List of oldest football competitions
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.
Current competitions
Year
Competition
Type
First Trophy, Years
Original code
Location
Notes & references
1871
FA Cup
club trophy
FA Cup Original FA Cup trophy 1871–1895 Second FA Cup trophy 1895–1910 Current FA cup Trophy 1911–
Association football
England
Oldest association football competition in the world.
1874
Scottish Cup
club trophy
Scottish Cup 1874–
Association football
Scotland
Oldest association football trophy in the world.
1876
Birmingham Senior Cup
county cup
1876–
Association Football
West Midlands , England
Oldest regional trophy in the world.
1876
Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup
county cup
1876–
Association Football
South Yorkshire , England
Also includes some clubs from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire.
1877
Welsh Cup
club trophy
Welsh Cup, 1877–
Association football
Wales
1877
Shropshire Senior Cup
county cup
Shropshire Premier County Cup, 1877-
Association football
Shropshire , England
1878
Berks & Bucks Senior Cup
county cup
1879–
Association Football
Berkshire and Buckinghamshire , England
1880
Lancashire Senior Cup
county cup
1880–
Association Football
Lancashire , England
Also includes teams from Greater Manchester and Merseyside
1880
Cheshire Senior Cup
county cup
1880–
Association football
Cheshire , England
Also includes teams from Greater Manchester and Merseyside, many from the historical boundaries of Cheshire.
1881
Irish Cup
club trophy
1881–
Association football
Ireland (1881–1921)Northern Ireland (1921–)
Originally created as the national club trophy for all of Ireland, it now serves as the national club trophy for Northern Ireland after the Republic of Ireland was created in 1921.
1882
Oxford University Cuppers
intercollegiate trophy
Association football
Oxford , England
University claims is its the 2nd oldest [association] football competition (after the FA Cup),[ 1] but also documents 1882/3 as the first season.[ 2]
1882
Cambridge University Cuppers
intercollegiate trophy
Association football
Cambridge , England
1884
Lincolnshire FA County Senior Trophy
county cup
1884–
Association Football
Lincolnshire, England
1886
Scottish Junior Cup
club trophy (non-league)
Scottish Junior Cup 1886–
Association football
Scotland
1887
Aberdeenshire Cup
regional cup
1888
Association football
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Claims to be second oldest association football tournament in the world.[ 3]
1888
Medaille Fodbold Konkurrence
regional cup
April 29th, 1888
Pre-association
Denmark
Oldest football league outside of Great Britain and Ireland.
1888
English Football League
club league
Association football
England
Oldest association football league. The Premier League was later created and is now the top-flight English league.
1888
Durand Cup
club trophy
Durand Cup, 1888–
Association football
India
Oldest football tournament in Asia.
1889
Northern Football League
club league
Association football
North East England
Second-oldest association football league in the world.
1889
Trades Cup
regional cup
Association football
Kolkata , India
1890
Border Cup
regional cup
Association
football
Scottish Borders
Scotland
Originally played for by senior clubs, has been contested by Border Amateur Football Association clubs since 1960 .
1891
Argentine Primera División
club league
Copa Campeonato (1896)
Association football
Argentina
Oldest top division association football league in the world and oldest league outside Great Britain.
1892
Brown Shield
interprovincial tournament
Brown Shield, 1892
Association football
New Zealand
Originally the country's premier football trophy, now only contested sporadically.[ 4]
1893
IFA Shield
club trophy
IFA Shield
Association football
Kolkata , India
1894
Bedfordshire Senior Cup
county cup
1894–
Association Football
Bedfordshire , England
1895
Belgian First Division A
club league
National Championships 1895–
Association football
Belgium
Oldest association football league in continental Europe.
1896
Hong Kong Shield
club trophy
Association football
Hong Kong
1897
Montagu Cup
regional cup (amateur)
1897–
Association football
Mexborough , England
Oldest football cup regularly played at its original venue.
1898
Serie A
club league
National Championships 1898–
Association football
Italy
1898
Calcutta Football League
club league
Association football
Kolkata , India
Oldest association football league in Asia.
