1.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
2.
Yate
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Yate is a commuter town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, at the southwest extremity of the Cotswold Hills,11 miles northeast of Bristol city centre. Yate developed from a village into a town from the 1960s onwards. Although not a new town in the sense, Yate took on many of the characteristics of one. At the 2011 census the population was 21,603, the town of Chipping Sodbury is contiguous with Yate to the east. In addition, a southern section of the built-up area spills over into the parish of Dodington. Yate has 2 secondary schools and 8 infant/junior schools along with 1 special needs school, the town is to the north-east of Bristol city centre, which is about 11 miles away by road. A couple of miles to the south of Yate is the M4, the South Wales Main Line, a branch of the Great Western Main Line runs along the south of Yate. This line does not have a station in Yate, the Cross Country route from Bristol to Birmingham and the north runs through the west of Yate. Yate railway station is situated on this line, apart from Chipping Sodbury to the east, Yate is surrounded by countryside and is situated to the south-west of the Cotswolds. The A432 is the road to serve Yate and runs through the centre of the town. Yate is represented in the UK Parliament by the constituency of Thornbury, historically part of Gloucestershire until 1974 it then became part of the district of Northavon within the newly formed county of Avon. In 1996, Avon was abolished, and the became part of the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. Yate Town Council provides local services, the first mention of Yate is the existence of a religious house in about AD770, Yate is also mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is derived from the Old English word giete or gete, during the Anglo-Saxon period and well into medieval times, most of this part of south Gloucestershire was covered with forest. Through the centuries the land was cleared for farming, the towns parish church, St Marys, dates from Norman times. It was altered during the 15th century and was restored in 1970. St Marys Primary School, situated outside the walls, was built on the site of a former poorhouse. It was the opening of the station in 1844, as part of Bristol and Gloucester Railway
3.
Gloucestershire
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Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the fertile valley of the River Severn. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud. Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. The local rural community moved to the city, and Bristols population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and it later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. The official former postal county abbreviation was Glos, rather than the frequently used but erroneous Gloucs. or Glouc. In July 2007, Gloucestershire suffered the worst flooding in recorded British history, the RAF conducted the largest peace time domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion, the county recovered rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area. This is a chart of trend of gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven schools, two are in Stroud, one in Cheltenham and four in Gloucester. There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, all but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms, each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. Most of the old market towns have parish churches, at Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone. Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve, the mansion contains a tiled floor from Hailes Abbey
4.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
5.
FA Cup
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The FA Cup, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual knockout association football competition in mens domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest association football competition in the world and it is organised by and named after The Football Association. For sponsorship reasons, from 2015 through to 2018 it is known as The Emirates FA Cup. A concurrent womens tournament is held, the FA Womens Cup. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12, the tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. The last entrants are the Premier League and Championship clubs, into the draw for the Third Round Proper, in the modern era, only one non-league team has ever reached the quarter finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final. As a result, as well as who wins, significant focus is given to those minnows who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely giant-killing victory. Winners receive the FA Cup trophy, of which there have two designs and five actual cups, the latest is a 2014 replica of the second design. Winners also qualify for European football and a place in the FA Community Shield match, in 1863, the newly founded Football Association published the Laws of the Game of Association Football, unifying the various different rules in use before then. On 20 July 1871, in the offices of The Sportsman newspaper, the inaugural FA Cup tournament kicked off in November 1871. After thirteen games in all, Wanderers were crowned the winners in the final, Wanderers retained the trophy the following year. The modern cup was beginning to be established by the 1888–89 season, following the 1914–15 edition, the competition was suspended due to the First World War, and did not resume until 1919–20. The 1922–23 competition saw the first final to be played in the newly opened Wembley Stadium, due to the outbreak of World War II, the competition was not played between the 1938–39 and 1945–46 editions. Having previously featured replays, the modern day practice of ensuring the semi-final and final matches finish on the day, was introduced from 2000 onwards. Redevelopment of Wembley saw the final played outside of England for the first time, the final returned to Wembley in 2007, followed by the semi-finals from 2008. The competition is open to any club down to Level 10 of the English football league system which meets the eligibility criteria, all clubs in the top four levels are automatically eligible. Clubs in the six levels are also eligible provided they have played in either the FA Cup. Newly formed clubs, such as F. C. United of Manchester in 2005–06 and also 2006–07, all clubs entering the competition must also have a suitable stadium
6.
