Challenge Trophy

Challenge Trophy

Founded	1912
Region	Canada (CONCACAF)
Number of teams	8–12
Current champions	West Ottawa Warriors
Most successful club(s)	Westminster Royals FC (9 titles)
Television broadcasters	Canada Soccer
Website	canadasoccer.com
2023 Challenge Trophy

The Challenge Trophy (French: Trophée Challenge) is the trophy presented to Canada's men's amateur soccer champions as part of Canada Soccer's annual National Championships. The men's competition was created with the inauguration of the Dominion of Canada Football Association in 1912 and the first club winners were presented the Connaught Cup in 1913.^[1] The first Challenge Trophy, donated by The Football Association, was presented to the Dominion of Canada Football Championship winners for the first time in 1926 (although at the time the competition was still known as the Connaught Series). The new Challenge Trophy was presented to the men's amateur champions for the first time in 2004.

As part of the same National Championships, the Jubilee Trophy is presented annually to the women's amateur soccer champions. The Jubilee Trophy was first presented in 1982. Other amateur divisions in the National Championships are: Boys U-17 Cup; Girls U-17 Cup; Boys U-15 Cup; Girls U-15 Cup.

The National Championships initially featured a round-robin format in 1913 and 1914, then featured a knockout format with a two-leg Final from 1915 to 1927.^[2] From there, the Final featured a best-of-three format from 1928 to 1955 and a single-match format from 1956 to present.

More than 20 clubs have won the National Championships men's competition two or more times. Westminster Royals FC are the most successful club with nine Challenge Trophy titles to their credit (1928, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1973). Since 1963, only amateur clubs have participated in the competition, with notably Montréal Concordia FC the last professional side to win the Challenge Trophy back in 1961.