The FCA Winners' Championship ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Πρωταθλητριών Ε.Π.Σ.) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

football league competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all local Football Clubs' Associations championships in Greece. It is not considered part of the Greek football league system, due to a lack of formal structure, requiring all local FCA championships to have been completed prior to its start. The FCA Winners' Championship was ←founded in 1960, and held annually until 1962, as an experimental format for a 2nd tier in the Greek football league system. The competition was once again established and held annually during 1968−1977 going by the name "Amateur Championship" as a means of achieving promotion to the formally-structured ''

Beta Ethniki The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

'' (the official 2nd tier of the Greek football league system, renamed in 2010 to ''

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

''). As of 1987, the FCA Winners' Championship role was diminished to determining promotion to the

Delta Ethniki Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also r ...

(the fourth tier of the Greek football league system) by the local FCA champions. In fact, during the 2002−03 season, due to a re-structuring of the Greek football league system, the FCA Winners' Championship was contested by

Group winners, as a means of determining which clubs would eventually earn promotion to the

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

(thus effectively cutting down the number of promoting teams from 10 to 5, winners being determined in single knockout matches held at neutral grounds). The 19th edition of the competition took place during the 2011−12 post-season period. On July 25, 2012 the

Hellenic Football Federation The Hellenic Football Federation (HFF), also known as the Greek Football Federation ( el, Ελληνική Ποδοσφαιρική Ομοσπονδία; ΕΠΟ, translit=Ellinikí Podosferikí Omospondía; EPO) is the governing body of associat ...

decided to effectively neglect the outcome of the 2012 edition of the competition, thus allowing all local FCA champions to promote to the

. The competition was not abolished however, and after merging the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

and

into an amateur third level football league comprising six (and later four) Groups, the FCA Winners' Championship was re-purposed to determine promotion from local competitions to the national level.''Periferiako.com:Συνεδριάζει και αποφασίζει η Επιτροπή'' (Greek)
/ref> In the 22nd edition of the competition (2015), the 14 Group winners earned promotion to the

, while the 2016 edition allowed twice as much clubs (28 in total, including Group runners-up) to advance to the

1960–1962 winners

After the conclusion of all local FCA championships, each tournament edition involved three, four and ten Groups respectively, and contested by the local champions for earning promotion to the

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

, the highest professional football league in Greece.

1968–1977 winners

The winners of the single knockout matches that were held as part of the "Amateur Championship" between local FCA champions in the years spanning between the 1967–68 and 1976–77 seasons were promoted to the

1987–2001 winners

As of the 1986–87 and until the 2000–01 season the winners of the single knockout matches, contested by local FCA champions, were promoted to the

. Due to the fact that the latter was organized into 4 Groups during these years, it was impossible for all FCA Winners' Champions to earn promotion to the

2012–2016 winners

In 2012, the

re-instated the FCA Winners' Championship in order for local champions to earn promotion to the recently re-formatted

. The Table below presents all FCA Winners' Championship winners, as well as clubs also earning promotion to the

as runners-up (where indicated).

References

Sources

"ΑΘΛΗΤΙΚΗ ΗΧΩ"-29ης Ιουνίου 1987 (Greek)"ΑΘΛΗΤΙΚΗ ΗΧΩ"-6ης Ιουνίου 1988 (Greek)"ΑΘΛΗΤΙΚΗ ΗΧΩ"-3ης Ιουνίου 1999 (Greek)"ΑΘΛΗΤΙΚΗ ΗΧΩ"-5ης Ιουνίου 2000 (Greek)"ΑΘΛΗΤΙΚΗ ΗΧΩ"-5ης Ιουνίου 2001 (Greek)"ΑΘΛΗΤΙΚΗ ΗΧΩ"-22ας Ιουνίου 2003 (Greek)

External links

Το σχέδιο για την άνοδο στη Δ΄Εθνική 2012-13 (Greek)
{{Football in Greece Football leagues in Greece