SOUTHERN PROFESSIONAL FLOODLIT CUP

 

The Southern Professional Floodlit Cup was played in the late 1950s, which involved clubs from London, South East England and a small number of teams from the Midlands. The competition started in the 1955–56 season with ten clubs competing and in its final season, 1959–60, the number of entrants had increased to 18. The inaugural competition was won by West Ham United with the other winners being Luton Town, Portsmouth, Arsenal and Coventry City. In 1960, the competition gave way to the Football League Cup which was open to clubs throughout the Football League.

 

Format

The competition operated on a straight knockout basis with all ties being decided over single matches, with replays if necessary. The final was played on the home ground of one of the competitors. From 1955–56 to 1958–59, there were four rounds including the final with an extra round in 1959–60 to accommodate the additional entrants.

 

Participants

1955-56: Aldershot, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient, Millwall, Portsmouth, Queen's Park Rangers, Reading, Watford, West Ham United.  

 

1956-57: Aldershot, Arsenal, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient, Luton Town, Millwall, Queen's Park Rangers, Reading, Watford, West Ham United. 

 

1957-58: Aldershot, Arsenal, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Leyton Orient, Luton Town, Millwall, Portsmouth, Queen's Park Rangers, Reading, Southampton, Watford, West Ham United

 

1958-59: Aldershot, Arsenal, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Leyton Orient, Luton Town, Millwall, Portsmouth, Queen's Park Rangers, Reading, Southampton, Watford, West Ham United

 

1959-60: Aldershot, Arsenal, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Leicester City, Leyton Orient, Luton Town, Millwall, Portsmouth, Queen's Park Rangers, Reading, Southampton, Southend United, Watford, West Ham United

 

Here's a full list of the winners:

 

  Club No. of wins Seasons in which competition won
West Ham United 1 1955-56
Luton Town 1 1956-57
Portsmouth 1 1957-58
Arsenal 1 1958-59
Coventry City 1 1959-60

 

For details of the final results click here.

For details of each season's results or your club's results, select the link in the season in the table above.