![Nantwich Town FC - FA Vase Parade (11)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Nantwich_Town_FC_-_FA_Vase_Parade_%2811%29.JPG)
The
Football Association Challenge Vase, commonly known as the FA Vase, is a
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
cup competition in English
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, organised by and named after
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
(the FA). It was staged for the first time in the
1974–75 season, effectively replacing the
FA Amateur Cup
The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status.
History
Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...
, which was discontinued after the abolition of official amateur status by the FA. While the leading teams from the Amateur Cup switched to the existing
FA Trophy
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 compet ...
, the lower-level teams entered the new FA Vase. As of 2013, the Vase is open to all clubs in levels five to seven of the
National League System
The National League System comprises the six levels of the English football league system immediately below the level of the English Football League. It comes under the jurisdiction of The Football Association. The National League System has a h ...
, equivalent to levels nine to eleven of the overall
English football league system
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 Isl ...
, although clubs from other leagues may apply to enter if their stadiums meet certain requirements.
The record for the most wins is held by
Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...
, with four victories.
Whitley Bay have also won in three consecutive seasons.
Billericay Town
Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...
,
Halesowen Town
Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground.
History
The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...
and
Tiverton Town
Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead.
History
The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...
have each won the Vase in two consecutive seasons.
The Vase is currently held by
Newport Pagnell Town, who beat
Littlehampton Town in the 2022 final.
History
![FAVaseAction2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/FAVaseAction2009.jpg)
The first FA Vase final was won by
Hoddesdon Town of the
Spartan League
The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League.
History
The Spartan League was establish ...
who, despite being regarded as underdogs, beat
Epsom & Ewell of the
Surrey Senior League
The Surrey Senior League was an English regional football league for teams based in Surrey although teams from outside the county were often admitted as well. The league existed from 1922 until 1978, when it was rebranded as the Home Counties Leagu ...
. In three of the four following seasons,
Billericay Town
Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...
won the competition to become the first team to win the Vase on three occasions, a feat matched in 2010 by
Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...
.
During the 1980s, the tournament was won by teams that represented many different leagues from all parts of the country, from
Whickham
Whickham is a village in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. The village is on high ground overlooking the River Tyne and south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It was formerly governed under the histo ...
of the
Wearside League
The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 (or levels 11 to 13) of the National League System and is a feeder to the Northern League Di ...
in the northeast to
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 ...
of the
Hellenic League in the south.
Halesowen Town
Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground.
History
The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...
became the second team to win the Vase in consecutive seasons, with victories in 1985 and 1986.
In the 1990s,
Guiseley
Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds.
It sits in t ...
and
Tiverton Town
Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead.
History
The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...
both appeared in the final more than once.
Tiverton became the third club to win consecutive finals, emerging victorious in 1998 and 1999. Two years later
Taunton Town
Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...
won the Vase, giving clubs from the
Western League three wins in four seasons. From 2009 to 2018, all ten finals involved a team from
Northern League Division One
The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League.
It contains two divisions; Division O ...
, with eight of them taking the trophy.
Brigg Town of the
Northern Counties East League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively.
History
Th ...
became the fourth club to win the Vase more than once in 2003, seven years after the club's first victory, and six years later Whitley Bay became the fifth club to achieve the feat.
In 2019
AFC Fylde
AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm.
Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...
(formerly known as Kirkham & Wesham became the first team to have won both the FA Trophy and FA Vase.
Finals
Originally, if the final finished with the scores level after
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
, the teams would play again in a
replay at a later date;
more recently the final has always been decided on the day, with a
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
as required. The winning club receives the FA Vase itself and, as of 2010, prize money of £20,000, in addition to that accumulated for winning earlier rounds.
Key
Results
Results by team
Teams shown in ''italics'' are no longer in existence. Teams shown in bold compete in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
or the
English 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 Engl ...
as of 2021 and therefore do not enter the FA Vase or FA Trophy.
References
{{Football in England
finals
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...