Founded | 2000 |
---|---|
Region | Trinidad and Tobago |
Number of teams | 10 |
Current champions |
Defence Force (3rd title) |
Most successful club(s) |
W Connection (6 titles) |
Website | First Citizens Cup |
2016 First Citizens Cup |
The Trinidad and Tobago League Cup, or commonly known as the First Citizens Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the league cup style football competition open for Trinidad and Tobago teams competing in the country's TT Pro League. Similar to the FA Trophy, it is played on a knockout (single elimination) basis in September and October towards the beginning of each Pro League season. Unlike the FA Trophy, where 36 teams enter each season from the top three tiers of the Trinidad and Tobago football league system and the Secondary Schools Football League, only teams from the TT Pro League compete in the league cup. The knockout tournament was inaugurated in 2000 and is currently sponsored by First Citizens Bank. Although the league cup is one of the three major domestic trophies attainable by Trinidad and Tobago league teams, it is perceived as a lower priority than the league championship and the FA Trophy. The current theme is Where Winners Reign, with TT$110,000 to the winner, TT$20,000 to the runners-up, semifinal winners receive TT$7,000, quaterfinal winners receive TT$5,000 and Play-off round winners receive TT$3,000.
W Connection is the most successful club in the league cup having won the competition six times, including five consecutive cup titles in 2004–08. Defence Force FC are the current holders of the league cup having defeated Ma Pau Stars in the 2016 final.
The competition began in 2000, under the name of the League Cup, with San Juan Jabloteh winning the inaugural tournament by defeating Defence Force 1–0 at Marvin Lee Stadium. In 2001, First Citizens Bank began to sponsor the league cup and was officially branded the First Citizens Cup. W Connection and Defence Force claimed their club's first cup title in 2001 and 2002 respectively. The San Juan Kings became the first club to win the title twice having won the league cup again in 2003. W Connection were crowned champions for five consecutive years in 2004–08. However, in 2009, Defence Force claimed their second title and their first trophy in six years with a 1–0 win over Joe Public. The Eastern Lions exacted revenge by defeating Defence Force 3–0 on penalties after the match ended 1–1 the following year in 2010 to claim their first league cup title. Caledonia AIA claimed two consecutive league cup titles in 2011 and 2012.