Southern Combination Challenge Cup

Southern Combination Challenge Cup

Founded	1958
Region	England
Number of teams	18 (2016–17)
Current champions	Farnham Town
Most successful club(s)	Hampton & Richmond Borough (8 wins)

The Southern Combination Challenge Cup is a football competition contested by non-league clubs. An independent cup, it was directly affiliated to the Football Association until 2015, when a change in FA Rules required such competitions to affiliate with the county of the majority of its member clubs: this is currently the Surrey County FA for this competition. The competition was founded in March 1958, as the Southern Combination Amateur Challenge Cup Competition. The word "Amateur" was later dropped in 1974. ^[1] It is often referred to as simply the Southern Combination Cup.

The competition's rules state that entrants must be based within 25 miles of Weybridge, Surrey (until 1998, within 25 miles of Kingston upon Thames). At least two other competitions with similar names existed, in different areas of south east England:

(1) the Southern Counties Combination Football League started in 1971 as a league competition in Sussex (and later southern parts of Surrey), with an associated League Cup and, a few years later, a Midweek Floodlight [Cup] Competition. This competition closed down in 2002, with the last winners being Fleet Town - a club from Hampshire who, incidentally, have also entered the Southern Combination Challenge Cup.

(2) the Southern Combination Cup, which started around 1980, and offered a set of the sponsors', Phillips', floodlights to the inaugural winners. In some years, a Reserve Section was also contested. Known entrants were from the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire area, but the competition ceased following Stotfold's victory in 1996.

Hampton & Richmond Borough are the most successful club in the competition's history, having lifted the cup eight times. With seven of those coming under the name of Hampton, their most recent success came during the 2004–05 season. There have been 24 different winners, with Farnham Town FC the current holders after beating Balham 3-2 aet in May 2023 in front of 1,143 fans. ^[2]

History

Until the 1994–95 season, the competition would comprise a maximum 16 teams starting in the First Round. If extra clubs were competing that year, a Preliminary Round would be added. However, this figure rose to 20 teams ahead of the 1998-99 campaign and the AGM agreed to start the competition in the Second Round, should 16 teams be included. They believed the suffix of Preliminary Round added to the difficulty of selling fixtures to the paying public. The final Preliminary Round fixture came during the 1994–95 season, with Epsom & Ewell recording a 6–0 victory over Walton & Hersham in a replay. ^[1]

Penalties were introduced into the competition in 1979, but only if both clubs agreed and liaised with the match officials beforehand. They were made compulsory in 1995, should any game be drawn following extra time. ^[1] In recent years, the competition has typically been dominated by teams in the ninth and tenth tiers of the English football league system, although other non-league teams, such as Staines Town and Leatherhead, have also used the competition as a Reserve team event. The Combined Counties Football League has labelled the competition "a supplementary Combined Counties League Cup". ^[3]

Finals

Season-by-season list of winners and runners-up. ^[1]

Key

	Match went to a replay
	Match went to extra time
	Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time
	Shared trophy

