National Cup (Vionna-Frankenlisch)
| Organising body | Imperial Footballing Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1900 |
| Region | Vionna-Frankenlisch |
| Number of teams | Varies (654 in 2021) |
| Domestic cup(s) | King Richard's Shield |
| Current champions | Larkinge County (2nd title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Royal Barbican (11 titles) |
 2021–22 National Cup | |
The Vionna-Frankenlischian National Football Cup, more commonly known as the National Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Vionna-Frankenlischian football, first played during the 1900-01 season. It is organised by the Imperial Footballing Association and is the second-oldest running competition in CIFA.
The competition is open to any eligible club down to Level 10 of the Imperial football league system – all 92 professional clubs in the Crown League (level 1) and the VFL lower leagues (levels 2 to 4), and several hundred non-League teams from levels 5 to 10 of the system. The tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. The minimum number of games needed to win, depending on which round a team enters the competition, ranges from six to fourteen.
The first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition, from which 32 teams progress to the first round of the Competition Proper, meeting the first of the 48 professional teams from the First and Second Divisions. The last entrants are the Crown League and National League clubs, into the draw for the Third Round Proper. As a result, significant focus is given to the smaller teams who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely "giant-killing" victory.
Winners receive the National Cup trophy, which was introduced in 1904. Royal Barbican are the most successful club with eleven titles. The most successful player is John Matlock who won five titles with Royal Barbican between 1998 and 2005.
Larkinge County are the current holders, having beaten Royal Westonland 2–1 in the 2021 final.
History
The idea of a national competition for Vionna-Frankenlischian clubs had been brought up multiple times before the turn of the 20th century. It had even be suggest by Sir Algernon Alcox that participation in a national challenge cup should be included in the second edition of the Laws of the Game as published in 1885 but this was rejected. Though a popular idea amongst fans, there was bitter opposition to the creation of a national competition as the different regional leagues varied significantly in quality, professionalism, and number of fixtures. For example, a player in the Grythshead Duchy League was often contracted to a club and paid a wage, playing forty matches in a calender year. Whereas a player in the Erinite Association Football Division was often (though exceptions existed) an unpaid amateur with only eighteen games per calender year.
When Richard, Duke of Grythshead (later King Richard II) became chairman of the IFA in 1889 he became taken with the cause of a national competition. Though football in Vionna-Frankenlisch gained in professionalism and prestige, his hopes continued to be dashed until 1897. Though Richard would die in November of that year, only three months into his reign, he would finally get his wish when he donated King Richard's Shield, a silver and bronze shield decorated with the heraldry of Vionna-Frankenlisch, to the Association - giving Vionna-Frankenlisch its first national football competition to be played between the winners of the fourteen regional leagues and the Forces Trophy. Nowadays the shield is contested between the winner of the Crown League and the winner of the National Cup. King Richard did not live to see the debut of his competition which was in the 1898-99 season. The first winner of King Richard's Shield was Ravenstern Rovers, who beat Swaddlingcotte and Lunaris 4-2 in the final on 1st May 1899.
Following the success of the debut season of King Richard's Shield, calls for a seperate nation-wide competition increased. Sir Edric Morton's suggestion of a reorganised league system which would create leagues for the Kingdoms of Vionna and Frankenlisch was turned down flat by the IFA, however, King Alexander II did lend his support to the creation of a new national tournament. Though not a football supporter, Alexander II championed the cause of a combined cup competition out of love for his late brother Richard. With the King's patronage, the original proposal for the National Cup was drafted under the new IFA chairman, Robert, Viscount Belleneau. Without a popular figurehead, opposition to the tournament quietly dissipated and the first iteration of the tournament debuted in the 1900-01 season.
The inaugural tournament began in September 1900 with 80 teams taking part in the competition. After 8 games, Wooton Park Wanderers won the competition, beating Moressley in the final 3-1.