1898
Swiss Super League
club league
1898–1929 Serie A 1931–1944 Nationalliga/Ligue Nationale/Lega Nazionale 1944–2003 Nationalliga A/Ligue Nationale A/Lega Nazionale A 2003– Super League
Association football
Switzerland
Longest continuously running top-flight national league[ 5]
1899
KNVB Cup
club trophy
1899–
Association football
Netherlands
1900
Uruguayan Primera División
club league
1900–
Association football
Uruguay
1901
Ontario Cup
club trophy
1901–
Association football
Canada
Oldest association football competition in North America.
1901
Nemzeti Bajnokság
club league
Association football
Hungary
1902
Copa del Rey
club trophy
1902 Copa de la Coronación , 1903–
Association football
Spain
1902
Norwegian Football Cup
club trophy
Association football
Norway
First played as an invitational tournament consisting of 5 teams and arranged by Kristiania Idrætsforening . First time as a national tournament 1963
1902 (3 May)
Campeonato Paulista
club league
Association football
São Paulo state , Brazil
1902
Mumbai Football League
club league
Association football
Mumbai , India
1903
Primera División de la Asociación de Football de Santiago
club league
Association football
Santiago, Chile
1905 (9 April)
Campeonato Baiano
club league
Association football
Bahia , Brazil
1906 (3 May)
Campeonato Carioca
club league
Association football
Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
1906 (8 July)
Paraguayan Primera División
club league
Association football
Paraguay
1907
Federation Cup
club trophy
Association football
South Australia , Australia
Second oldest knockout competition in Australia.
1908
Milne Cup
annual challenge match
1908–
Association football
Shetland and Orkney (Scotland )
Oldest football competition between two islands.
1908
Hong Kong First Division League
club league
Association football
Hong Kong
1908
Nadkarni Cup
regional cup
Nadkarni Cup
Association football
Mumbai , India
1908 (19 October)
Football at the Summer Olympics
International tournament
1908–
Association football
various
Oldest nations association football competition in the world.
1909 (6 December)
Liga I
club league
Association football
Romania
1911
Belgian Cup
club trophy
1911–
Association football
Belgium
1912
Peruvian Primera División
club league
Association football
Peru
League (under the denomination of Escudo Dewar) was exclusively played by teams from Lima. However, older, less-important tournaments were previously held in Callao.
1912
Úrvalsdeild
club league
Association football
Iceland
1913
Challenge Trophy
club trophy (today amateur)
Connaught Cup 1913–1925; Challenge Trophy 1926–1954; Challenge Trophy & Carling Cup 1954–1961; Challenge Trophy 1962-
Association football
Canada
Strictly amateur since 1962.
1914
Collingwood Cup
university trophy
1914–
Association football
Northern Ireland , Republic of Ireland
1914
Manning Cup
schools fixture
Manning Cup, 1914–
Association football
Jamaica
annual contest among Secondary High Schools in the Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine parishes of Jamaica.
1914
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
club trophy
National Challenge Cup (1914); Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1999–)
Association football
United States
Oldest association football competition in the United States of America.
1916
Copa América
International tournament
South American Football Championship (1916–1967) Copa América (1975–)
Association football
South America
Oldest non-European association football competition in the world.
1917
All Japan High School Soccer Tournament
high school tournament
Association football
Japan
1921
Kentish Cup
international (services)
Association football
Europe
Inter-Services . Oldest international military association football tournament.[ 6]
1921
FAI Cup
club trophy
1921–
Association football
Republic of Ireland
1921
Egypt Cup
club trophy
1921–
Association football
Egypt
Oldest association football competition in Africa.
1921
Malaysia Cup
club trophy
1921– southern champ, Singapore FA and the northern champ, Selangor FA
Association football
Malaysia
Oldest football competition in the ASEAN
1921
Emperor's Cup
club trophy
Association football
Japan
1923
Totty Cup
primary school tournament
post-1947 for primary schools
Association football
England
1925
Swiss Cup
club trophy
Association football
Switzerland
1925
Polish Cup
club trophy
1925; 1951–
Association football
Poland
Year (Date)
Competition
Type
First Trophy,
Years
Original code
Location
Notes & references
1858 (7 August)
Melbourne Grammar School-Scotch College Cordner-Eggleston Cup , 1989–
schools fixture
Cordner-Eggleston Cup
experimental rules
Melbourne , Australia
1877 (30 April)
South Australian Football Association
club league
Thomas Seymour Hill Premiership Trophy
Australian rules football
Adelaide, South Australia
Oldest Australian rules football league and earliest governing body, The most influential Footballing Body in South Australia.
