Southern Combination Challenge Cup
| Founded | 1958 |
|---|---|
| Region |
 England
|
| Number of teams | 24 (2015-16) |
| Current champions | Molesey (5th title) |
| Most successful club(s) |
Hampton & Richmond Borough (8 wins) |
 2016-17 Southern Combination Cup
|
|
The Southern Combination Challenge Cup is a football competition contested by non-league clubs. An independent cup, it is directly affiliated to the Football Association. The competition was founded in March 1958, as the Southern Combination Amateur Challenge Cup Competition. The word "Amateur" was later dropped in 1974. It is often referred to as simply the Southern Combination Cup.
Hampton & Richmond Borough are the most successful club in the competition's history, having lifted the cup eight times. With seven of those coming under the name of Hampton, their most recent success came during the 2004-05 season. There have been 23 different winners, with Molesey the current holders after beating Dorking in May 2016.
Until the 1994-95 season, the competition would usually host 16 teams starting in the First Round. If extra clubs were competing that year, a Preliminary Round would be added. However, this figure rose to 20 teams ahead of the 1998-99 campaign and the AGM agreed to start the competition in the Second Round, should 16 teams be included. They believed the suffix of Preliminary Round added to the difficulty of selling fixtures to the paying public. The final Preliminary Round fixture came during the 1994-95 season, with Epsom & Ewell recording a 6-0 victory over Walton & Hersham in a replay.
Penalties were introduced into the competition in 1979, but only if both clubs agreed and liaised with the match officials beforehand. They were made compulsory in 1995, should any game be drawn following extra time. In recent years, the competition has typically been dominated by teams in the ninth and tenth tiers of the English football league system, although other non-league teams, such as Staines Town and Leatherhead, have also used the competition as a Reserve team event. The Combined Counties Football League has labelled the competition "a supplementary Combined Counties League Cup".
Season-by-season list of winners and runners-up.
A list of all clubs to have won the competition since formation.
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Wikipedia