Oldest football competitions

The world's oldest football competition is a title claimed by many, but not supported by facts.

This is a list of school, club, national and international competitions, with factual evidence supporting their founding dates. The second list of competitions, reflects those that are now defunct.

Competitions

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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
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. 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	?	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	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
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	Indian Football Association	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.
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

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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

1. Chris Thau. "The oldest running rugby fixture in the world". Retrieved October 2015.
2. 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."
3. 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
4. "FOOTBALL.". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 12 May 1888. p. 6. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
5. Australian Football 150 Years > Article > Football gold mined in coal country
7. Hallam FC
8. Sheffield FC
9. 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.