The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competition in the world. It is organised by and named after The Football Association. Since 2015, it has been known as The Emirates FA Cup after its headline sponsor. A concurrent Women's FA Cup has been held since 1970.
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isle of Man also competing. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, allowing even the smallest club the theoretical possibility of ultimately rising to the very top of the system, the Premier League. Below that are levels 2–4 organised by the English Football League, then the National League System from levels 5–10 administered by the FA, and thereafter Regional feeder leagues run by relevant county FAs on an ad hoc basis. It also often happens that the Premier Division of a Regional Feeder League has its constitution given to it by the FA. They have to accept it or appeal but can not reject it at an AGM.
Football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country. England hosts the world's first club, Sheffield F.C.; the world's oldest professional association football club, Notts County; the oldest national governing body, the Football Association; the joint-oldest national team; the oldest national knockout competition, the FA Cup; and the oldest national league, the English Football League. Today England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, with five of the ten richest football clubs in the world as of 2022.
The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The league consisted of a single division which sat at Step 5 of the National League System, or the ninth level of the overall English football league system.
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 to those non-league clubs that paid their players and were therefore not eligible to enter the FA Amateur Cup.
The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed for by a mix of clubs from Staffordshire and the surrounding areas. Both professional and amateur clubs may enter. In the modern age however professional teams such as Stoke City and Port Vale, the main clubs in Staffordshire, usually field a reserve team as they place more prestige on their respective leagues and professional cup competitions. This has left the door open for non-league sides to have more success in the cup as it is classed as a bigger achievement for them to win it.
The Berks & Bucks Football Association is the County Football Association for Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. It is responsible for the development of association football in the two historic counties. It organises cup competitions between affiliated football clubs and the selects two representative teams. It was formed in 1878, with the first president and driving force being Mr J H Clark from Maidenhead.
Birmingham County Football Association, also simply known as Birmingham County FA or BCFA, is an association football governing body covering the historic county of Warwickshire and the Black Country region, England. The county FA arrange 14 county cup competitions at different levels for teams in the West Midland region including the Birmingham Senior Cup which is one of the oldest cup competitions in the world.
The Worcestershire Senior Cup is a football competition organised by the Worcestershire County Football Association. It began in the 1893-94 season, with Redditch Town taking the first honours. Due to the dearth of professional clubs within the county, few professional teams have taken part, though Walsall, Aston Villa, and Kidderminster Harriers are past winners.
The Devon County Football Association, also simply known as the Devon FA, is the governing body of football in the county of Devon. The Devon FA was founded in 1888 in Plymouth.
The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.
The 1972–73 FA Cup was the 92nd season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Second Division Sunderland won the competition for the second time, beating holders Leeds United 1–0 in the final at Wembley, London with a goal from Ian Porterfield.
The Durham County Football Association is the governing body of football in the historic county of Durham. The Durham FA was founded on 25 March 1883 and is the governing body for football in Durham from grass roots to professional level. They also run a number of cups for teams of all levels across the county, leagues for under-18, under-21 and ladies teams, and an under-18 representative team.
The West Riding County Football Association is the governing body of football in northern parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its headquarters are in the village of Woodlesford, 6 miles (9.7 km) south east of Leeds.
The Wiltshire Football Association is the governing body of football in the English county of Wiltshire. Affiliated members pay a fee commensurate with the level of competition they play in, and benefit from access to support and guidance on such areas as health and safety, and access to finance or grants. The association is directly responsible for the governance of County Cup competitions.
The 2015–16 West Midlands (Regional) League season was the 116th in the history of the West Midlands (Regional) League, an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and southern Staffordshire. It has three divisions, the highest of which is the Premier Division, which sits at step 6 of the National League System, or the tenth level of the overall English football league system.
The Midwest Counties Female Football League is a women's association football league in England. The competition covers the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire. The league consists of three adult divisions. It is at level 7 of the women's pyramid. It promotes to the West Midlands Regional Women's Football League Division One, and does not relegate to any league. Matches are played on Sundays.
The 2016–17 West Midlands (Regional) League season was the 117th in the history of the West Midlands (Regional) League, an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and southern Staffordshire. It has three divisions, the highest of which is the Premier Division, which sits at step 6 of the National League System, or the tenth level of the overall English football league system.
The 2017–18 West Midlands (Regional) League season was the 118th in the history of the West Midlands (Regional) League, an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and southern Staffordshire. The league operates three divisions: the Premier Division, see below, at level 10 in the English football league system, Division One at level 11, and Division Two. The Premier Division is one of three divisions which feed into the Midland League Premier Division, the other two being the East Midlands Counties League and the Midland League's own Division One.
The 2020–21 FA Cup was the 140th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the Football Association Challenge Cup. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage.
