Oldest football competitions
The world's oldest football competition is a title claimed by many, but not supported by facts.
This is a list of school, club, national and international competitions, with factual evidence supporting their founding dates. The second list of competitions, reflects those that are now defunct. America Cup 1916
Competitions
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
| Years | Date | Competition | Type | First trophy awarded, years | Original code | Current code | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1858– | 7 August | Melbourne Grammar School-Scotch College Cordner-Eggleston Cup, 1989– | schools fixture | ? | experimental rules | Australian rules football | Melbourne, Australia | |
| 1858– | 11 December | Merchiston Castle School vs. The Edinburgh Academicals | schools fixture | ? | Rugby Football | Rugby Union | Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| 1861–1876 | December | Caledonian Challenge Cup | club trophy | Caledonian Challenge Cup, 1861–1864 | Melbourne Rules | Australian rules football | Melbourne, Australia | [1] Later trophy donated by the Athletic Sports Committee before becoming the South Yarra Challenge Cup. |
| 1871– | FA Cup | club trophy | FA Cup Original FA Cup trophy 1871–1897 Second FA Cup trophy 1898-1910 Current FA cup Trophy 1911-Present | Association Football | Association Football | England | oldest surviving football competition in the world | |
| 1874– | United Hospitals Challenge Cup | club trophy | United Hospitals Challenge Cup - 1874-present | Rugby Football | Rugby Union | Surrey, England | oldest rugby football competition in the world | |
| 1874– | Scottish Cup | national club trophy | Scottish Cup 1874– | Association Football | Association Football | Scotland | oldest national trophy in the world | |
| 1875- | Birmingham Senior Cup regional club knock-out cup competition | 1875 to present | ? | Association Football | English West Midlands | oldest regional trophy in the world | ||
| 1875–[2] | Bromsgrove–KES | schools fixture | Siviter-Smith Cup, 1935– | rugby football | Rugby Union | Bromsgrove/Birmingham, England | Later trophy donated by Paul Siviter-Smith, a Birmingham businessman, who had sons at both schools.[3] | |
| 1876– | 17 March | Ulster Schools Cup | cup tournament | Schools Cup 1876- | Rugby Union | Rugby Union | Ravenhill, Belfast, Northern Ireland | 2nd oldest rugby union competition in the world |
| 1877– | Welsh Cup | club trophy | Welsh Cup, 1877- | Association Football | Association Football | Wales | ||
| 1877– | 30 April | South Australian Football Association | club league | Thomas Seymour Hill Premiership Trophy, ? | Australian rules football | Australian rules football | Adelaide, South Australia | oldest Australian rules football league and earliest governing body |
| 1877– | 17 May | Victorian Football Association | club league | ? | Victorian Rules | Australian rules football | Melbourne, Australia | most influential early governing body for Australian rules football |
| 1879– | Tasmanian Football League | club league | ? | Victorian Rules | Australian rules football | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | some discontinuity, most recently dormant between 2001–2008 and returns in 2009 | |
| 1879– | 10 March | Calcutta Cup | international challenge | ? | Rugby football | Rugby union | England, Scotland | competed for by the England and Scotland international rugby teams annually |
| 1880– | Cheshire Senior Cup | county cup | 1880- | Association football | Association football | Cheshire, England | Also includes teams from Greater Manchester and Merseyside, many from the historical boundaries of Cheshire. | |
| 1880– | Bendigo Football League | club league | ? | Victorian Rules | Australian rules football | Bendigo, Australia | includes the Castlemaine football club, second oldest football club in Australia | |
| 1883– | Black Diamond Football League | club league | Black Diamond Challenge Cup, 1888– | Australian Rules Football | Australian rules football | Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia | [4][5] trophy donated to the league by Newcastle’s Richmond Tobacco Co. claims to be the longest running football trophy in Australia | |
| 1885– | West Australian Football League | club league | ? | Australian rules football | Australian rules football | Perth, Western Australia | ||
| 1887– | All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | inter-county cup | ? | Gaelic football | Gaelic football | |||
| 1888– | The Football League | club league | ? | Association Football | Association Football | Oldest association football league. | ||
| 1888– | Durand Cup | Tournament | Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1988- | Experimental | All India Football Federation | Shimla, India | Oldest football Tournament in India | |
| 1888– | Broken Hill Football League | club league | ? | Australian rules football | Australian rules football | Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| 1888– | Netherlands Football League Championship | club league | ? | Association Football | Association Football | Second-oldest association football league in the world after the English Football League. | ||
| 1889– | Currie Cup | Regional Union Competition | Currie Cup, 1889- | Rugby Football | Rugby Union | South Africa | Oldest surviving provincial/state rugby union competition in the world and oldest rugby union competition in the southern hemisphere | |
| 1889- | Northern Football League | club league | ? | Association Football | Association Football | North East England | Third-oldest association football league in the world. | |
| 1890– | Irish League | club league | ? | Association Football | Association Football | Northern Ireland | Fourth-oldest association football league in the world. | |
| 1890– | Scottish Football League | club league | ? | Association Football | Association Football | Scotland | Fifth-oldest association football league in the world. Formed one week after the Irish League. | |
| 1891– | Argentine Primera División | club league | ? | Association Football | Association Football | Argentina | Sixth-oldest association football league in the world and oldest association football league outside Great Britain and the Netherlands. | |
| 1891–2001 | Rovers Cup | Tournament | 1st Worcester Regiment | Experimental | Western India Football Association (WIFA) | Bombay, India | 2nd oldest football Tournament in India | |
