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

Association football
Year (Date) Competition Type First Trophy,

Years

 Original code Location Notes & references
1871FA Cupclub trophyFA Cup
Original FA Cup trophy 1871–1895
Second FA Cup trophy 1895–1910
Current FA cup Trophy 1911–		Association footballEnglandOldest association football competition in the world.
1874Scottish Cupclub trophyScottish Cup 1874–Association footballScotlandOldest association football trophy in the world.
1876Birmingham Senior Cupcounty cup1876–Association FootballWest Midlands, EnglandOldest regional trophy in the world.
1876Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cupcounty cup1876–Association FootballSouth Yorkshire, EnglandAlso includes some clubs from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire.
1877Welsh Cupclub trophyWelsh Cup, 1877–Association footballWales
1878Berks & Bucks Senior Cupcounty cup1879–Association FootballBerkshire and Buckinghamshire, England
1880Lancashire Senior Cupcounty cup1880–Association FootballLancashire, EnglandAlso includes teams from Greater Manchester and Merseyside
1880Cheshire Senior Cupcounty cup1880–Association footballCheshire, EnglandAlso includes teams from Greater Manchester and Merseyside, many from the historical boundaries of Cheshire.
1881Irish Cupclub trophy1881–Association footballIreland (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.
1882Oxford University Cuppersintercollegiate trophyAssociation footballOxford, EnglandUniversity claims is its the 2nd oldest [association] football competition (after the FA Cup),[1] but also documents 1882/3 as the first season.[2]
1882Cambridge University Cuppersintercollegiate trophyAssociation footballCambridge, England
1884 Lincolnshire FA County Senior Trophy county cup 1884– Association Football Lincolnshire, England
1886Scottish Junior Cupclub trophy
(non-league)		Scottish Junior Cup 1886–Association footballScotland
1887Aberdeenshire Cupregional cup1888Association footballAberdeenshire, ScotlandClaims to be second oldest association football tournament in the world.[3]
1888English Football Leagueclub leagueAssociation footballEnglandOldest association football league. The Premier League was later created and is now the top-flight English league.
1888Durand Cupclub trophyDurand Cup, 1888–Association footballIndiaOldest football tournament in Asia.
1889Northern Football Leagueclub leagueAssociation footballNorth East EnglandSecond-oldest association football league in the world.
1889Trades Cupregional cupAssociation footballKolkata, India
1891Argentine Primera Divisiónclub leagueCopa Campeonato (1896)Association footballArgentinaOldest top division association football league in the world and oldest league outside Great Britain.
1892Brown Shieldinterprovincial tournamentBrown Shield, 1892Association footballNew ZealandOriginally the country's premier football trophy, now only contested sporadically.[4]
1893IFA Shieldclub trophyIFA ShieldAssociation footballKolkata, India
1894Bedfordshire Senior Cupcounty cup1894–Association FootballBedfordshire, England
1895Belgian First Division Aclub leagueNational Championships 1895–Association footballBelgiumOldest association football league in continental Europe.
1896Hong Kong Shieldclub trophyAssociation footballHong Kong
1897Montagu Cupregional cup (amateur)1897–Association footballMexborough, EnglandOldest football cup regularly played at its original venue.
1898Serie Aclub leagueNational Championships 1898–Association footballItaly
1898Calcutta Football Leagueclub leagueAssociation footballKolkata, IndiaOldest association football league in Asia.
1898Swiss Super Leagueclub league1898–1929 Serie A
1931–1944 Nationalliga/Ligue Nationale/Lega Nazionale
1944–2003 Nationalliga A/Ligue Nationale A/Lega Nazionale A
2003– Super League		 Association footballSwitzerlandLongest continuously running top-flight national league[5]
1899KNVB Cupclub trophy1899–Association footballNetherlands
1900Uruguayan Primera Divisiónclub league1900–Association footballUruguay
1901Ontario Cupclub trophy1901–Association footballCanadaOldest association football competition in North America.
1901Nemzeti Bajnokságclub leagueAssociation footballHungary
1902Copa del Reyclub trophy1902 Copa de la Coronación, 1903–Association footballSpain
1902Norwegian Football Cupclub trophyAssociation footballNorwayFirst 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 Paulistaclub leagueAssociation footballSão Paulo state, Brazil
1902Mumbai Football Leagueclub leagueAssociation footballMumbai, India
1903Primera División de la Asociación de Football de Santiagoclub leagueAssociation footballSantiago, Chile
1905 (9 April)Campeonato Baianoclub leagueAssociation footballBahia, Brazil
1906 (3 May)Campeonato Cariocaclub leagueAssociation footballRio de Janeiro, Brazil
1906 (8 July)Paraguayan Primera Divisiónclub leagueAssociation footballParaguay
1907Federation Cupclub trophyAssociation footballSouth Australia, AustraliaSecond oldest knockout competition in Australia.
1908Milne Cupannual challenge match1908–Association footballShetland and Orkney (Scotland)Oldest football competition between two islands.
1908Hong Kong First Division Leagueclub leagueAssociation footballHong Kong
1908Nadkarni Cupregional cupNadkarni CupAssociation footballMumbai, India
1908 (19 October)Football at the Summer OlympicsInternational tournament1908–Association footballvariousOldest nations association football competition in the world.
1909 (6 December)Liga Iclub leagueAssociation footballRomania
1911Belgian Cupclub trophy1911–Association footballBelgium
1912Úrvalsdeildclub leagueAssociation footballIceland
1912Challenge Trophyclub trophy (amateur)Connaught Cup 1913–1926, Challenge Trophy 1926–1954, Carling Cup 1954–Association footballCanada
1914Collingwood Cupuniversity trophy1914–Association footballNorthern Ireland, Republic of Ireland
1914Manning Cupschools fixtureManning Cup, 1914–Association footballJamaicaannual contest among Secondary High Schools in the Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine parishes of Jamaica.
1914Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cupclub trophyNational Challenge Cup (1914); Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1999–)Association footballUnited StatesOldest association football competition in the United States of America.
1916Copa AméricaInternational tournamentSouth American Football Championship (1916–1967)
Copa América (1975–)		Association footballSouth AmericaOldest non-European association football competition in the world.
1917All Japan High School Soccer Tournamenthigh school tournamentAssociation footballJapan
1921Kentish Cupinternational (services)Association footballEuropeInter-Services. Oldest international military association football tournament.[6]
1921FAI Cupclub trophy1921–Association footballRepublic of Ireland
1921Egypt Cupclub trophy1921–Association footballEgyptOldest association football competition in Africa.
1921Malaysia Cupclub trophy1921– southern champ, Singapore FA and the northern champ, Selangor FAAssociation footballMalaysiaOldest football competition in the ASEAN
1921Emperor's Cupclub trophyAssociation footballJapan
1923Totty Cupprimary school tournamentpost-1947 for primary schoolsAssociation footballEngland
1925Swiss Cupclub trophyAssociation footballSwitzerland
1925Polish Cupclub trophy1925; 1951–Association footballPoland

