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.
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 2008âÂÂ09 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 2009âÂÂ10 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 2011âÂÂ12 final between Chorley FC and Kendal Town FC, played on 12 March 2012, attracted a crowd of 2,673.
The first Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy took place in the 1885âÂÂ86 season, when Bell's Temperance of Accrington beat Darwen Rovers 6âÂÂ2 in the final at Fleetwood Rangers.. Before the First World War, the champions mostly came from the Lancashire Combination and the Lancashire League, but on occasion from the lower level Lancashire Alliance, and in 1897 the surprise winner was Hapton from the North-East Lancashire Combination.
The only times the trophy was not competed was 1915âÂÂ18 during World War I, 1940âÂÂ41 season during World War II, although it did continue for the rest of the war years, and 2020âÂÂ21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chorley are the most successful club with eighteen wins, the first coming in 1893âÂÂ94 and the last of which came in 2017âÂÂ18. 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 was in 2003âÂÂ04 and Wigan's last victory was in 1977âÂÂ78.
A full list of past winners -