The tournament has been set up to celebrate 'iconic' non-league sides across Europe, who have been rebuilt by fans or that have significant impact in their local society and communities. 

The Fenix Trophy will run from mid-September 2021 to May 2022 with an initial group phase featuring two groups of four teams each that will play each other home and away on midweek evenings (either on Wednesdays or Thursdays) from September through to May.

The tournament closes with the ‘Final 8’ phase in May 2022 when all eight clubs will meet in the seaside resort of Rimini, on Italy’s Adriatic coast, with clubs drawn against each other based on their group position to determine the final ranking of the eight clubs.

The seven other clubs involved in the tournament are:

Brera Calcio – the third team of Milan, founded in 2000, Brera currently play in the seventh tier of Italian football

AFC DWS – one of the oldest football clubs in Amsterdam, Door Wilskracht Sterk were Dutch league champions in 1964 but now play in the sixth tier of amateur football in the Netherlands

AS Lodigiani 1972 – a Rome-based club renowned for having one of the finest youth systems in Italian football (Francesco Totti is a former player)

AKS ZLY – a supporter-owned alternative sports club from Warsaw which was founded in 2015 and aims to support its local community

Prague Raptors – a multi-national club based in the Czech capital that was formed in 2017 and is committed to diversity and equality

CD Cuenca-Mestallistes 1925 – the oldest amateur club in Valencia, Club Deportivo Cuenca Mestallistes 1925 plays in the seventh tier of Spanish football and recently became a supporter-owned club

HFC Falke e.V. – a supporter-owned club founded by Hamburg fans in 2014 that currently plays in Germany’s seventh tier

The Northern Premier League have given permission to the club to take part in the tournament, whilst approval from the FA is still needed which the club say they are in the process of obtaining.