Friendship Trophy

The Friendship Trophy is a football honour, contested on an irregular basis by just two teams: Norwich City and Sunderland.[1] The honour dates back to the camaraderie forged between fans of the two clubs at the time of the 1985 Football League Cup Final that they contested. Norwich City won the 1985 Football League Cup Final, however at the end of the First Division Season, both teams were relegated to the Second Division. [2]

Nowadays, the Friendship Trophy is awarded to the winning team in competitive matches between the 2 sides, and as such, Norwich are the current holders of the trophy, having beaten Sunderland 2–0 at Carrow Road on 22 March 2014 in the Premier League.[3] This trophy is only infrequently contested, as it requires both Norwich City and Sunderland to be in the same division, or to be drawn together in a cup competition, which last happened in 2009, when Sunderland beat Norwich City 4-1 in the Carling Cup. [4] In 2013, Talksport named The Friendship Trophy one of football's most pointless awards. [5]

References

  1. ↑ Scott Wilson (24 August 2009). "Sunderland enjoy Carrow Road stroll". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Football League Division One /1984/85 /all teams /results". Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.eastlife.co.uk/east-anglian-luck-football-round-up
  4. ↑ "Norwich City v Sunderland, 24 August 2009". Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Football's most pointless awards". Retrieved 6 January 2015.