997–98	Cheltenham Town	1–0	Southport	Wembley Stadium (original)
1998–99	Kingstonian	1–0	Forest Green Rovers	Wembley Stadium (original)
1999–2000	Kingstonian	3–2	Kettering Town	Wembley Stadium (original)
2000–01	Canvey Island	1–0	Forest Green Rovers	Villa Park
2001–02	Yeovil Town	2–0	Stevenage Borough	Villa Park
2002–03	Burscough	2–1	Tamworth	Villa Park
2003–04	Hednesford Town	3–2	Canvey Island	Villa Park
2004–05	Grays Athletic	†1–1 †	Hucknall Town	Villa Park
2005–06	Grays Athletic	2–0	Woking	Boleyn Ground
2006–07	Stevenage Borough	3–2	Kidderminster Harriers	Wembley Stadium (new)
2007–08	Ebbsfleet United	1–0	Torquay United	Wembley Stadium (new)
2008–09	Stevenage Borough	2–0	York City	Wembley Stadium (new)
2009–10	Barrow	†2–1 *	Stevenage Borough	Wembley Stadium (new)
2010–11	Darlington	†1–0 *	Mansfield Town	Wembley Stadium (new)
2011–12	York City	2–0	Newport County	Wembley Stadium (new)
2012–13	Wrexham	†1–1 †	Grimsby Town	Wembley Stadium (new)
2013–14	Cambridge United	4–0	Gosport Borough	Wembley Stadium (new)
2014–15	North Ferriby United	†3–3 †	Wrexham	Wembley Stadium (new)
2015–16	FC Halifax Town	1–0	Grimsby Town	Wembley Stadium (new)
2016–17	York City	3–2	Macclesfield Town	Wembley Stadium (new)
2017–18	Brackley Town	†1–1 †	Bromley	Wembley Stadium (new)
2018–19	AFC Fylde	1–0	Leyton Orient	Wembley Stadium (new)
2019–20	Harrogate Town	1–0	Concord Rangers	Wembley Stadium (new)
2020–21	Hornchurch	3–1	Hereford	Wembley Stadium (new)
2021–22	Bromley	1–0	Wrexham	Wembley Stadium (new)

Results by team

Teams shown in italics are no longer in existence. Teams shown in bold compete in the Premier League or the English Football League as of 2021 and therefore do not enter the FA Trophy. Additionally, Bangor City switched to the Welsh football league system in 1992, making the club ineligible to compete in the competition from then onwards.^[19]

Club	Wins	Last final won	Runners-up	Last final lost
Telford United	3	1989	2	1988
Woking	3	1997	1	2006
Scarborough	3	1977	1	1975
Stevenage Borough	2	2009	2	2010
Macclesfield Town	2	1996	2	2017
York City	2	2017	1	2009
Altrincham	2	1986	1	1982
Stafford Rangers	2	1979	1	1976
Barrow	2	2010	0	–
Grays Athletic	2	2006	0	–
Kingstonian	2	2000	0	–
Wycombe Wanderers	2	1993	0	–
Enfield	2	1988	0	–
Kidderminster Harriers	1	1987	3	2007
Wrexham	1	2013	2	2022
Northwich Victoria	1	1984	2	1996
Bromley	1	2022	1	2018
Canvey Island	1	2001	1	2004
Dagenham	1	1980	1	1977
Hornchurch	1	2021	0	–
Harrogate Town	1	2020	0	–
AFC Fylde	1	2019	0	–
Brackley Town	1	2018	0	–
FC Halifax Town	1	2016	0	–
North Ferriby United	1	2015	0	–
Cambridge United	1	2014	0	–
Darlington	1	2011	0	–
Ebbsfleet United	1	2008	0	–
Hednesford Town	1	2004	0	–
Burscough	1	2003	0	–
Yeovil Town	1	2002	0	–
Cheltenham Town	1	1998	0	–
Colchester United	1	1992	0	–
Wealdstone	1	1985	0	–
Bishop's Stortford	1	1981	0	–
Matlock Town	1	1975	0	–
Morecambe	1	1974	0	–
Runcorn	0	–	3	1994
Grimsby Town	0	–	2	2016
Forest Green Rovers	0	–	2	2001
Kettering Town	0	–	2	2000
Hereford	0	–	1	2021
Concord Rangers	0	–	1	2020
Leyton Orient	0	–	1	2019
Gosport Borough	0	–	1	2014
Newport County	0	–	1	2012
Mansfield Town	0	–	1	2011
Torquay United	0	–	1	2008
Hucknall Town	0	–	1	2005
Tamworth	0	–	1	2003
Southport	0	–	1	1998
Dagenham & Redbridge	0	–	1	1997
Witton Albion	0	–	1	1992
Leek Town	0	–	1	1990
Burton Albion	0	–	1	1987
Boston United	0	–	1	1985
Bangor City	0	–	1	1984
Sutton United	0	–	1	1981
Mossley	0	–	1	1980
Leatherhead	0	–	1	1978
Dartford	0	–	1	1974
Wigan Athletic	0	–	1	1973
Barnet	0	–	1	1972
Hillingdon Borough	0	–	1	1971

References

1. "F A Trophy Summary". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
2. "The history of The FA Trophy". The Football Association. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
3. Williams, Tony (1978). The FA Non-League Football Annual 1978–79. MacDonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. p. 8.
4. "FA Competition Administration". The Football Association. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
5. "Scarborough". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
6. "Telford United". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
7. "Gillingham name Mark Stimson as new manager". The Times. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
8. "Macclesfield Town". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
9. Williams, Tony. The FA Non-League Football Annual 1978–79. p. 7.
10. . The Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
11. Barnes, Stuart (2008). Nationwide Football Annual 2008–2009. SportsBooks Ltd. p. 155. ISBN 1-899807-72-1.
12. "Bishop's Stortford". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
13. Lewis, Gabrielle (24 January 2001). "Chapple seeking Cup solace". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
14. "K's and Chapple part company". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 May 2001. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
15. McVeigh, Niall (19 May 2019). "Danny Rowe sinks Leyton Orient to seal FA Trophy triumph for AFC Fylde". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
16. "FA Trophy final 2019–20: Concord Rangers 0–1 Harrogate Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
17. "Rules of The FA Challenge Trophy competition". The Football Association. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
18. "FA Trophy Prize Fund". The Football Association. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
19. "Bangor City". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 10 November 2008.

External links

• FA Trophy section of the official Football Association website