Australian rules football
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]
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
1879 (10 March) Calcutta Cup international challenge Rugby football England/Scotland Competed for by the England and Scotland international rugby teams annually.
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
Year (Date) Competition Type First Trophy,

Years

 Original code Location Notes & references
1895 Rugby Football League/Super League club league Rugby Football League Championship 1895– Rugby league England
1896 Challenge Cup club league Rugby league Europe
1908 NSWRL/National Rugby League club league Rugby league Sydney, Australia
1908 Queensland Rugby League club league Rugby league Brisbane, Australia
1908 The Ashes international challenge Rugby league Australia & Great Britain
1910 New Zealand Rugby League club league Rugby League Shield 1910– Rugby league Auckland, New Zealand
1910 Newcastle Rugby League club league Rugby league Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
1911 Illawarra Rugby League club league Rugby league Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia

Other
Year (Date) Competition Type First Trophy,

Years

 Original code Current Code Location Notes & references
1875 (13 November) The Game Interscholastic match 1875 modified Rugby union American football United States
1887 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship inter-county cup 1928 Gaelic football Gaelic football
1893 (Boxing Day/ Christmas Day (1893–98)) Scarborough Fisherman v Fireman football match Cup The Silver Cup, 1901 Experimental Rules Experimental Rules Scarborough, England Organised as a charity football match to raise money for the Evelyn and Maud that sank. Still played annually today to raise money for the Fisherman and Fireman fund.
1898 Yates Cup college league Canadian football Canadian football Ontario, Canada The Ontario University Athletics football trophy and oldest football trophy in North America.
1902 (1 or 2 January) Rose Bowl Game bowl game American football American football Pasadena, California, United States
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.

