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Five British non league clubs to take part in 24/25 European competition with new format announced

Five British non league clubs are confirmed to take part in 24/25 European competition with a new format also being announced for it.

The FENIX Trophy, which is a UEFA-sanctioned competition for semi-professional and amateur clubs, has seen the number of participants increase again from 7 to 9 to 12 and now the current number of 16 teams.

The word FENIX is an acronym and stands for Friendly – European – Non professional – Innovative – Xenial (From the ancient Greek xenos, the word examined for an attitude of resistance to strangers, with maintaining mutual respect for cultural differences).

The tournament recognises community focus and social purpose, with it going into it’s fourth edition, and the current holders are FC United of Manchester, who have won the competition on two occasions.

Usually, this is a competition that has a group stage and then goes to a knockout, but for 24/25, they’re changing it to straight knockout competition, with a home and away leg in the initial round.

The first phase will be played from September to December, with the 8 winners going into the next phase of the tournament from January to April.

The semi-finals and final will be played in May in Italy.

7th tier club wins second European cup title, two other English clubs reached semi finals

On Thursday (18 July), The Fenix Trophy Twitter account confirmed the following teams to take part for the upcoming season, expanding to more countries across Europe…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 FC United of Manchester
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Llantwit Major FC
🇨🇿 Prague Raptors Fc
🇳🇴 FC Oslo
🇩🇰 BK Skjold
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Walton & Hersham
🇧🇪 K. Berchem Sport
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Caledonian Braves
🇷🇴 Venus Bucuresti
🇵🇱 KP Bór Oborniki Śląskie
🇫🇮 Gilla FC
🇮🇹 Brera FC
🇩🇪 Athletic Sonnenberg
🇷🇸 FK Miljakovac
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bury FC
🇲🇪 Fans United FC

“Old faces, new faces, old friends coming back: there’s a bit of everything in our biggest season yet!

“We’d like to thank the clubs that are not with us this year, hoping to see them again in the future!

“Waiting for the draw, we are ready for kick off!”

#LettheFenixfly #MakeFriendsNotMillionaires

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WALTON & HERSHAM STATEMENT:

We are delighted to announce that we have been invited to take part in the UEFA-sanctioned Fenix Trophy, an invite-only competition for semi-professional and amateur clubs across Europe. The tournament’s catchment is driven towards clubs with a strong community focus, social purpose, and an innovative approach to the future of the game.

The upcoming 24/25 season will be the fourth season that the Fenix Trophy has taken place, and will be only the second time that the Swans have competed in Europe, following our 1973 Barassi Cup campaign against Italian outfit A.C. Jesolo.

Last season the tournament was won by Northern Premier League side FC United of Manchester, who beat Prague Raptors in the final. Prague Raptors were also beaten in the final in the previous year, losing to FC Skjold of Copenhagen at the iconic San Siro stadium. This season’s finals weekend is once again scheduled to take place in Italy, at a currently unspecified venue in May.

The Swans are not the only English club taking part this season, with both FC United of Manchester and Bury FC also invited to participate.

Competition format
The competition follows the traditional European format, with two-legged knockout ties taking place from the outset. The competition will commence with a First Round tie between sides, with both legs to take place some time between September and December, at dates mutually decided both clubs. The Second Round will commence from January onwards, and conclude by April.

Following the conclusion of the Second Round, there will be a ‘Finals Weekend’ held in May, with the remaining four teams battling it out over an extended weekend in a one-legged semi-final and final for Fenix Trophy glory.

The First Round draw is currently scheduled to take place at the beginning of next week, with the Swans seeded to face one of the following teams:

Koninklijle Berchem Sport – Antwerp, Belgium

Prague Raptors FC – Prague, Czechia

BK Skjold – Copenhagen, Denmark

Gilla FC – Helsinki, Finland

Athletic Sonnenberg – Cheimnitz, Germany

Brera FC – Milan, Italy

Gamle Oslo FK – Oslo, Norway

Klub Piłkarski Bór – Oborniki Śląskie, Poland

Venus Bucuresti – Bucharest, Romania

All games across the entire competition will be live-streamed on YouTube by YourInstantReplay, Walton & Hersham’s official filming and broadcast partner.

