British Foosball Association
The BFA Trophy has been confirmed to enrich the experience for novice teams entering the BFA Cup!
The BFA Trophy is a knockout competition within the main BFA Cup for all club teams comprised totally of novice or unranked players (zero handicap points).
It runs in parallel with the BFA Cup and all competing teams must enter the BFA Cup and play in the qualifying rounds of the main competition. The rules and match formats are the same as for the BFA Cup, and the competitions are held on the same dates and venues.
Novice teams which fail to qualify for the BFA Cup Knockout stages will play in the first round of the BFA Trophy Knockout regional semi-finals. Draw is seeded according to number of game wins and strength of opposition in BFA Cup group stages.
Novice teams which progress beyond the group stages of the main BFA Cup competition will be granted byes for rounds in the Trophy competition equivalent to their progress in the main competition and, once eliminated, will enter the Trophy competition at an appropriate stage (unless they reach the grand finals of the main event).
The top Novice teams from each regional semi-final will compete in the finals competition in two groups (total 8x teams), followed by up to three knockout rounds.
BFA Trophy – 1st Round (Regional)
Novice-only teams failing to qualify from the BFA Cup Group Stages play each other in the first round – drawn to avoid playing teams they have already played in the groups
BFA Trophy – 2nd Round (Regional)
1st round winners play-off against each other and any novice-only teams eliminated from the BFA Cup in the first KO round.
BFA Trophy – 3rd Round (Regional - if required)
2nd round winners play any novice-only teams eliminated from the BFA Cup in the second KO round such that two teams qualify for the finals (four teams if only two one-day semi-finals) – not including any novice teams which qualify for main the BFA Cup finals
BFA Trophy Finals
Format is the same as the BFA Cup proper, with group stage (2x groups, 4x teams per group) followed by knockout (semi-finals and final).
Prize Fund – Trophy / Medals Only
Entry Fees – Covered by BFA Cup entry fee
Eligibility
Novice – Ranked as Novice (under 950 points) in BFA rankings on date of BFA Cup registration
Unranked – UK resident player who has not previously competed in any recognised foosball competition in the UK or abroad
Status of non-UK National players must be confirmed with BFA if they are not currently listed in BFA rankings, and must not be ranked by their home, or other overseas, federation at any level higher than the equivalent of BFA novice/beginner level (i.e. no higher than bottom 17% points total of all categories below semi-pro or equivalent status).
