King's Shield

The King's Shield, currently known as the Kings' Shield due to the current dual Valladar monarchy, is the premier knockout cup competition in Valladar football organized by the Valladar Football Association (VFA). It was first held in season 11 and is open to all amateur and professional football clubs in Valladares that are affiliated to the VFA. The final is played at Alexander I National Stadium and the winner qualifies for the group stage of the Challenger's Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and a place in the Canalave Crown match.

Combined with random draws and one-off matches (no replays), the King's Shield can be difficult for the bigger clubs to win. Starting from the round of 32, all matches are played at neutral grounds, and clubs playing in the fourth tier and below have all travel costs subsidized by the VFA for the entirety of the competition. The reigning champions are Metropolis Alligators, who defeated Fontvielle Impact in the final of the season 59 competition.

Competition format
Similar to other countries' cup competitions, the King's Shield is a knockout tournament with pairings for each round drawn at random. Each tie is played through a single leg. If a match ends in a draw, extra time is played and if the match is still drawn, penalties are held. Prior to the seventh edition, every round of the competition was played as double-legged ties, with the final being played as a single match at the Alexander I National Stadium in the Metropolis suburb of Swangard from that moment onwards, and starting from the sixteenth edition, every round of the competition started being played as single-legged ties.

There are a total of 8 rounds in the competition, with the 20 Liga-1 clubs and the top 15 Liga-2 clubs from the previous season receiving byes to the second round, while the rest of clubs enter the competition in the first round. Draws in every round are entirely open, with the first club drawn in each tie getting to host the match up to the third round, regardless of tier. Starting from the round of 32, matches are played at neutral venues throughout the country.

As well as being presented with the shield, the winning team also qualifies for the Challenger's Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup. If the winner has already qualified for the Champions' League via league placement, the Challenger's Cup berth place goes to the next highest placed finisher in the league table.

Media coverage
The King's Shield currently has a broadcast agreement with TVV, the Valladar public national television broadcaster, which extends until its 55th edition. The Valladar Football Association only sells the competition's domestic broadcast rights to public broadcasters, in an effort to reach out to the highest possible number of households, although international broadcast rights are open to pay broadcasters.