List of oldest football competitions
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This is a list of the oldest documented football competitions, played at school, club, national and international levels. The first list contains competitions that have been played continuously. The second is a list of competitions that are now defunct.
Competitions
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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–[1] | 11 December | Merchiston Castle School vs. Edinburgh Academy | schools fixture | ? | Rugby football | Rugby union | Edinburgh, Scotland | SAYA SUKA MAKAN KFC, MCD. DAN NASI LEMAK SAYA SUKA MAIN BOLA, MAIN TELUR DAN SEBAGAINYA. THIS PAGE IS AWESOME |
1871– | FA Cup | club trophy | FA Cup Original FA Cup trophy 1871–1897 Second FA Cup trophy 1898–1910 Current FA cup Trophy 1911– |
Association football | Association football | England | Oldest national football competition in the world. | |
1874– | United Hospitals Challenge Cup | club trophy | United Hospitals Challenge Cup – 1874– | Rugby football | Rugby union | Surrey, England | Oldest rugby football competition in the world. | |
1874– | Scottish Cup | club trophy | Scottish Cup 1874– | Association football | Association football | Scotland | ||
1875– | Birmingham Senior Cup | regional club knock-out cup competition | 1875– | ? | 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 | |
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 and 2008. | |
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 | Trophy donated to the league by Newcastle’s Richmond Tobacco Co., claims to be the longest running football trophy in Australia.[4][5] | |
1885– | West Australian Football League | club league | ? | Australian rules football | Australian rules football | Perth, Western Australia | ||
1886– | Airdrie Schools Cup | club trophy | ? | Association football | Association football | Airdrie, Scotland | Oldest schools association football tournament in the world.[citation needed] The tournament ceased in 1994 when Broomfield Stadium was demolished but was rejuvenated in 2011 in celebration of 125th anniversary at the new Broomfield Stadium. | |
1887– | All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | inter-county cup | 1928 | 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 | Association football | 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 | ||
1889– | Currie Cup | Regional Union Competition | Currie Cup, 1889– | Rugby football | Rugby union | South Africa | Oldest regional 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 | Second-oldest association football league in the world. | |
1890– | Every June | St Joseph's College, Dumfries | ? | 1890, Part Pupils v Present Pupils Trophy | Association football | Association football | Dumfries, Scotland | |
1891– | Argentine Primera División | club league | ? | Association football | Association football | Argentina | Oldest top-tier association football league in the world and oldest association football league outside Great Britain. | |
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 | Association football | Kolkata, India | ||
1895– | Belgian Pro League | club league | National Championships 1895– | Association football | Association football | Belgium | Oldest association football league in continental Europe. | |
1895– | Hong Kong Shield | club trophy | 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) | 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. | ||
1898- | Calcutta Football League | club league | Association football | Association football | Calcutta, India | Oldest Association football league in Asia. | ||
1901– | Ontario Cup | club trophy | 1901– | Association football | Association football | Canada | Oldest association football competition in North America. | |
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 | |||
1902– | January 1 or 2 | Rose Bowl Game | bowl game | American football | American football | Pasadena, California, United States | ||
1902– | May 3 | Campeonato Paulista | club league | ? | Association football | Association football | São Paulo state, Brazil | |
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 | Association football | 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– | Association football | Association football | Canada | ||
1914– | IUFU Collingwood Cup | university trophy | 1914– | Association football | Association football | Republic of 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 association football competition in the United States of America. |
Defunct competitions
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Years | Date | Competition | Type | First trophy awarded, years | Original code | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1860– | 26 December | — | interclub fixture | — | Sheffield rules | Sheffield, England | [7][8] |
1861–1876 | December | Caledonian Challenge Cup | club trophy | Caledonian Challenge Cup, 1861–1864 | Melbourne Rules | Melbourne, Australia | [9] |
1867 only | Youdan Cup | club trophy | Youdan Cup, 1867 | Sheffield rules | Sheffield, England | ||
1868 only | Cromwell Cup | club trophy | Cromwell Cup, 1868 | Sheffield rules | Sheffield, England | ||
1882–? | Northern Football Association | club league | ? | Victorian rules | Launceston, Tasmania | ||
1884–1984 | Home International Championship | international challenge | Home International Championship, 1884–1984 | Association football | Home Nations (UK) | ||
1888–1956 | Netherlands Football League Championship | club league | ? | Association football | |||
1890–2004 | Irish League | club league | ? | Association football | Northern Ireland | ||
1890–2013 | Scottish Football League | club league | ? | Association football | Scotland | ||
1891–2001 | Rovers Cup | tournament | 1st Worcester Regiment | Experimental | Bombay, India |
References
- ^ Chris Thau. "The oldest running rugby fixture in the world". Retrieved October 2015.
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(help) - ^ 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
- ^ [1]
- ^ Hallam FC
- ^ Sheffield FC
- ^ 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. Later trophy donated by the Athletic Sports Committee before becoming the South Yarra Challenge Cup.