1877 (17 May)
Victorian Football Association
club league
Victorian rules
Melbourne, Australia
Most influential early governing body for Australian rules football in Victoria.
1879 (12 June)
Tasmanian Football League
club league
Victorian rules
Hobart , Tasmania , Australia
Some discontinuity, most recently dormant between 2001 and 2008.
1881 (10 June)
Bendigo Football League
club league
Victorian rules
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
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. [ 7] [ 8]
1885
West Australian Football League
club league
Australian rules football
Perth, Western Australia
sustained
1888
Broken Hill Football League
club league
Australian rules football
Broken Hill, New South Wales , Australia
1893
Ballarat Football Association
club league
Australian rules football
Ballarat, Victoria
1896
Goldfields Football League
club league
Australian rules football
Kalgoorlie , Western Australia
1896
Victorian Football League/Australian Football League
club league
Flag 1895-; AFL Premiership Cup , 1959–
Australian rules football
Victoria , Australia (national since 1990)
Now the game's premier competition and highest governing body.
1903
Sydney AFL
club league
Australian rules football
Sydney , Australia
1904
AFL Queensland State League
club league
Australian rules football
Brisbane , Australia
Rugby
Year (Date)
Competition
Type
First Trophy,
Years
Original code
Location
Notes & references
1858 (11 December)
Edinburgh Academy vs Merchiston Castle School
schools fixture
Rugby football
Edinburgh , Scotland
[ 9]
1872
The Varsity Match
University fixture
Bowring Bowl
Rugby football
England
The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England.
1874
United Hospitals Challenge Cup
club trophy
United Hospitals Challenge Cup – 1874–
Rugby football
Surrey , England
Oldest rugby football competition in the world.
1875
Bromsgrove –KES
schools fixture
Siviter-Smith Cup, 1935–
Rugby football
Bromsgrove /Birmingham , England
Later trophy donated by Paul Siviter-Smith, a Birmingham businessman, who had sons at both schools.[ 10] [ 11]
1876 (17 March)
Ulster Schools Cup
cup tournament
Schools Cup 1876–
Rugby football
Ravenhill, Belfast, Northern Ireland
1878
Army Navy Match
Inter-Services Competition
The Babcock Trophy
Rugby football
England
1879 (10 March)
Calcutta Cup
international challenge
Rugby football
England /Scotland
Competed for by the England and Scotland international rugby teams annually.
1883
Home Nations Championship
international tournament
Rugby football
Home Nations
It is an annual international Rugby union competition between Home nations. It is also the oldest international sport tournament ever competed between Home Nations. But now, It became the Six Nations Championship with the addition of France and Italy.
1883
Auckland Premier
club league
Rugby football
Auckland, New Zealand
The winner of the competition has been awarded the Gallaher Shield since 1922.
1889
Currie Cup
provincial tournament
Currie Cup , 1889–
Rugby football
South Africa
Oldest provincial rugby union competition in the world, and oldest national rugby union competition in the southern hemisphere.
1901
New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union
club league
Rugby union
Sydney , Australia
1904
Ranfurly Shield
provincial challenge
Ranfurly Shield , 1902
Rugby union
New Zealand
First won by Auckland in 1902, and first challenged for in 1904.
