Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy

Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy

Founded	1885;138 years ago (1885)
Region	Lancashire
Number of teams	28
Current champions	Southport
Most successful club(s)	Chorley (18 wins)

The Lancashire Football Association Challenge Trophy is an English football competition for senior non-league clubs who are members of the Lancashire County Football Association. The trophy was first played for in 1885, when it was known as the Lancashire Junior Cup. It is currently sponsored by Partners Foundation and is known as The Partners Foundation Challenge Trophy. Although officially the junior cup to the Lancashire Senior Cup it is still regarded as just as important as other county cup competitions.

Format

The competition is open to senior non-league clubs within the historical boundaries of Lancashire. A total of 28 clubs currently enter the competition from six different leagues. As of 2008–09 the four clubs from the Football Conference each receive byes to the second round, where they are then joined by the twelve winners from the first round.

From the 2009–10 season the semi-finals have been played at the County Ground, Thurston Road in Leyland, with the final being held at the Reebok Stadium, home of Bolton Wanderers. The 2011–12 final between Chorley FC and Kendal Town FC, played on 12 March 2012, attracted a crowd of 2,673.

History

The first Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy took place in the 1885–86 season, when Bells Temperance were the winners. The only times the trophy was not competed was 1915–18 during World War I, 1940–41 season during World War II, although it did continue for the rest of the war years, and 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chorley are the most successful club with eighteen wins, the first coming in 1893–94 and the last of which came in 2017–18. Former non-league clubs Morecambe, who now play in the Football League and Wigan Athletic, now in League One are next with eleven wins. Morecambe's last victory coming in 2003–04 and Wigan's was in 1977–78.

Past winners

A full list of past winners - ^[1]

Season	Winners	Season	Winners	Season	Winners
1885–86	Bells Temperance	1932–33	Darwen	1977–78	Wigan Athletic
1886–87	Bells Temperance	1933–34	Lancaster Town	1978–79	Marine
1887–88	Blackpool	1934–35	Fleetwood	1979–80	Chorley
1888–89	Oswaldtwistle Rovers	1935–36	Wigan Athletic	1980–81	Barrow
1889–90	Bury	1936–37	South Liverpool	1981–82	Chorley
1890–91	Blackpool	1937–38	South Liverpool	1982–83	Chorley
1891–92	Kearsley	1938–39	South Liverpool	1983–84	South Liverpool
1892–93	Clitheroe [2]	1939–40	Chorley	1984–85	Clitheroe [3]
1893–94	Chorley	1940–41	(no competition)	1985–86	Morecambe
1894–95	Lytham	1941–42	Blackpool Services	1986–87	Morecambe
1895–96	Blackburn Park Road	1942–43	Blackpool Services	1987–88	Marine
1896–97	Hapton	1943–44	Blackpool Services	1988–89	Colne Dynamoes
1897–98	Skerton	1944–45	Howard & Bulloughs	1989–90	Colne Dynamoes
1898–99	Skerton	1945–46	Chorley	1990–91	Marine
1899–1900	Turton	1946–47	Rochdale Reserves	1991–92	Great Harwood Town
1900–01	Heywood	1947–48	Burscough	1992–93	Southport
1901–02	Turton	1948–49	Barrow Reserves	1993–94	Morecambe
1902–03	Turton	1949–50	Burscough	1994–95	Bamber Bridge
1903–04	Earlestown	1950–51	Rochdale Reserves	1995–96	Morecambe
1904–05	Turton	1951–52	Lancaster City	1996–97	Southport
1905–06	Colne	1952–53	Wigan Athletic	1997–98	Southport
1906–07	Earlestown	1953–54	Wigan Athletic	1998–99	Morecambe
1907–08	Nelson	1954–55	Nelson	1999–2000	Marine
1908–09	Chorley	1955–56	Wigan Athletic	2000–01	Southport
1909–10	Rochdale	1956–57	New Brighton	2001–02	Accrington Stanley
1910–11	Bacup	1957–58	Chorley	2002–03	Leigh RMI
1911–12	Rossendale United	1958–59	Chorley	2003–04	Morecambe
1912–13	Fleetwood	1959–60	Wigan Athletic	2004–05	Accrington Stanley
1913–14	Heywood United	1960–61	Chorley	2005–06	Southport
1914–15	Skelmersdale United	1961–62	Morecambe	2006–07	Burscough
1915–18	(no competition)	1962–63	Morecambe	2007–08	Southport
1918–19	Runcorn	1963–64	Chorley	2008–09	Skelmersdale United
1919–20	Southport	1964–65	Chorley	2009–10	Southport
1920–21	Accrington Stanley	1965–66	Wigan Athletic	2010–11	AFC Fylde
1921–22	New Brighton	1966–67	Burscough	2011–12	Chorley
1922–23	Croston	1967–68	Wigan Athletic	2012–13	AFC Fylde
1923–24	Chorley	1968–69	Morecambe	2013–14	AFC Fylde
1924–25	Horwich RMI	1969–70	Skelmersdale United	2014–15	Chorley
1925–26	Morecambe	1970–71	Skelmersdale United	2015-16	Chorley
1926–27	Morecambe	1971–72	Wigan Athletic	2016–17	Ashton Athletic
1927–28	Lancaster Town	1972–73	Rossendale United	2017-18	Chorley
1928–29	Lancaster Town	1973–74	Wigan Athletic	2018-19	Southport
1929–30	Horwich RMI	1974–75	Lancaster City	2019-20	Lancaster City
1930–31	Lancaster Town	1975–76	Chorley	2020-21	Competition not held
1931–32	Dick, Kerr's	1976–77	Wigan Athletic,	2021-22	Southport

