The King Cup is an association football cup competition for members of the East of Scotland Football Association in Scotland. The competition was founded in 1886.
Format The competition is a knock-out tournament contested by the member clubs of the East of Scotland Football Association.
Since 2019–20 it has been restricted to clubs in the three divisions below the East of Scotland League's Premier Division.
Initial entrants
Adventurers Bellstane Birds Bonnyrigg Rose Britannic Star Broxburn Shamrock Broxburn Thistle Burntisland Thistle Champfleurie Cowdenbeath Dunfermline Athletic Glencairn Grange Athletic Leith Harp Leith Thistle Mossend Swifts Oakbank Thistle Polton Vale Queensferry Hibernian Sarsfield Uphall Bluebell Vale of Midlothian West Calder
History
In 1886, the sportswear manufacturer and seller Percival King donated a cup to the Edinburgh Football Association. With no apparent use for it, a suggestion was made to form a competition for "semi-junior Edinburgh clubs", i.e. excluding Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, St Bernards, the university, the clubs from Leith which had their own competition, and the "country" clubs which could play for county competitions. A modified version of this suggestion - that the tournament be open to all members of the Edinburgh Association, other than holders of district and charity cups - was accepted. In May 1888, the association changed its name to the East of Scotland Football Association.
The first winner was Mossend Swifts, which came from behind to beat Burntisland Thistle 4–1 in the final at Easter Road. The competition remained a leading senior trophy until the 1900s, with clubs from the Borders also being allowed to enter, but the rise of the Scottish Football League and other local leagues had the effect of some clubs withdrawing to focus on more lucrative league football and others going out of business. By 1904 the competition only had 8 entrants, none of which were in the Scottish League.
The 1912–13 competition ended in confusion. The final, between Peebles Rovers and the fourth iteration of Broxburn Shamrock, was postponed because of bad weather, and Shamrock refused to turn up to the replay, on the basis that it had already got a fixture on the scheduled date. Shamrock was duly disqualified, but rather than award the cup to Rovers, the East of Scotland FA selected Shamrock's beaten semi-final opponents - Gala Fairydean, also the Cup holders - to take its place; this "has not been received with enthusiasm in Peebles", on the basis that Fairydean had been eliminated fairly and squarely, and Rovers refused to play. The competition was therefore abandoned.
In 1946–47, the competition was played via two groups, but the format only lasted one season. The Leith Athletic reserve side was the first senior reserve side to enter, apart from a one-off appearance by St Bernard's A half-a-century before, and in 1947–48, the Hibernian B side won the competition, beating Eyemouth United 6–1 in the final.
The first winner after the COVID-19-enforced hiatus was Heriot-Watt University, who beat Livingston United 1–0 after extra time. Lochore Welfare lifted the trophy for the first time in 2022–23, with a 2–1 win over Dunipace at Whitburn's Central Park, having eliminated the holders in the second round.