Season	Winners	Result	Runner-up	Venue	Notes
1958–59	Slough Town	3-2	Carshalton Athletic	Godolphin Stadium	After extra time.
1959–60	Carshalton Athletic	4-2	Slough Town	Godolphin Stadium
1960–61	Windsor & Eton	5-4	Cray Wanderers	Stag Meadow	After extra time.
1961–62	Wokingham Town	2-1	Windsor & Eton	Wokingham Town	Finchampstead Road
1962–63	Slough Town	3-0	Wokingham Town	Godolphin Stadium
1963–64	Slough Town	1-0	Molesey	Godolphin Stadium
1964–65	Staines Town	3-1	Wingate	Hall Lane	Replay. First match abandoned at 1–1 after 37 minutes.
1965–66	Metropolitan Police	3-1	British Aircraft Corporation (Weybridge)	Liberty Lane	After extra time.
1966–67	Staines Town	3-1	Marlow	The A.D. Memorial Ground
1967–68	Metropolitan Police	6-3	Staines Town	Wheatsheaf Lane
1968–69	Hampton	4-3	Aldershot Services	Hampton
1969–70	Metropolitan Police	2-0	Banstead Athletic	Banstead Athletic
1970–71	Metropolitan Police	1-0	Marlow	Marlow
1971–72	Hampton	2-0	Staines Town	Queen Elizabeth II Field
1972–73	Tooting & Mitcham United	1-0	Hampton	Fetcham Grove
1973–74	Dulwich Hamlet	3-1	Egham Town	Champion Hill
1974–75	Addlestone	2-0	Woking	Liberty Lane
1975–76	Addlestone	2-1	Egham Town	Runnymede Stadium
1976–77	Hampton	3-1	Farnborough Town	Beveree Stadium
1977–78	Egham Town	4-0	Hampton	Runnymede Stadium
1978–79	Malden Vale	2-1	Camberley Town	Larges Lane
1979–80	Epsom & Ewell	7-2	Hampton	Beveree Stadium
1980–81	Camberley Town	1-0	Wokingham Town	Watchetts Park	After extra time.
1981–82	Hampton	3-1	Maidenhead United	York Road
1982–83	Walton & Hersham	1-1	Epsom & Ewell	Stompond Lane	After extra time. Walton & Hersham win 5–4 on penalties.
1983–84	Hampton	1-0	Egham Town	Beveree Stadium
1984–85	Bracknell Town	3-2	Wokingham Town	Larges Lane	After extra time.
1985–86	Hampton	3-0	Camberley Town	Beveree Stadium
1986–87	Feltham	3-0	Bracknell Town	Larges Lane
1987–88	Feltham	2-1	Camberley Town	Pavilion Ground
1988–89	Walton & Hersham	3-0	Chertsey Town	Stompond Lane
1989–90	Leatherhead	2-0	Malden Vale	Grove Park
1990–91	Molesey	3-2	Feltham	Walton Road
1991–92	Walton & Hersham	1-0	Malden Vale	Stompond Lane	After extra time.
1992–93	Dorking	1-0	Epsom & Ewell	Westhumble Playing Fields
1993–94	Molesey	1-0	Staines Town	Walton Road
1994–95	Staines Town		Chertsey Town		Walkover. Awarded by decision of EGM at Chertsey Town.
1995–96	Ashford Town (Middlesex)	3-0	Feltham	Feltham Sports & Social Club
1996–97	Hampton	2-1	Staines Town	Wheatsheaf Lane	After extra time.
1997–98	Godalming & Guildford	3-0	Hampton	Beveree Stadium
1998–99	Chertsey Town	4-2	Walton & Hersham	Alwyns Lane
1999–00	Walton & Hersham		Staines Town		Walkover. Match conceded by Staines Town.
2000–01	Walton & Hersham	3-1	Chipstead	Chipstead Lane
2001–02	Chessington & Hook United	5-3	Ashford Town (Middlesex)	Church Lane
2002–03	Sandhurst Town	2-1	Walton & Hersham	Yorktown Road
2003–04	Bedfont	2-1	Chipstead	Recreation Ground (Hatton)
2004–05	Hampton & Richmond Borough Walton & Hersham				Cup was shared as the final was not played.
2005–06	Staines Town	3-2	Molesey	Walton Road	After extra time.
2006–07	Merstham Staines Lammas				Cup was shared as the final was not played.
2007–08	Chipstead	1-0	Ashford Town (Middlesex)	Chipstead Lane
2008–09	Cove	4-1	Chessington & Hook United	Oak Farm Playing Fields
2009–10	Reading Town	4-1	Hanworth Villa	Scours Lane
2010–11	Ashford Town (Middlesex)	1-0	Hanworth Villa	Robert Parker Stadium
2011–12	Hanworth Villa	5-0	Sandhurst Town	Rectory Meadow
2012–13	Molesey	1-1	Spelthorne Sports	The Meadow	After extra time. Molesey win 5–4 on penalties.
2013–14	Hanworth Villa	1-0	Spelthorne Sports	Old Ham Lane
2014–15	Molesey	3-0	Bedfont & Feltham	The Meadow
2015–16	Molesey	6-1	Dorking	The Meadow
2016–17	Sutton Common Rovers	4-1	Camberley Town	Gander Green Lane
2018-19	Walton Casuals	4-2	Sutton Common Rovers	Gander Green Lane	After Extra Time
2019-20	Competition abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2020-21	Competition not held due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2021-22	Ashford Town (Middlesex)	3-2	Fleet Town	Calthorpe Park
2022–23	Farnham Town	3-2	Balham	Calthorpe Park

