THE DEBENHAMS CUP

The Debenhams Cup was a minor English cup competition played for during the late seventies. It took place two seasons only in 1977 and 1978 and was contested by the two teams who progressed the furthest from the first round proper of the FA Cup. Therefore only third and fourth division clubs and non-league survivors of the earlier qualifying rounds were eligible.

How did the competition come about?

Debenhams, a large British retailer, were wanting to get involved with football through some sort of sponsorship deal and they put their idea of a sponsored competition for the smaller less glamorous clubs involved in the FA Cup to FA secretary Ted Croker. He liked the idea and the fact it only added two games to the fixture list and so added an item to a FA Council meeting agenda. This was approved pending agreement from the Football League which was promptly given and so the competition got the green light just prior to the FA Cup first round games of the 1976-77 season. This was the first time a sponsor had been associated with the FA Cup.

The winners received a handsome solid silver trophy made by the Sheffield silversmiths Atkin Brothers that stood 22 inches high and weighed in at nearly 100 ounces. They also got a cheque for £7,000 with the runners-up received £5,000.

The first season of the Debenhams Cup saw two division three sides make the final. Both Port Vale and Chester had fought their way to the fifth round before losing out to Aston Villa and Wolves respectively. The first leg played at Vale Park saw the home team rack up a 2-0 victory putting them in the driving seat to lift the trophy. However in what many Chester fans consider to be one of the best nights at Sealand Rd the home side scored a 4-1 victory to win 4-3 on aggregate and lift the trophy.

The FA Cup competition of 1977-78 was memorable for the cup run of non-league Blyth Spartans. They reached the fifth round where they finally sucumbed to Wrexham after a replay. Both Blyth and Wrexham were paired together in the Debenhams Cup Final of 1978 due to their respective cup exploits. In the first leg held at The Racecourse Ground the Spartans ground out a 2-1 victory and then held out in the second leg with a 1-1 draw to gain a measure of revenge for their FA Cup defeat to the Welshmen.

This was to be the last time the Debenhams Cup took place. No-one is sure why it stopped and during Blyth Spartans centenary year they tried to find out the whereabouts of the cup itself. The cup itself has now been found in a storeroom cupboard at Debenhams. The CEO has confirmed that it will be returned to Blyth in the not too distant future.

For sure the idea behind the Debenhams Cup was a good one and it’s interesting to have a look at the clubs who would have played for the trophy had the competition started thirty years earlier. Here’s a list of the Debenham Cup Finals that never were. Amazingly Chester and Port Vale who contested the first Debenhams Cup would have been the first two finalists had it started in 1947:

Here's a full list of the Debenhams Cup winners:

	Club	No of wins	Seasons in which competition won
	Chester	1	1976-77
	Blyth Spartans	1	1977-78

Details of the Debenhams Cup finals:

1976-77	CHESTER					1st win	4-3 on aggregate
1st leg 16 May 1977	1st final	Port Vale	2	-	0	Chester	1st final
Vale Park, Burslem	19th in Division Three v 12th in Division Three	Griffiths, Beamish					3,459
2nd leg 24 May 1977		Chester	4	-	1	Port Vale
Sealand Road, Chester	13th in Division Three v 19th in Division Three	Mason (51), Burns (55), Griffiths - og (71), Howat (84)				Beamish (58)	3,939
1977-78	BLYTH SPARTANS					1st win	3-2 on aggregate
1st leg 13 May 1978	1st final	Wrexham	1	-	2	Blyth Spartans	1st final
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	Champions of Dvision Three v 2nd in Northern League	Shinton				Johnson (5), Varty	2,300
2nd leg 18 May 1978		Blyth Spartans	1	-	1	Wrexham
Croft Park, Blyth		Varty (20)				Lyons (68)	5,333