Winners
1886–87: Mossend Swifts (1) 1887–88: Mossend Swifts (2) 1888–89: Broxburn (formerly Thistle) (1) 1889–90: Armadale 1890–91: Raith Rovers 1891–92: Bathgate Rovers 1892–93: Bo'ness (1) 1893–94: Cowdenbeath (1) 1894–95: Polton Vale 1895–96: Mossend Swifts (3) 1896–97: St Bernard's A 1897–98: Cowdenbeath (2) 1898–99: Raith Rovers (2) 1899–1900: Cowdenbeath (3) 1900–01: Raith Rovers (3) 1901–02: Lochgelly United 1902–03: Hearts of Beath 1903–04: Bathgate (1) 1904–05: Bathgate (2) 1905–06: Bathgate (3) 1906–07: West Lothian Albion 1907–08: Peebles Rovers (1) 1908–09: Berwick Rangers (1) 1909–10: West Calder Swifts 1910–11: Gala Fairydean (1) 1911–12: Gala Fairydean (2) 1912–13: final unplayed 1913–14: Gala Fairydean (3) 1919–20: Bo'ness (2) 1920–21: Civil Service (Strtollers) (1) 1921–22: Vale of Leithen (1) 1922–23: Leith Athletic 1923–24: Berwick Rangers (2) 1924–25: Civil Service Strollers (2) 1925–26: Berwick Rangers (3) 1926–27: Civil Service Strollers (3) 1927–28: Berwick Rangers (4) 1928–29: Gala Fairydean (4) 1929–30: Armadale 1930–31: Penicuik Athletic (1) 1931–32: Penicuik Athletic (2) 1932–33: Berwick Rangers (5) 1933–34: Clerwood Amateurs 1934–35: Duns (1) 1935–36: Penicuik Athletic (3) 1936–37: Vale of Leithen (2) 1937–38: Penicuik Athletic (4) 1938–39: Duns (2) 1946-47: Gala Fairydean (5) 1947–48: Hibernian B (1) 1948–49: Hibernian B (2) 1949–50: Heart of Midlothian B (1) 1950–51: Heart of Midlothian B (2) 1951–52: Heart of Midlothian B (3) 1952–53: Peebles Rovers (2) 1953–54: Peebles Rovers (3) 1954–55: unfinished 1955–56: Vale of Leithen (3) 1956–57: unfinished 1957–58: Duns (3) 1959–60: Vale of Leithen (4) 1960–61: Gala Fairydean (6) 1961–62: Peebles Rovers (4) 1962–63: Peebles Rovers (5) 1963–64: Duns (4) 1964–65: Gala Fairydean (7) 1965–66: Gala Fairydean (8) 1966-67: Hawick Royal Albert (1) 1967–68: Coldstream 1968–69: Gala Fairydean (9) 1969–70: Heart of Midlothian 'Colts' (4) 1970–71: Heart of Midlothian 'Colts' (5) 1971–72: Gala Fairydean (10) 1972–73: Hibernian 'Colts' (3) 1973–74: The Spartans (1) 1974–75: Selkirk (1) 1975–76: Selkirk (2) 1976–77: Edinburgh University (1) 1977–78: The Spartans (2) 1978–79: no competition 1979–80: Kelso United 1980–81: Berwick Rangers reserves 1981–82: Hawick Royal Albert (2) 1982–83: Whitehill Welfare (1) 1983–84: Hawick Royal Albert (3) 1984–85: Postal United (1) 1985–86: Vale of Leithen (5) 1986–87: Vale of Leithen (6) 1987–88: The Spartans (3) 1988–89: Gala Fairydean (11) 1989–90: Berwick Rangers reserves (2) 1990–91: Civil Service Strollers (4) 1991–92: Vale of Leithen (7) 1992–93: Whitehill Welfare (2) 1993–94: Whitehill Welfare (3) 1994–95: Whitehill Welfare (4) 1995–96: Whitehill Welfare (5) 1996–97: Craigroyston 1997–98: Whitehill Welfare (6) 1998–99: Edinburgh City (formerly Postal United) (2) 1999–00: Edinburgh City (3) 2000–01: The Spartans (4) 2001–02: The Spartans (5) 2002–03: The Spartans (6) 2003–04: Lothian Thistle 2004–05: The Spartans (7) 2005–06: The Spartans (8) 2006–07: Edinburgh University (1) 2007–08: The Spartans (9) 2008–09: Heriot-Watt University (1) 2009–10: The Spartans (10) 2010–11: The Spartans (11) 2011–12: Stirling University 2012–13: The Spartans (12) 2013–14: Edinburgh University (2) 2014–15: Peebles Rovers (6) 2015–16: Leith Athletic 2016–17: Leith Athletic (2) 2017–18: Kelty Hearts 2018–19: Tranent 2019–20: unfinished 2020–21: no competition 2021–22: Heriot-Watt University (2) 2022–23: Lochore Welfare 2023–24: Heriot-Watt University (3) 2024–25: Bo'ness Athletic
External links Results at the Scottish Football Historical Results Archive
References