Trophy Store Blog

In response to recent feedback from some of our customers Trophy Store is now accepting American Express as a payment method.

To make a purchase using your American Express card simply follow the usual checkout process and select American Express as the card type in the payment section. We do of course continue to accept all other major credit cards as well as payment by Google Checkout.

All debit or credit card details are processed securely using either Sage Pay, an industry leader in secure internet transactions, or if you choose by Google Checkout. For more information please visit our Secure Shopping information page http://www.trophystore.co.uk/secure-shopping

We're sure that some of you (like us) watched the Chris Moyles Quiz Night Final on Channel 4.  Well you would have seen James Corden being presented with a rather nice Star Trophy by Abbey Clancy - guess who supplied the trophy ;)

Most of the guys here at Trophy Store didn't even notice the trophy as they were more focused on Abbey Clancy, but on a second viewing they just about noticed!  We've put a copy of the clip on our Facebook and also included it here if you'd like to take a look.  Remember to become a fan of us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for latest Trophy Store news and special offers.

Wow things have been really busy around here lately, the football season is coming to an end so we are sending out more football trophies than ever before as well as our usual orders. But we've found a bit of spare time to start our own Facebook and Twitter accounts, we hope that we can connect more with our customers via these and keep you informed of special offers. We're also keen to hear your feedback so if you want to do this via Twitter or Facebook then you now can.

Just like the FA Cup the Carling Cup has now become a very important annual event in the English Football season.  As with the FA Cup the Carling Cup History is varied.  Below we take a look at some of the facts relating to this important event that takes place annually.

Fact 1 – Only the clubs who are in the British Football League tables are able to compete in this event.  So there are only 96 teams involved rather than the 762 who participate in the FA Cup.  The teams that play in this are the ones who play in the Premiership, Championship and the Football Leagues 1 and 2 along with the Conference League.

Fact 2 – The name of the Cup has changed over the years dependent on who the sponsors were.  Originally it was known as the Milk Cup as the Milk Marketing Board were the sponsors and it retained this name from 1981 to 1986.  Then the name changed in 1986 to the Littlewoods Challenge Cup.  This name only remained for four years and then in 1990 it changed again this time to the Rumbelows Cup.  However, its name then changed once again in 1992 to the Coca Cola Cup before it again changing in 1998 to The Worthington Cup.  It retained this name until 2003 when finally it changed to the Carling Cup and remains at this now. 

Fact 3 – Should a minor club win this football trophy they are then provided with the opportunity to participate in events against European teams from Italy, Spain, France and Germany.  This is because the winner of the Carling Cup is automatically given a place to compete in the UEFA Cup.    This is a competition that is crucial to many teams at it offers them a chance to bring more money into their club.

Fact 4 – The first club to win this title when it was inaugurated back in 1960 and known then as the League Cup was Aston Villa.  But since it’s renaming in the early 1980’s there is one team that has won it more than any other and that is Liverpool.  This football team has won it a total of 7 times with them winning the trophy during the early 1980’s four times in succession. 

Fact 5 – When it comes to the Carling Cup History not only has Liverpool one this trophy the most times they are also the team that have competed in the final the most.  They have appeared a total of ten times.

Fact 6 – As a result after extra time of the final last year (2009) being goalless it was decided on penalties.  As mentioned Manchester United won it by putting 4 penalties past the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper. 

Fact 7 – During its history there have been occasions where some of the minor teams have been able to beat the more well know bigger teams.  For example during the 1974-75 season Leeds United (League Champions) were knocked out in the quarter finals by Fourth Division side Chester.  Then in the second round of the 1995-96 season Manchester United were beaten by York City who scored three goals whilst Manchester United scored none.  Plus Manchester United has been beaten and knocked out of the competition by other much smaller teams such as Southend United (2006-07) and Coventry City (2007-08). 

Above we have looked at a brief Carling Cup History.  An event that is very important to all those who follow teams that participate in this very important sport in the UK.  Certainly for the minor league teams this event can prove very important to their finances especially if they are the team that play at home against any teams that are involved in the Premier League.

If you manage or coach a local football team why not consider rewarding individual players with football trophies and awards that could include 'Man of the Match' or maybe even a 'Top Goal Scorer' football award.

 Photo Source Caughtoffside.com

At Trophy Store we often get asked about recycling old trophies, as nice as it is to receive a trophy, we know that after some time they can build up and take up space.  Especially if you are very active and talented which means you have probably built up a fair few trophies over the years!

So we thought we'd put together a few ways to recycle your old trophies and make good use of them.

1. Donate to a local sports club or school

Many sports clubs and schools have very small budgets to work with and would welcome a donation of trophies for their end of season presentation.  This is even better if you have trophy cups where the engraving plate can be easily taken off and replaced with a new one, so it can be personalised for the sports club too.

2. Donate to a local charity

Similar principle to our first tip, charities often run sports events such as short runs, walks and marathons.  It can be a nice touch to give the winner or participants a medal or trophy at the end so this is another good option.

3. Send to a local recycling plant

This wouldn't be ideal for all trophies, but some which are made from metal may be useful to a local recycling plant who take scrap metal etc.  They can probably break the trophy down and use the metal parts.  You do need to be careful though as some trophies will have plastic resin components as well as metal.

We are proud to announce that TrophyStore.co.uk is the UK's most popular retailer of Trophies, Awards and Medals on the Internet, and that's official!

According to Alexa, the web information company owned by Amazon, TrophyStore.co.uk has been officially ranked as the most frequently visited online retailer of trophies and awards in the UK.

Alexa has built an unparalleled database of information about sites that includes statistics, related links and more. They rank over 16 million of the most popular websites on the Internet based on data provided by millions of users that use the Alexa toolbar to track the users usage patterns.

We have just added our new for 2010 range of products and most are now available to buy online on the Trophy Store website. To complement our huge stock of old favourites our new range includes a larger selection of School Awards and Presentation Awards. We have also extended our range of popular Mini Stars Trophies to include some new sporting awards including a fencing trophy, a kayaking trophy, a rowing trophy, an archery trophy and a volleyball trophy. We also have some new academic awards including a computing trophy and a teacher award. We even have a Mini Stars Turkey Award!  

Some of our other favourites in the New 2010 range include Bendy Man, Flexi Man and the some new additions to our range of Bobble Heads. Our new products are easy to identify on the website as we have been highlighted them with a 'New for 2010' banner. You can also view the entire range of new products in the 'New for 2010' category. 

We will be introducing more products throughout December as they arrive at our warehouse so please visit again soon. We will also be bringing some more new ranges in during 2010 and aim to have the largest selection of trophies, medals and awards available to purchase online, as always backed up by our lowest prices guarantee and our commitment to the offering all our customers the best service. 

On Thursday 24th December at 4pm Trophy Store will be closing for Christmas and the team will be taking a well deserved rest until 9am on Monday 4th January 2010.

The last date for guaranteed Christmas delivery is Friday 18th December. Any orders received after this date may not be processed or despatched until the New Year. If you have any questions regarding deliveries or orders then please call or email us and we will do our best to respond.

Finally we would all like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.