FA Trophy
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The competition was instigated in 1969 to cater for those non-league clubs that paid their players and were therefore not eligible to enter the FA Amateur Cup. This covers the National League, the Southern League, Isthmian League, the final of the competition was held at the original Wembley Stadium from the tournaments instigation until the stadium closed in 2000. The final has been played at the new Wembley Stadium since its opening in 2007, the record for the most FA Trophy wins is shared by Woking and two defunct clubs, Scarborough and Telford United, with three victories each. The Trophy is currently held by FC Halifax Town who beat Grimsby Town F. C. in the 2016 final, the competition was created by the Football Association in 1969 to afford semi-professional teams an opportunity to compete for the chance to play at Wembley Stadium. The first winners of the competition were Macclesfield Town of the Northern Premier League, Northern Premier League clubs dominated the first decade of the competition, with Telford United the only Southern League team to break the northern clubs hold on the competition. In the early years of its existence the competition struggled to achieve the level of prestige as the long-established Amateur Cup. In 1974 the FA abolished the distinction between official professional and amateur status and discontinued the Amateur Cup, and the Trophy soon had 300 entrants and this figure was gradually reduced until by 1991 only around 120 clubs took part. Telford Uniteds win in 1989 made them the team to win the Trophy three times. Between 1990 and 2000 three more teams claimed multiple wins, as of 2001 the competition was sponsored by Umbro, in the 2007-08 season it was sponsored by Carlsberg. The competition is a tournament with pairings drawn at random. If a match is drawn, there is a replay, usually at the ground of the team played away from home for the first game. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time and penalty shootouts, originally the competition included as many qualifying rounds as were required to reduce the number of teams to 32. In 1999 the format was amended to match that of the FA Cup, with six rounds prior to the semi-final stage, albeit without qualifying rounds. Teams from the Football Conference received byes through the early rounds, as of 2008–09 the competition featured four qualifying rounds and four rounds proper before the semi-finals. The FA pays prize money to all teams win at least one match in the Trophy competition. In the 2014-15 season the prize for the 64 preliminary round winners was £2,500, the final was traditionally held at the original Wembley Stadium, but was moved to Villa Park during Wembleys redevelopment, and a final was also played at West Ham Uniteds Boleyn Ground. In 2007 the final moved to the new Wembley Stadium, Scarborough, Telford United, and Woking share the record for the most victories in the final. In 1985 Wealdstone became the first team to win the Non-League Double of FA Trophy, since then Colchester United in 1992 and Wycombe Wanderers in 1993 have equalled Wealdstones achievement
7.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
8.
Newport County A.F.C.
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Newport County Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. The team play in League Two, the tier of the English football league system. Most recently reformed in 1989, the club is a continuation of the Newport County club which was founded in 1912 and was a member of the Football Leagues new Third Division in 1920. Newport County were Welsh Cup winners in 1980 and subsequently reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1981, the club was relegated from the Football League in 1988 and went out of business in February 1989. The club reformed shortly afterwards and entered the English football league system at a lower level. In 2013 the club won back to the Football League for the first time since 1988. Newport County, originally nicknamed The Ironsides due to Newport being home to Lysaghts Orb Works steel works, the official name of the club was The Newport & Monmouth County Association Football Club, although the shorter Newport County was soon adopted. The club were reformed in 1919 and were first elected to the Football League in 1920 and they were not re-elected after the 1930–31 season but rejoined for 1932–33. After almost 20 years in the Third Division South, the club clinched promotion to the Second Division as champions in 1939 under manager Billy McCandless. Hopes were high that the side could prosper in the Second Division. Newport County managed a 1–1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and a 3–1 win over Southampton, the War League operated for the remainder of the 1939–40 season and County finished 10th in the South-West Division. After the war, the reformed and competed in the temporary Football League South for the 1945–46 season. Newcastle player Len Shackleton remarked they were lucky to get nil, despite victories over Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham, the club needed four wins out of the last four games to have any hope of safety. Despite a revenge victory over Newcastle United, defeats to Birmingham City, Luton Town, County finished bottom of the Second Division and were relegated. Newport reached the round of the 1948–49 FA Cup under manager Tom Bromilow. They only narrowly lost the game 3–2 away to Portsmouth, the eventual FA Cup semi-finalists, after 11 further seasons in the Third Division South, the club narrowly avoided another effective relegation with the creation of the Fourth Division for the 1958–59 season. The bottom 12 teams from the Third Division North and South were placed in the new division, County avoided this fate by a mere four points. However, in 1962, with seven wins all season
9.
Royston Town F.C.