Results by team

A list of all clubs to have reached the Final of the competition since formation. ^[1]

Club	Winners	Runners-Up	Winning Years	Runners-Up Years
Hampton & Richmond Borough previously known as Hampton in years marked *	7½	4½	1968-69*, 1971–72*, 1976–77*, 1981–82*, 1983–84*, 1985–86*, 1996–97*, 2004-05†	1972-73*, 1977–78*, 1979–80*, 1997–98*
Walton & Hersham	5½	2½	1982-83, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2004-05†	1998-99, 2002–03
Molesey	5	2	1990-91, 1993–94, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16	1963-64, 2005–06
Staines Town	4	5	1964-65, 1966–67, 1994–95, 2005–06	1967-68, 1971–72, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1999–00
Metropolitan Police	4	0	1965-66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1970–71
Ashford Town (Middlesex)	3	2	1995-96, 2010–11, 2021–22	2001-02, 2007–08
Slough Town	3	1	1958-59, 1962–63, 1963–64	1959-60
Feltham	2	2	1986-87, 1987–88	1990-91, 1995–96
Hanworth Villa	2	2	2011-12, 2013–14	2009-10, 2010–11
Addlestone	2	0	1974-75, 1975–76
Camberley Town	1	4	1980-81	1978-79, 1985–86, 1987–88, 2016–17
Egham Town	1	3	1977-78	1973-74, 1975–76, 1983–84
Wokingham Town	1	3	1961-62	1962-63, 1980–81, 1984–85
Chertsey Town	1	2	1998-99	1988-89, 1994–95
Chipstead	1	2	2007-08	2000-01, 2003–04
Epsom & Ewell	1	2	1979-80	1982-83, 1992–93
Malden Vale	1	2	1978-79	1989-90, 1991–92
Bracknell Town	1	1	1984-85	1986-87
Carshalton Athletic	1	1	1959-60	1958-59
Chessington & Hook United	1	1	2001-02	2008-09
Dorking	1	1	1992-93	2015-16
Sandhurst Town	1	1	2002-03	2011-12
Windsor & Eton	1	1	1960-61	1961-62
Farnham Town	1	0	2022-23
Bedfont	1	0	2003-04
Cove	1	0	2008-09
Dulwich Hamlet	1	0	1973-74
Godalming & Guildford	1	0	1997-98
Leatherhead	1	0	1989-90
Reading Town	1	0	2009-10
Sutton Common Rovers	1	0	2016-17
Tooting & Mitcham United	1	0	1972-73
Merstham	½	½	2006-07†
Staines Lammas	½	½	2006-07†
Marlow	0	2		1966-67, 1970–71
Spelthorne Sports	0	2		2012-13, 2013–14
Aldershot Services	0	1		2012-13, 2013–14
B.A.C. (Weybridge)	0	1		1965-66
Banstead Athletic	0	1		1969-70
Bedfont & Feltham	0	1		2014-15
Cray Wanderers	0	1		1960-61
Farnborough Town	0	1		1976-77
Maidenhead United	0	1		1981-82
Wingate	0	1		1964-65
Woking	0	1		1974-75

† denotes that in this year the final was unplayed and the cup was shared between the two clubs who qualified for it. These instances are counted as ½ in the "Winners" and "Runners-Up" columns, with the year recorded in the "Winning Years" column.

See also

• Combined Counties Football League

References

1. "Tony's Non-League Forum: Non League Football Information: Other Cup Competitions: Southern Combination Cup 2010/11". nonleaguematters.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
2. Bridgen, Gary (5 March 2017). "Sutton Common Rovers crush Camberley to win Southern Combination Cup". Sutton Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
3. "Southern Combination Challenge Cup 2015-2016 - The Cherry Red Records Combined Counties Football League". combinedcounties.pitchero.com. Retrieved 5 June 2016.