| Football League Trophy |
|---|
| Founded |
| 1983 |
| Number of Teams |
| 48 |
| Current Champions |
| Doncaster Rovers |
| Current Season |
| Football League Trophy 2007-08 |
| Country |
| Most successful club(s) |
| Birmingham City, Blackpool, Bristol City, Port Vale, Stoke City, Swansea City & Wigan Athletic (2 times champions each) |
The Football League Trophy is the generic name of an English football competition for clubs in the two lower divisions of The Football League and, in some seasons, the leading sides in the Conference National. It was originally called the Associate Members' Cup (an anachronism as there is now no distinction between full and associate membership of the Football League).
The official name is periodically changed to match changes in sponsors and is now the Johnstone's Paint Trophy (for three years from 2006), the common nickname amongst the fans for the cup during this period is the "Paint Pot Trophy" or "Paint Pot Cup" .
Seven clubs share the record for most wins in the competition with two successes apiece, but no club has yet won the tournament for a third time. Bristol City and Carlisle United have both reached the final the greatest number of times (4), with Bristol City having won twice, 1986 and 2003, to the single victory achieved by Carlisle in 1997.