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Royston Town Football Club are an English football club based in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, and have played their home games at Garden Walk since 1932. Founded in 1875, they are the second oldest club in Hertfordshire behind Hitchin Town and they reached the Fifth Round of the FA Vase in season 2009–10 for the first time in their history and the Third Qualifying Round in the FA Cup in 1998–99. They won the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division in 2011–12, the current first team manager is former St Albans City boss Steve Castle who arrived at the club in 2013. The 2014-15 season was a successful one finishing 2nd in the league, however Royston lost to Barton Rovers 5-4 on penalties and their promotion dreams were ended. During the summer, Royston started to rebuild by bringing in the likes of Rhys Hoenes, Lewis Donovan, Ryan Towner, a poor first few games in the new season came before an incredible run which included a 7-1 hammering of North Greenford United. Royston beat Great Wakering Rovers 3-0 in the round of the FA Trophy. Goals from Rhys Hoenes, The club-captain Scott Bridges and Ryan Towner, Royston Town, known as The Crows were formed in 1875 and are the second oldest club in Hertfordshire. One of the first traces of the club was in October 1875 when Royston visited Saffron Walden, the game was played at Saffron Walden common. This game was re-lived in October 1975 to celebrate the Essex Clubs centenary year, after the First World War the club entered the Buntingford & District League and in 1921, when the Club was affiliated to the Cambs F. A. they won the Creake Shield. The clubs first major honour came in guise of the Herts County Premier League title in 1969–70 and they repeated the feat in 1972–73, in 1978 they rejoined the South Midlands League and won the Division One title at the first time of asking. Success continued with a Cup Final appearance in the Herts Charity Shield for the first time in 1979, the Herts Charity Shield was won in 1981–82 and two years later the club joined the Isthmian League Division Two North were they remained for six years. One of the legacies of their spell in the Isthmian League is the stand at Garden Walk, erected in 1984, it replaced an earlier timber structure and is constructed largely from brick with a sloping metal roof supported by ten posts. The official seated capacity is 300, although this is largely on benches, in 1990 the club lifted the Herts Charity Shield again with a 1–0 defeat of Pirton. However, after a start to the following season, the club dropped from 6th place to 16th. As a result, were relegated to Division Three where they remained until resigning from the Isthmian League at the end of the 1993–94 season despite finishing 8th spot. The club had never been well supported and were instructed to construct a new stand behind the dugouts opposite the existing stand at an estimated £20,000. Rather than comply with the ruling, Royston resigned from the Isthmian League after ten seasons and it was during this season that the club achieved its highest official attendance of 876 with the visit of Aldershot Town. The following season saw a 6th-place finish and the departure of Tony Galvin, Paddy Butcher took over as player/manager having returned to the club from Ware
10.
Gosport Borough F.C.
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Gosport Borough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Gosport, Hampshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Hampshire Football Association, and is a FA Charter Standard Community Club and they currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. Gosport Borough Athletic Club were founded in 1944 in an initiative to bring back organised football, athletics, in their first season, the football section of the Club won the Portsmouth and District League Division One under the guidance of former Southampton player, Stan Cribb. The line-up at that time included Jimmy Scoular and Peter Harris, for their second season, the Club were accepted into the Hampshire League and won the Division One title at their first attempt. This feat was not repeated for thirty-one seasons, despite the club being a force in Hampshire football during that period. In the teams first four seasons they never finished outside the top four, two years later Gosport lost their Premier Division status and were relegated to the Southern Division. However, the season saw the team bounce straight back after an incredible run of sixteen wins in their final nineteen matches. Boro still needed to win the match to be certain of promotion and, in front of a home crowd in excess of 1,500. In the 1987–88 season the team were again threatened with relegation. However, a run in the Hampshire Senior Cup that took the all the way to the final – played at The Dell, home of then-Premier League club Southampton. Victory over favourites Farnborough in the final was followed by a run of results in the league – lifting the team out of trouble to remain in the Premier Division. The club enjoyed their highest ever finish in the 1988–89 season, unfortunately, a mass exodus of players and a change in the management saw the team relegated to the Southern Division the following season, before a further relegation to the Wessex League in 1992. Following relegation the Chairman at the time, Ian Hay, appointed Roger Sherwood as manager, although Boro had three good seasons under Sherwood, the Wessex League Cup in 1992–93 was, in his first season in charge, his only major success. In 1997, Boro approached Gomer Football Club, a youth club. Nevertheless, Boros position in the Wessex League continued to deteriorate, dave Pitt and Barry Cook resigned in October 1999 after a particularly difficult start to the 1999–2000 season. John Hawes became Chairman of the club, but resigned from position after one year to return to his coaching role. During this period, Ian Hay restructured the clubs finances and implemented a new and relatively unique Trustee Scheme, dave Taviner, another former player, took over as caretaker manager until former reserve team manager Mick Marsh was appointed as the new first team manager in December 1999. At the start of the 2000–01 season, Vice-Chairman John Stimpson was elected to the Chairmanship of the club and he immediately agreed with Marsh that the club should continue to develop young local players and also look to include a mix of more experienced players in the first team
11.
