Northamptonshire Senior Cup

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NFA Hillier Senior Cup
Flag of Northamptonshire
Founded1883
RegionNorthamptonshire (Northants FA)
Current championsWellingborough Town, (5th title)
Most championshipsKettering Town, (31 titles)
WebsiteHillier Senior Cup website

The NFA Hillier Senior Cup is a football knockout tournament involving teams from Northamptonshire, England and the surrounding area. It is a County Cup competition of the Northamptonshire Football Association and involves senior non-league teams. It has been contested annually since 1883.[1] Kettering Town have won the cup the most times, lifting the trophy on 31 occasions. The current champions are Wellingborough Town under 21s, who beat Peterborough Sports F.C., Northampton Town Under 21s, Corby Town and Peterborough United Under 23s on their route to the trophy.

History

Initially named the NFA Senior Cup, the tournament was renamed in 1981. It was first held in 1883, and was won by Newport Pagnell Town.[1] The trophy has since been lifted by 24 different sides (not including reserve teams).[2] The winner of the competition now contests the Maunsell Cup against one of Peterborough or Northampton.[3]

In 1988, The tournament went through a re-structure with the English Football League clubs, Peterborough United and Northampton Town being withdrawn from the cup, after the Northamptonshire FA decided to make the competition an all non-league affair. Since then, the competition has been contested by the 14 highest ranked non-league teams from the previous season, within Northamptonshire. The only exception to this rule was when Rushden & Diamonds competed in the competition between 2001-2006, whilst they were in League Two. They were allowed to take part however, after agreeing to field an Under-21s team in the cup during this period.

Since 1998, the final has been held at Sixfields Stadium.[4] In 2022, The Under 18 teams of both Peterborough United and Northampton Town were eligible to enter the competition, marking the first time teams entered from both clubs since 1988.

Recent Finals

Year Winners Runner-up Attendance
2005Rothwell Town Raunds Town 223
2006Northampton Spencer Corby Town 527
2007Rushden & Diamonds Woodford United 1,256
2008Rushden & Diamonds Brackley Town 1,747
2009Long Buckby Brackley Town 248
2010Corby Town Daventry Town 584
2011Brackley Town Corby Town 767
2012Brackley Town Corby Town 780
2013Corby Town Daventry Town 686
2014Daventry Town Cogenhoe United 314
2015Brackley Town Peterborough Sports 608
2016AFC Rushden & Diamonds Kettering Town 945
2017Kettering Town Corby Town 895
2018Kettering Town Brackley Town 873
2019AFC Rushden and Diamonds Brackley Town 1,097
2022Peterborough SportsAFC Rushden and Diamonds691
2023Peterborough Sports Cogenhoe United 268
2024AFC Rushden and Diamonds Kettering Town 1,025
2025Northampton Town Under 21s Corby Town 637
2026Wellingborough Town Peterborough United Under 21s 408

[5]

All Time Winners

Pos Winners Total Most Recent Win Notes
1Kettering Town312018
2Northampton Town221987Stopped Competing in 1988
3Peterborough United211988Stopped Competing in 1988
4Brackley Town122015
5Corby Town112013
6Northampton Spencer72006Dissolved in 2019
Daventry Town2014
8Newport Pagnell Town51963
Wellingborough Town2026
9Desborough Town41954
Rushden & Diamonds2008Dissolved in 2011
Long Buckby2009
12AFC Rushden & Diamonds32024
13Peterborough Sports22023
14Rushden Town11924Merged in 1992 with Irthlingborough Diamonds
James King Blisworth F.C.1927
Moulton F.C.1935
Rothwell Corinthians1957
Irthlingborough Diamonds1962Merged in 1992 with Rushden Town
Northampton Sileby Rangers1976
Wellingborough Whitworth1978
Raunds Town1997
Cogenhoe United2004
Rothwell Town2005
Northampton Town Under 21s2025

Source:[6]

References