| 1892– | Brown Shield | interprovincial knockout tournament | Brown Shield, 1892 | Association Football | Association football | New Zealand | Originally the country's premier football trophy, now only contested sporadically,[6] | |
| 1893- | IFA Shield | Tournament | Royal Irish Rifles | Experimental | Indian Football Association | Kolkata, India | 3rd oldest football Tournament in India | |
| 1895– | Hong Kong Shield | Tournament | Association football | Association football | Hong Kong | |||
| 1895– | Rugby Football League/ Super League | club league | Rugby Football League Championship 1895- | Rugby League | rugby league | England | ||
| 1896– | Challenge Cup | club league | 1896- | Rugby League | rugby league | Europe | ||
| 1896– | Victorian Football League/Australian Football League | club league | Flag 1895-; AFL Premiership Cup, 1959– | Australian Rules Football | Australian rules football | Victoria, Australia (national since 1990) | premiership flag awarded since 1895. Now the game's premier competition and highest governing body. | |
| 1898– | Yates Cup | college league | Canadian football | Canadian football | Ontario, Canada | The Ontario University Athletics football trophy and oldest football trophy in North America, won by the Western Ontario Mustangs a record 28 times. | ||
| 1901– | Ontario Cup | club trophy | 1901- | Association Football | Association Football | Canada | Oldest association football tournament on the American continent | |
| 1901– | Nemzeti Bajnokság | club league | Association football | Association football | Hungary | |||
| 1901– | New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union | club league | Rugby union | Rugby union | Sydney, Australia | |||
| 1902– | Copa del Rey | club trophy | Association football | Association football | Spain | |||
| 1903– | Sydney AFL | club league | Australian Rules Football | Australian rules football | Sydney, Australia | |||
| 1904– | AFL Queensland State League | club league | Australian Rules Football | Australian rules football | Brisbane, Australia | |||
| 1908– | NSWRL/National Rugby League | club league | Rugby League | rugby league | Sydney, Australia | |||
| 1908– | Queensland Rugby League | club league | Rugby League | rugby league | Brisbane, Australia | |||
| 1908– | The Ashes | international challenge | Rugby League | rugby league | Australia & Great Britain | |||
| 1908– | Anzac Test | international challenge | Rugby League | rugby league | Australia & New Zealand | |||
| 1908– | Hong Kong First Division League | club league | Association football | football league | Hong Kong | |||
| 1909– | Grey Cup | Originally national club trophy; now national league | "Rugby football" (early form of Canadian football) | Canadian football | Canada | Now the championship trophy of the Canadian Football League. | ||
| 1910– | New Zealand Rugby League | club league | Rugby League Shield 1910- | Rugby League | rugby league | Auckland, New Zealand | ||
| 1910– | Newcastle Rugby League | club league | Rugby League | rugby league | Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia | |||
| 1911– | Illawarra Rugby League | club league | Rugby League | rugby league | Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia | |||
| 1912– | Úrvalsdeild | club league | Association Football | Association Football | Iceland | |||
| 1912– | The Challenge Trophy | club fixture | Connaught Cup 1913-1926, Challenge Trophy 1926-1954, Carling Cup 1954-Present | Association Football | Association Football | Canada | Oldest national association football trophy in Canada | |
| 1914– | IUFU Collingwood Cup | university trophy | 1914- | Association Football | Association Football | Republic of Ireland | oldest football competition in Ireland | |
| 1914– | Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup | club trophy | National Challenge Cup (1914); Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1999 -) | Association Football | Association Football | United States | oldest surviving association football competition in United States of America | |
| 1920- | Siam Cup | Inter-insular fixture | Rugby Union | rugby union | Guernsey & Jersey | |||
| 1920- | 31st of July 1920 | Trinity College, Kandy - Royal College, Colombo | Schools fixture | Bradby Shield 1945 | Rugby Union | rugby union | [Colombo and Kandy, Sri Lanka] | Oldest continually played annual Rugby Union match between two schools. |
Defunct competitions
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
| Years | Date | Competition | Type | First trophy awarded, years | Original code | Current code | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860– | 26 December | - | interclub fixture | - | Sheffield Rules | defunct | Sheffield, England | [7][8] |
| 1867 only | Youdan Cup | club trophy | Youdan Cup, 1867 | Sheffield Rules | defunct | Sheffield, England | ||
| 1868 only | Cromwell Cup | club trophy | Cromwell Cup, 1868 | Sheffield Rules | defunct | Sheffield, England | ||
| 1882–? | Northern Football Association | club league | ? | Victorian Rules | defunct | Launceston, Tasmania | clubs included Launceston, City and Longford | |
| 1884–1984 | Home International Championship | international challenge | Home International Championship, 1884–1984 | Association Football | defunct | Home Nations (UK) | oldest international association football competition |
References
- ↑ First contested in 1862 (a trophy was prepared for an 1861 match that was cancelled). The first Australian Rules competition and trophy History of the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne
- ↑ Bromsgrove & KES Birmingham.
- Thomas Winter Hutton, King Edward's School, Birmingham, 1552-1952, Blackwell, 1952. p. 148 "The first Bromsgrove game was in 1875, and 121 games have been played—two in a season at one period."
- Henry Icely, Bromsgrove School through four centuries, Blackwell, 1953. pp. 69,99. "Rugby football, hitherto an unregulated and unsatisfactory game, was by 1875 a far better occupation for October half-holidays than wooding." "In the seventies the Rugby game was still twelve a side. There were School matches. KES, Birmingham, was an early fixture; SES, Oxford, was played for the first time in 1882."
- ↑ Highbeam Research citing Michael Blair, RUGBY UNION: Refresher course in old values; King Edward's School Birmingham 0 Bromsgrove School 18 the Birmingham Post, 2 December 2002
- ↑ "FOOTBALL.". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 12 May 1888. p. 6. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ Australian Football 150 Years > Article > Football gold mined in coal country
- ↑
- ↑ Hallam FC
- ↑ Sheffield FC