Winners by club

	Club	Number of Wins	Most Recent Win
1	Chorley	18	2017-18
2	Morecambe	11	2003–04
	Wigan Athletic	11	1977–78
4	Southport	10	2021-22
5	Lancaster City (inc. Lancaster Town)	7	2019-20
6	Burscough	4	2006–07
	Marine	4	1999–2000
	South Liverpool	4	1983–84
	Turton	4	1904–05
	Skelmersdale United	4	2008–09
11	Accrington Stanley	3	2004–05
	AFC Fylde	3	2013–14
	Blackpool Services	3	1943–44
	Leigh RMI (inc. Horwich RMI)	3	2002–03
	Rochdale (inc. Rochdale Reserves)	3	1950–51
16	Barrow (inc. Barrow Reserves)	2	1980–81
	Bells Temperance	2	1886–87
	Blackpool	2	1890–91
	Colne Dynamoes	2	1989–90
	Earlestown	2	1906–07
	Fleetwood	2	1934–35
	Nelson	2	1989–90
	New Brighton	2	1906–07
	Rossendale United	2	1972–73
	Skerton	2	1898–99
26	Bacup Borough (as Bacup)	1	1910–11
	Bamber Bridge	1	1994–95
	Blackburn Park Road	1	1895–96
	Bury	1	1889–90
	Clitheroe (1887)	1	1892–93
	Clitheroe (1925)	1	1984–85
	Colne	1	1905–06
	Croston	1	1922–23
	Darwen	1	1932–33
	Dick, Kerr's	1	1931–32
	Great Harwood Town	1	1991–92
	Hapton	1	1896–97
	Heywood	1	1900–01
	Heywood United	1	1913–14
	Howard & Bulloughs	1	1944–45
	Kearsley	1	1891–92
	Lytham	1	1894–95
	Oswaldtwistle Rovers	1	1888–89
	Runcorn	1	1918–19
	Ashton Athletic	1	2016–17

References

1. Lancashire Football Association Directory of Members Handbook 2007–08. Lancashire: Lancashire County Football Association. 2007.
2. Founded in 1887, as a successor to the 1879 club, and wound up in 1897.
3. Later Clitheroe club founded in 1925.

External links

• Official website of the Lancashire County Football Association (archived 26 March 2018)