Hendon F.C.
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Hendon Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in West Hendon in the London Borough of Brent. The club is competing in the Ryman Isthmian Football League Premier Division. After three seasons ground-sharing at Harrow Borough F. C. ’s Earlsmead Stadium in South Harrow, Hendon began season 2016-17 at a new stadium, Silver Jubilee Park in West Hendon. Prior to the founding of the present club, there was a club with the same name which appeared in the FA Cup between 1877 and 1887. One of the clubs players, Charles Plumpton Wilson made two appearances for England in 1884. At the start of the 1909–10 season the club were renamed Hampstead Town and they also won Division Two at the first attempt, earning promotion to the First Division, which they won in 1911–12. The club then joined the London League and Middlesex League, before being elected to the Athenian League in 1914, however, the 1914–15 season was postponed due to World War I. In 1926 the club was renamed Hampstead, before becoming Golders Green in 1933, in 1946 the club adopted its current name. In 1952–53 the club won its first Athenian League title, in 1954–55 they reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup, losing 2–0 to Bishop Auckland. They went on to win the Athenian League title again in 1955–56, a third Athenian League title was achieved in 1960–61. In 1963 the club switched to the Isthmian League, and have remained in the division since. In 1964–65 the club won the Isthmian League and Amateur Cup double and they reached the final of the Cup again the following season, but lost 3–1 to Wealdstone. After winning their third Amateur Cup with a 2–0 win against Enfield in 1971–72, the following season they reached the third round of the FA Cup, where they drew Newcastle United. After holding Newcastle to a 1–1 draw at St James Park, in 1975–76 the club defeated a Football League club for the first time, beating Reading 1–0 in the first round, before losing to Swindon Town in the second round. At the end of the 2005–06 season the finished in the relegation zone. In 2008–09 the club left its Claremont Road ground, initially groundsharing at nearby non-League clubs, over the summer of 2010, the club was bought out by the Hendon FC Supporters Trust, an Industrial and Provident Society. Until 26 September 2009, Hendon played in the suburb of Cricklewood, within the London Borough of Barnet, at a ground known by the local road name. The ground was opened on 18 September 1926 before an FA Cup tie with Berkhamsted
12.
FA Vase
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The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase is an annual football competition for teams playing below Step 4 of the English National League System. For the 2013–14 season 535 entrants were accepted, with two qualifying rounds preceding the six rounds, semi-finals and final to be played at Wembley Stadium. The 2016 winners were Morpeth Town, who beat Hereford 4–1 at Wembley Stadium, until 1974, football players were either professionals or amateurs. Professionals were paid to play by their clubs, and the cup competitions such clubs were allowed to enter were the FA Cup and after 1969, for clubs outside The Football League. Amateurs, on the hand, did not get paid by their clubs, and such clubs had their own cup competition. In recent years, entry to the FA Vase has been restricted to clubs in the ninth, reorganization of the National League System for 2004 onwards moved the dividing line down to the new Step 5. Clubs from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man also entered the Vase in the past, guernsey F. C. who were formed in 2011 and played in the Step 5 Combined Counties League, gained entry for the 2012–13 season and reached the semi-finals. Eligible teams who played in the FA Trophy the previous season and were relegated from a Step 4 league are exempt from qualifying and start play in the First round Proper of the Vase as well. Clubs that played in the 4th round or later of the previous seasons FA Vase are exempt from qualifying, only six teams have managed to win the FA Vase more than once. Whitley Bay are the team to win the FA Vase three times in successive seasons. Two FA Vase winners, Forest Green Rovers and Tamworth, have gone on to play in the National League at the top level of the non-league pyramid, billericay Town won three times in the mid to late 70s. BT Sport showed the 2016 FA Vase Final between Hereford and Morpeth Town live on 22 May as part of a double-header along with the 2016 FA Trophy Final, the FA Vase at the FA website