Defunct competitions
Years Date Competition Type First trophy awarded, years Original code Location Notes
1851 only25 January93rd Regiment v. Edinburgh University FCone-off matchMedallion, 1851 onlyunknownEdinburghMedallion was given by the losing side (Edinburgh) to the winning side (93rd Regiment).[12][13]
1860 – c. 1968House Football Cupintramural competitionHouse Football Cup, 1860 – c. 1968Eton field gameEton College[14][15][16]
1861–1876DecemberCaledonian Challenge Cupclub trophyCaledonian Challenge Cup, 1861–1864Melbourne RulesMelbourne, Australia[17]
1867 onlyYoudan Cupclub trophyYoudan Cup, 1867Sheffield rulesSheffield, England
1868 onlyCromwell Cupclub trophyCromwell Cup, 1868Sheffield rulesSheffield, England
1880–1890Queensland Football Associationclub league1880Victorian rulesBrisbane, Queensland
1880-1893New South Wales Football Associationclub league1880Victorian rulesSydney, New South Wales
1882–?Northern Football Associationclub league ?Victorian rulesLaunceston, Tasmania
1884–1984British Home Championshipinternational tournamentBritish International Championship trophy, 1936–1984[18]Association footballHome Nations (UK)oldest international association football tournament in the world, and held until the 1983–84 season
1888–1956Netherlands Football League Championshipclub league ?Association footballReplaced with Eredivisie for the 1956–1957 season
1890–2013Scottish Football Leagueclub league ?Association footballScotland
1890–2001Rovers Cupclub trophyRovers CupAssociation footballMumbai, IndiaThird oldest football tournament in Asia (opened only for British army teams until 1911); organized by the WIFA from 1911 to 2001.[19]
1894 onlyTaça D. Carlos Iclub trophyAssociation footballPortugalThe first football cup played on the Iberian Peninsula.[20]
1897–1911Challenge Cupclub trophyAssociation footballAustria-Hungary
1900–1903Copa Macayaclub trophyAssociation footballCataloniaReplaced with Catalan championship for the 1903–1904 season[21]
1900–1904Tagblatt Pokalclub trophyAssociation footballLower Austria, Austria-Hungary
1900–1907Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthozclub trophyAssociation footballEuropeReplaced with Coupe Jean Dupuich for the 1907–1908 season[22]
1914–1950Dutch East Indies Championshipclub leagueAssociation footballDutch East Indies (now Indonesia)

See also

References
  1. "Cuppers". OUAFC.
  2. "Oxford University Association Football Club | History of college football". 18 September 2009. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009.
  3. 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.
  4. "New Zealand - Brown Shield History". RSSSF.
  5. "SFL veröffentlicht die Spielpläne für die Saison 2022/23". Swiss Football League. 17 June 2022.
  6. "Portsmouth to host Europe's oldest football contest Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. "FOOTBALL". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876–1954). NSW: National Library of Australia. 12 May 1888. p. 6. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  8. "Australian Football 150 Years > Article > Football gold mined in coal country". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  9. Thau, Chris (26 December 2008). "The oldest running rugby fixture in the world". Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  10. 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
  11. 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."
  12. Leadbetter, Russell (10 February 2013). "Museum scores with trophy find". The Herald. Glasgow: 19.
  13. "The oldest football medal in the world". Scottish Sport History. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  14. Major [Earnest] Gambier-Parry (1907). Annals of an Eton house, with some notes on the Evans family. London: John Murray. p. 130.
  15. Eton Records. Eton: Spottiswode & Co. 1903. p. 92.
  16. "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
  17. 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.
  18. "Jubilee Trophy for Scotland". Western Daily Press: 4. 6 April 1936.
  19. 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.
  20. "Portugal - Competitions before World War I - Taça D. Carlos I 1894". RSSSF. 15 September 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  21. "Spain - Final Tables Catalonia". RSSSF. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  22. "Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz". RSSSF. 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
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