Conference League Cup

The Conference League Cup (formerly known as the Setanta Shield for sponsorship reasons, and before that the Bob Lord Challenge Trophy) was a football competition open to clubs playing in the Football Conference.

For the Irish football competition, see Setanta Sports Cup.
Conference League Cup
Founded1979
Abolished2009
Region England
Number of teams68 (2008–09)
Last championsAFC Telford United (2008–09)
Most successful club(s)Bromsgrove Rovers, Doncaster Rovers, Northwich Victoria
& Runcorn
(2 wins each)

History

The competition was formed for the inaugural season of what was then called the Alliance Premier League, in 1979–80 and existed for twenty-two seasons before being axed at the end of the 2000–01 season. It was briefly reformed for the 2004–05 season, in the form of the Conference Challenge Cup,[1] but following a poor response it was again agreed not to renew the competition for the next season.

With the transfer of sponsorship of the Conference to Blue Square for the start of the 2007–08 season two seasons later, the re-introduction of the competition was announced, scheduled to commence that year.[2] On 23 June 2009 the Conference League Cup's sponsor, Setanta's GB division went into administration[3] and ceased broadcasting.[4] The tournament has not been held since 2009.

Format

The competition was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random – like the FA Cup there is a minimal form of seeding, in that members of the (higher-level) Conference National enter together at a later stage in the tournament, and the draw for each round took place after the completion of the round before.

Winners
Season Winner Runner-up
Bob Lord Challenge Trophy
1979–80Northwich VictoriaAltrincham
1980–81AltrinchamKettering Town
1981–82WeymouthEnfield
1982–83RuncornScarborough
1983–84ScarboroughBarnet
1984–85RuncornMaidstone United
1985–86Stafford RangersBarnet
1986–87[5]Kettering TownHendon
1987–88Horwich RMIWeymouth
1988–89BarnetHyde United
1989–90Yeovil TownKidderminster Harriers
1990–91Sutton UnitedBarrow
1991–92Wycombe WanderersRuncorn
1992–93Northwich VictoriaWycombe Wanderers
1993–94Macclesfield TownYeovil Town
1994–95Bromsgrove RoversKettering Town
1995–96Bromsgrove RoversMacclesfield Town
1996–97Kidderminster HarriersMacclesfield Town
1997–98MorecambeWoking
1998–99Doncaster RoversFarnborough Town
1999–2000Doncaster RoversKingstonian
2000–01Chester CityKingstonian
Conference Cup
2004–05WokingStalybridge Celtic
Setanta Shield
2007–08Aldershot TownRushden & Diamonds
2008–09AFC Telford United Forest Green Rovers

Source:[6] (note: source does not list finals for 1986–87 to 1988–89)

References
  1. Oliver, Pete (7 June 2004). "Conference cup is restored". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  2. "Setanta Shield announced with league match draw date". BBC Sport. 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  3. Ziegler, Martin (23 June 2009). "Setanta enters administration". London: The Independent. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  4. James Robinson; Leigh Holmwood (23 June 2009). "Setanta goes off air with loss of more than 200 jobs". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  5. Dunk, Peter (20 August 1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Queen Anne Press. p. 881. ISBN 978-0-3561435-4-5. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  6. "History". Football Conference. Archived from the original on 16 September 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
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