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 commenced | Date | Competition | Type | First trophy awarded, years | Original code | Current code | Location | Notes & references |
1858 | 7 August | Melbourne Grammar School-Scotch College Cordner-Eggleston Cup, 1989– | schools fixture | Cordner-Eggleston Cup, ? | experimental rules | Australian rules football | Melbourne, Australia | |
1858 | 11 December | Merchiston Castle School vs. Edinburgh Academy | schools fixture | ? | Rugby football | Rugby union | Edinburgh, Scotland | |
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 association 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 | Oldest association football trophy in the world. | |
1875 | 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. | |
1875 | 13 November | The Game | Interscholastic match | 1875 | modified Rugby union | American football | United States | |
1876 | Birmingham Senior Cup | regional club knock-out cup competition | 1875– | Association Football | Association football | English West Midlands | Oldest regional trophy in the world. | |
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. | |
1883 | Auckland Premier | club league | ? | Rugby union | Rugby union | Auckland, New Zealand | The winner of the competition has been awarded the Gallaher Shield since 1922. | |
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. 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 | Aberdeenshire Cup | club trophy | 1888 | Association football | Association football | Aberdeenshire, Scotland | Claims to be second oldest association football tournament in the world. | |
1887 | All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | inter-county cup | 1928 | Gaelic football | Gaelic football | |||
1888 | English Football League | club league | ? | Association football | Association football | Oldest association football league. | ||
1888 | Durand Cup | tournament | Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1888– | Experimental | Association football | Kolkata, India | Oldest football tournament in Asia. | |
1888 | Broken Hill Football League | club league | ? | Australian rules football | Australian rules football | Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia | ||
1889 | Currie Cup | provincial tournament | Currie Cup, 1889– | Rugby football | Rugby union | South Africa | Oldest provincial rugby union competition in the world, and oldest national 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 | |
1890 | Every November | Baldwin Shield | Inter School Tournament | ? | Association Football | Association football | Bangalore, India | |
1891 | Argentine Primera División | club league | Copa Campeonato | Association football | Association football | Argentina | Oldest top division association football league in the world and oldest 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. | |
1893 | IFA Shield | tournament | Royal Irish Rifles | Experimental | Association football | Kolkata, India | ||
1893 | Boxing Day/ Christmas Day | 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. |
1895 | Belgian First Division A | 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 | 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 | Kolkata, India | Oldest Association football league in Asia. | ||
1900 | Tagblatt Pokal | club trophy | Association football | Association football | Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary | |||
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, Austria-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 | Norwegian Football Cup | club trophy | Association football | 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 | 1 or 2 January | Rose Bowl Game | bowl game | American football | American football | Pasadena, California, United States | ||
1902 | 3 May | 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– | Ranfurly Shield | provincial challenge | Ranfurly Shield, 1902 | Rugby Union | Rugby Union | New Zealand | First won by Auckland in 1902, and first challenged for in 1904. | |
1904– | AFL Queensland State League | club league | Australian rules football | Australian rules football | Brisbane, Australia | |||
1905 | 9 April | Campeonato Baiano | club league | ? | Association football | Association football | Bahia, Brazil | |
1906 | 3 May | Campeonato Carioca | club league | ? | Association football | Association football | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |
1906 | 8 July | Paraguayan Primera División | club league | ? | Association football | Association football | Paraguay | |
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– | 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" | Canadian football | Canada | Now the championship trophy of the Canadian Football League. | ||
1909– | 6 December | Liga I | club league | Association football | Association football | Romania | ||
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 ; Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup | Association football | Association football | United States | Oldest association football competition in the United States of America. | |
1921– | Kentish Cup | international tournament | Association football | Association football | Europe | Inter-Services. Oldest international association football tournament still in existence. |
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 to the winning side. | - |
1860-c. 1968 | House Football Cup | intramural competition | House Football Cup, 1860 - c. 1968 | Eton field game | Eton College | - | ||
1861–1876 | December | Caledonian Challenge Cup | club trophy | Caledonian Challenge Cup, 1861–1864 | Melbourne Rules | Melbourne, Australia | - | |
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 | British International Championship trophy, 1936–1984 | Association football | Home Nations | - | ||
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 | - | ||
1891–2001 | Rovers Cup | tournament | 1st Worcester Regiment | Experimental | Bombay, India | - | ||
1897–1911 | Challenge Cup | club trophy | Association football | Association football | Austria-Hungary |