International Challenge Trophy
The International Challenge Trophy, originally known as the European Challenge Trophy, is an international association football competition. It is open to national teams featuring semi-professional U-23 footballers who have not yet won senior international caps.[1] While the competition rules allow squads to select foreign-based players, some teams, including the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Italy, have opted to restrict selection to footballers playing in their home national leagues.[2][3] The European Challenge Trophy was contested in 2005–06 and featured just four teams - England C, Netherlands Amateurs U-23, Belgium U-21 and Italy Lega Pro U-21. England C won the inaugural competition. [4] The competition was then relaunched as the International Challenge Trophy for the 2007-09 edition. This time the number of participants doubled. [5] The 2009-11 third edition was contested by eleven teams.
Tournaments
Year | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Number of teams | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005–06 Details |
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No final | ![]() |
4 | ||
2007–09 Details |
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1–0 | ![]() |
8 | ||
2009–11 Details |
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1–0 | ![]() |
11 | ||
2011–13 Details |
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1–0 | ![]() |
8 | ||
2013–15 Details[6] |
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2–2 3–2 pen. |
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8 |