The International Challenge Trophy, originally known as the European Challenge Trophy, was an international association football competition.
It is open to national teams featuring semi-professional U-23 footballers who have not yet won senior international caps.
[1] While the competition rules allow squads to select foreign-based players, some teams, including the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Italy, have opted to restrict selection to footballers playing in their home national leagues.
[2][3] The European Challenge Trophy was contested in 2005–06 and featured just four teams - England C, Netherlands Amateurs U-23, Belgium U-21 and Italy Lega Pro U-21.
[4] The competition was then relaunched as the International Challenge Trophy for the 2007–09 edition.