The Football Association of Wales Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Welsh Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Welsh football, organised by the Football Association of Wales (the FAW). It is the third-oldest association football competition in the world, behind only its English and Scottish equivalents, having begun in 1877. The tournament is open to any men's football team in Wales; however, the club's ground must meet certain requirements laid out by the FAW prior to entering. Welsh clubs playing within the English football league system have been excluded from entering the tournament since 1995, a few years after the creation of the League of Wales, when UEFA decreed that the winner of the competition could not compete in the European Cup Winners' Cup unless the sides were barred fr