Rugby league
Other
Defunct competitions
Years
Date
Competition
Type
First trophy awarded, years
Original code
Location
Notes
1851 only
25 January
93rd Regiment v. Edinburgh University FC
one-off match
Medallion, 1851 only
unknown
Edinburgh
Medallion was given by the losing side (Edinburgh) to the winning side (93rd Regiment).[ 12] [ 13]
1860 – c. 1968
House Football Cup
intramural competition
House Football Cup, 1860 – c. 1968
Eton field game
Eton College
[ 14] [ 15] [ 16]
1861–1876
December
Caledonian Challenge Cup
club trophy
Caledonian Challenge Cup, 1861–1864
Melbourne Rules
Melbourne , Australia
[ 17]
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
1880–1890
Queensland Football Association
club league
1880
Victorian rules
Brisbane , Queensland
1880-1893
New South Wales Football Association
club league
1880
Victorian rules
Sydney , New South Wales
1882–?
Northern Football Association
club league
?
Victorian rules
Launceston , Tasmania
1884–1984
British Home Championship
international tournament
British International Championship trophy, 1936–1984[ 18]
Association football
Home Nations (UK)
oldest international association football tournament in the world, and held until the 1983–84 season
1884–1924
American Cup
club trophy
Association football
United States
1888–1956
Netherlands Football League Championship
club league
?
Association football
Replaced with Eredivisie for the 1956–1957 season
1890–2013
Scottish Football League
club league
?
Association football
Scotland
1890–2001
Rovers Cup
club trophy
Rovers Cup
Association football
Mumbai , India
Third oldest football tournament in Asia (opened only for British army teams until 1911); organized by the WIFA from 1911 to 2001. [ 19]
1894 only
Taça D. Carlos I
club trophy
Association football
Portugal
The first football cup played on the Iberian Peninsula .
1897–1911
Challenge Cup
club trophy
Association football
Austria-Hungary
1900–1903
Copa Macaya
club trophy
Association football
Catalonia
Replaced with Catalan championship for the 1903–1904 season [ 21]
1900–1904
Tagblatt Pokal
club trophy
Association football
Lower Austria , Austria-Hungary
1900–1907
Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz
club trophy
Association football
Europe
Replaced with Coupe Jean Dupuich for the 1907–1908 season [ 22]
1914–1950
Dutch East Indies Championship
club league
Association football
Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia )
See also
References
^ "Cuppers" . OUAFC .
^ "Oxford University Association Football Club | History of college football" . 18 September 2009. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009.
^ Cryle, Ryan. "Draw for Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup revealed" . Evening Express . Retrieved 19 July 2018 . 120th edition of the tournament, which is claimed to be the second oldest association football cup competition in the world.
^ "New Zealand - Brown Shield History" . RSSSF .
^ "SFL veröffentlicht die Spielpläne für die Saison 2022/23" . Swiss Football League. 17 June 2022.
^ "Portsmouth to host Europe's oldest football contest Royal Navy" . Royal Navy . Retrieved 15 July 2020 .
^ "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" . Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2008 .
^ Thau, Chris (26 December 2008). "The oldest running rugby fixture in the world" . Retrieved 17 September 2019 .
^ Michael Blair, "RUGBY UNION: Refresher course in old values; King Edward's School Birmingham 0 Bromsgrove School 18" Archived 30 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine , Birmingham Post , 2 December 2002
^ 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."
^ Leadbetter, Russell (10 February 2013). "Museum scores with trophy find" . The Herald . Glasgow: 19.
^ "The oldest football medal in the world" . Scottish Sport History . 3 April 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2019 .
^ Major [Earnest] Gambier-Parry (1907). Annals of an Eton house, with some notes on the Evans family . London: John Murray. p. 130 .
^ Eton Records . Eton: Spottiswode & Co. 1903. p. 92.
^ "In the Field: House Sides Final" . Eton College Chronicle : 6360. 30 November 1968. For the second year running, Mr Macnaghten's combination of fitness, speed and brawn has won them the House Cup
^ 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 Archived 22 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine . Later trophy donated by the Athletic Sports Committee before becoming the South Yarra Challenge Cup.
^ "Jubilee Trophy for Scotland". Western Daily Press : 4. 6 April 1936.
^ Nirwane, Sarwadnya (18 January 2022). "Rovers Cup — the second oldest Football tournament in India" . thesportslite.com . Mumbai: The Sports Lite. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022 .
^ "Spain - Final Tables Catalonia" . RSSSF . 20 May 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2022 .
^ "Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz" . RSSSF . 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022 .