The Senior Challenge Cup is the current

county cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

in the county of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. It is administered by the Gloucestershire County Football Association (GCFA). According to the current rules of the competition, it is open to all clubs whose first affiliation is with the GCFA. The current holders are Bristol City reserves.

History

The Senior Cup and the Challenge Trophy are the only competitions competed across the whole county. Most other challenge cup competitions in the county are competed for by clubs according to their location in the county. County rules state that clubs that are south of Thornbury compete in the southern section and the rest of the county compete in the northern section. None of the affiliated clubs that compete above the fifth tier in the English football league system enter their first teams in the Senior Challenge Cup. The natural predecessor to the current competition was the Gloucestershire FA Northern Senior Professional Cup, which for its early existence was an annual game held between Gloucester City and

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

. Gradually, other local sides were introduced to the competition, but the final was still dominated by the founding two clubs, until

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

in the 1980s and the eventual joining of the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

-based clubs in the 1990s to form what we now recognize as the Gloucestershire Senior Cup. In the early years the cup saw large crowd and great local interest. The largest crowd came at Longlevens where a crowd of 4,221 witnessed Gloucester City defeat Cheltenham Town on 26 April 1951. In recent years, popularity has dwindled with clubs being involved in more prestigious competitions and fielding weakened sides in the competition. The final was traditionally held at one of the finalists stadiums, but in recent years the final has been played at a neutral in

Almondsbury Almondsbury () is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England, and a civil parish which also includes the villages of Hortham, Gaunt's Earthcott, Over, Easter Compton, Compton Greenfield, Hallen and ...

at Oakland Park, which is the headquarters of the Gloucestershire FA.

Finals

Performance by club

''Note: 9 tournaments are missing''

Trivia

The 1950 final between Gloucester City and

Whaddon Road Whaddon Road, known as the Completely-Suzuki Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Cheltenham, England. It is the home ground of Cheltenham Town F.C. It has a total capacity of 7,066, with a mixture of seating and terracing ...

had ended in a 1-1 draw. A replay was held and, a crowd of 4,115 flocked to Gloucester City's Longlevens ground to witness the match. After normal time, the match had finished 1-1 again and it had been decided to play two 15 minute periods of extra time. When the score was still 1-1 after the extra time expired, the captains and referee agreed to play a further 20 minute period of extra time, and afterwards, a further 20 minutes as the score was still level - a total of 160 minutes of play. When the winning goal was scored by Gloucester's Doug Hunt in the 159th minute, the crowd spilled onto the pitch in jubilation, and the match was immediately ended by the referee.

External links

Gloucestershire County FA Official Website

References

{{English Senior Cups County Cup competitions Football in Gloucestershire