The MacTavish Cup is a knock-out cup competition in the sport of shinty. It is competed for by senior teams from the North of Scotland district. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shinty.[1]
The final is habitually played at the Bught Park, Inverness.[2] It is officially known as the Co-operative MacTavish Cup at present.
The trophy is a rose bowl [3] presented by Duncan MacTavish of Stratherrick in 1898 and the first competition was played that year and was won by Skye Camanachd.
The final was televised for the first time in 2009 by BBC Alba. The 2009 winners were Newtonmore Camanachd, managed by Norman MacArthur.
As of 2010, the opening rounds of the cup were to be played midweek, in order to reduce the backlog of fixtures that has regularly afflicted shinty.[4] This caused major controversy and Skye Camanachd sent an official letter of complaint to the Camanachd Association.[5] However, this decision was reversed and midweek fixtures were reserved for junior level cups.
The 2010 final was played between Kingussie and Kilmallie, who upset Fort William to reach the final. The game was a magnificent advert for shinty and was won 5-4 by Kingussie.[6] It was broadcast live on BBC 2 Scotland.