- Oldest football competitions
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Further information: oldest football club
The world's oldest football competition is a title claimed by many. Many early football fixtures before the 1850s did not have set rules, clubs or trophies and are poorly documented. Some competitions were semi-organised fixtures, others offered trophies. This is a list of club, national and international competitions, their founding dates as well as those that are still running.
Timeline
Years Date Competition Type First trophy awarded, years Original code Current code Location Notes 1858– 7 August Melbourne Grammar School-Scotch College schools fixture Cordner-Eggleston Cup, 1989– experimental Australian rules football Melbourne, Australia [1][2] 1860– 26 December - interclub fixture - Sheffield Rules defunct Sheffield, England [3][4] 1861–1876 December Caledonian Challenge Cup club trophy Caledonian Challenge Cup, 1861–1864 Melbourne Rules defunct Melbourne, Australia [5] Later trophy donated by the Athletic Sports Committee before becoming the South Yarra Challenge Cup. 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 1871– FA Cup club trophy FA Cup, 1871– Association Football Association Football England oldest surviving football competition/trophy in the world 1874– United Hospitals Challenge Cup club trophy Challenge Cup 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–[6] 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.[7] 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– 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 1882–? Northern Football Association club league ? Victorian Rules defunct Launceston, Tasmania clubs included Launceston, City and Longford 1883– Black Diamond Football League club league Black Diamond Challenge Cup, 1887– Australian Rules Football Australian rules football Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia [8] 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 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 1890– Irish League club league ? Association Football Association Football Northern Ireland Second-oldest association football league in the world after the English Football League. 1890– Scottish Football League club league ? Association Football Association Football Scotland Third-oldest association football league in the world. Formed one week after the Irish League. 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,[9] 1893- IFA Shield Tournament Royal Irish Rifles Experimental Indian Football Association Kolkatta, India 3rd oldest football Tournament in India 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– 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 Football League football league Hong Kong, China 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 1920- Siam Cup Inter-insular fixture Rugby Union rugby union Guernsey & Jersey References
- ^ Melbourne Grammar wins 150th anniversary match - Leader News: Melbourne community news
- ^ The Cordner-Eggleston Cup
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Australian Football 150 Years > Article > Football gold mined in coal country
- ^ [1]
Categories:- History of association football
- History of Australian rules football
- History of rugby union
- History of rugby league
- History of Canadian football
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