Founded 1968 Number of teams 68 (2015–16) Most successful club(s) Marine (4 titles) | Region England Current champions Marine (4th title) | |
Website Evo-Stik League Website | ||
The Northern Premier League Challenge Cup (also known as the Integro Doodson League Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a knock-out cup competition organised by the Northern Premier League. Teams from all three Northern Premier League divisions take part in the tournament, with Premier Division sides receiving a bye to the round of 32.
History
The Challenge Cup's first season was in 1968–69. At this point the Northern Premier League consisted of just one division. As the league was expanded, the competition accepted teams from the new divisions. As of 2016, the most cups won by any club stands at four (Marine). Runcorn, Lancaster City, and North Ferriby United are the only clubs to successfully defend the title. Only one Welsh team has ever won the Challenge Cup: Bangor City in the competition's inaugural season.
From 1973 to 2007, the winners of the Challenge Cup qualified for the Peter Swales Shield where they would play the champions of the Premier Division. This practice ended upon the splitting of Division One into two divisions: Division One North and Division One South, but was reinstated for two years from 2011 to 2012.
From 1994–95 to 2009–10 it was also known as the Unibond Challenge Cup. From 2011–12 to 2014–15, the Challenge Cup is known as the Doodson Sport Cup and was again renamed to the Integro Doodson League Cup for the 2015–16 season.