Match scheduling
Once the draw has taken place, we will work with our First Round opponents to find suitable fixture dates. The first match of the first leg will likely take place in September, with the second leg likely taking place sometime between October and December.

More specific details regarding our matches and the tournament will be published in due course.

PREVIOUS FENIX TROPHY FINALS:

2021–22 – FC United of Manchester (Eng) 2–0 Prague Raptors (Cze) – Venue: Stadio Romeo Neri, Rimini, Italy
2022–23 – BK Skjold (Den) 3–0 Prague Raptors (Cze) – Venue: San Siro, Milan, Italy
2023–24 – FC United of Manchester (Eng) 4–0 Prague Raptors (Cze) – Venue: Stadio Tre Stelle, Desenzano del Garda, Italy

PARTICIPATION BY CLUB

 
Nation No. Clubs Seasons
England England (3) 3 F.C. United of Manchester 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
1 Enfield Town 2023–24
1 Lewes 2023–24
Italy Italy (2) 2 Brera Calcio 2021–22, 2022–23
1 Lodigiani 2021–22
Poland Poland (2) 1 AKS Zły 2021–22
2 Kraków Dragoons 2022–23, 2023–24
Czech Republic Czech Republic (1) 3 Prague Raptors 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Netherlands Netherlands (1) 2 AFC DWS 2021–22, 2022–23
Spain Spain (1) 2 CD Cuenca-Mestallistes 2021–22, 2022–23
Belgium Belgium (1) 2 KSK Beveren 2022–23, 2023–24
Denmark Denmark (1) 2 BK Skjold 2022–23, 2023–24
Germany Germany (1) 1 HFC Falke 2021–22
Serbia Serbia (1) 1 FK Miljakovac 2022–23
Finland Finland (1) 1 Gilla 2023–24
France France (1) 1 Vinsky 2023–24
Norway Norway (1) 1 Gamle Oslo FK 2023–24
Romania Romania (1) 1 Venus București 2023–24
Wales Wales (1) 1 Llantwit Major 2023–24

This is how fans reacted as five British non league clubs are getting set to take part in 24/25 European competition with a new format announced…

@RHVlogs_: @buryfcofficial in Europe? Sign me up!

@CulagPark: What a line up 😍😍

@ScaleSilver49: Super line up this

@Ludd1885: what an absolute line up

@duckiex14: So excited for the new fenix season ahead!

@XurxitoSD: Bury!!

@BuryfcNorway: Bring Bury to Norway, please! 💙

@againstrun_play: Don’t you know pump it up, the whites are in Europe 🎶

@mozzerjnr: Cheers @buryfcofficial missus is fuming now 😂

@Njproductionz: Would love @MerthyrTownFC to be in this one day

@ArminSportsLaw: Would be the most Bury thing to get drawn against FC United at home and get knocked out in first round

@tommyhewitt95: Burys luck to get drawn against Walton and get beat 😂

@aroundgroundsss: Wow @FCUnitedMcr in this tournament and now @buryfcofficial this tournament is just different class. Plenty fixtures to cover next season in the @FenixTrophy

@sootysvoice: So @FCUnitedMcr and Bury being in the competition means a potential Euro away from which we play at an old home ground and I can get a bus to from outside my house. Also screams of FC winning in Europe but losing in the Frank Hannah Manchester Premier Cup 😂😂😂

@DannySherms: Fenix Trophy in Walton? That’s not too far 👀 See you next season for some European football then @waltonhershamfc 👋

@chrxs_t_: We may bottle promotion again but at least we get to go on a European tour

@CadWMC: I am on my knees once again asking @Emley_AFC to join this competition. European away days with the Pewits is the dream.

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