Premier League Asia Trophy
Chelsea celebrate with the trophy after winning the 2011 Premier League Asia Trophy.
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| Founded | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Region | AFC (Asia) |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Current champions |
 Arsenal (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) |
Chelsea (2 titles) |
The Premier League Asia Trophy (formerly the FA Premier League Asia Cup) is a pre-season association football friendly tournament held biennially in Asia. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2003 and is "the only Premier League-affiliated competition" to be hosted outside England. It has taken place every other summer since then in order to avoid conflicting with the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. For sponsorship purposes, it is referred to as the Barclays Asia Trophy.
The competition features three clubs that are members of the Premier League at the time, as well as a local team from the host country. It employs a knockout system in which the winners of the first matches advance to the final, while the losing teams take part in a third place playoff. The tournament format will be partly modified for the 2017 edition, with both Hong Kong and China set to co-host the contest. The city's domestic champions will play as the local team on the first match day; a Chinese Super League team – scheduled to be Shanghai SIPG – will replace them on the second day and play in either in the final or the third place playoff, depending on the prior result of the Hong Kong team.
Chelsea won the inaugural tournament in 2003, and finished victorious in another in 2011. Five other sides have won the Premier League Asia Trophy: Bolton Wanderers in 2005, Portsmouth in 2007, Tottenham Hotspur in 2009, Manchester City in 2013, and Arsenal in 2015. Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Everton, and South China are the most regular participants, having each contested the tournament on two occasions. Thailand's under-23 national team are the only local Asian side to advance to the finals of the contest. Hong Kong has hosted the tournament three times, more than any other city.
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