Ayrshire Cup

The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, the trophy being a solid silver vase, 30 inches high, and valued at £100, designed by Messrs John Cameron & Son.^[1] The first winners were Mauchline.^[2][3]

Ayrshire Cup

Founded	1877
Region	Ayrshire (Scotland)
Current champions	Kilmarnock (1997-98 last competition)
Most successful club(s)	Kilmarnock (43 titles)

The competition was most recently held in the 1997–98 season, when it was won by Kilmarnock.^[3] Although the Cup has not been competed for since, discussions have taken place between all the major participating clubs (Ayr United, Girvan and Kilmarnock) who have stated that they would welcome the return of the Ayrshire Cup.^[4]

History

The Ayrshire Cup was first proposed by two medical students who tried to persuade Ayr United to invest into the competition. After failing to persuade the club, John Wallace, who was a local from Kilmarnock, offered to and did put in the finances needed to organise the event including allowing the town to choose the final venue of the cup.^[5]

The first time the Ayrshire Cup was competed for was in 1877–78, with the first winners being Mauchline.^[3] 26 clubs entered the first year of the competition, consisting of Catrine, Largs Western, Beith Thistle, Dalry Rangers, Kilmarnock, Kilbirnie, Ayr Academicals, Kilmarnock Cricket and Football Club, Kilmarnock Portland, Kilmarnock Dean, Kilmarnock Hawthorn, Kilmaurs Floors, Irvine, Mauchline, Burnfoothill Ramblers, Maybole Carrick, Tarbolton, Beith, Maybole Ladywell, Cumnock, Rankinston Mountaineers, Lanemark, Stewarton, Kilmarnock Star, Vale of Irvine, Girvan, and Hurlford.

The number of entrants for the cup peaked prior to World War II at over 40, however by 1946 Ayr United and Kilmarnock were the only entrants. In 1978–79 Girvan Amateurs joined the competition,.^[2] The last winner outside the 'big two' (being Ayr United and Kilmarnock) was Beith who won it in 1926–27.

Before penalty shoot-outs were introduced in 1970–71, if a cup final was tied it would be given to the club who won it the previous year. The last cup final was played in 1998 between Kilmarnock and Ayr United with Kilmarnock coming out victorious and as the last winner of the Ayrshire Cup.

The Ayrshire FA was dissolved in June 1999 when it was merged with the Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire FAs to form the West of Scotland FA. This was because the memberships of these associations had fallen below the 7-club threshold placed on them by the Scottish FA.

Performance by club

	Club	Wins	Last win	Runners-up	Last final lost
1	Kilmarnock	43^[a]	1998	28	1997
2	Ayr United	26^[a]	1997	29	1998
3	Hurlford	6	1911	7	1912
4	Galston	6	1925	6	1924
5	Ayr	4	1910	3	1909
6	Annbank	4	1895	2	1903
7	Beith	3	1927	4	1938
8	Stevenston United	2	1920	2	1922
9	Kilmarnock Athletic	2	1883	0
10	Ayr Parkhouse	1	1902	3	1910
	Kilbirnie	1	1888	3	1893
11	Kilmarnock Portland	1	1882	2	1879
12	Lugar Boswell	1	1881	1	1883
13	Mauchline	1	1878	0
	Kilmarnock Athletic (1888)	1	1897	0
15	Girvan	0		3	1982
16	Lanemark	0		1	1907
	Saltcoats Thistle	0		1	1901
	Saltcoats Victoria	0		1	1894

Ayrshire Cup Finals

Key

(R)	Replay, or repeat if original match was declared void
(SR)	Second Replay
‡	Match void
*	Match went to extra time
†	Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time

Finals

Season	Winner^[6]	Score ^[6]	Runner-up ^[6]	Venue ^[6]	Attendance ^[6]	Notes
1877–78	Mauchline	4–3	Kilmarnock Portland	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock	5,000
1878–79	Kilmarnock Athletic	1–1 *	Kilmarnock Portland	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1878–79 (R)	Kilmarnock Athletic	2–1 *	Kilmarnock Portland	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	4,000
1879–80	Beith	1–0	Kilbirnie	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock	5,000
1880–81	Lugar Boswell	5–0	Annbank	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	5,000
1881–82	Kilmarnock Portland	4–0	Kilmarnock	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock
1882–83	Kilmarnock Athletic	0–0*	Lugar Boswell	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1882–83 (R)	Kilmarnock Athletic	3–2	Lugar Boswell	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	4,000
1883–84	Kilmarnock	2–2*	Hurlford	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock
1883–84 (R)	Kilmarnock	1–0	Hurlford	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock
1884–85	Kilmarnock	2–0	Hurlford	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock	3,000
1885–86	Kilmarnock	2–1	Ayr	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1886–87	Hurlford	4–1	Kilbirnie	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	6,000
1887–88	Kilbirnie	4–3	Hurlford	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	5,000
1888–89	Hurlford	2–0	Ayr	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	6,000
1889–90	Annbank	3–2	Hurlford	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	7,000
1890–91	Kilmarnock	7–1	Hurlford	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock
1891–92	Annbank	3–0	Hurlford	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1892–93	Annbank	5–2	Kilbirnie	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1893–94	Hurlford	2–2*	Saltcoats Victoria	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock
1893–94 (R)	Hurlford	2–1	Saltcoats Victoria	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock	5,000
1894–95	Annbank	2–2*^[b]	Kilmarnock	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1894–95 (R)	Annbank	4–2^[b]	Kilmarnock	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1895–96	Kilmarnock	7–2	Galston	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock	5,000
1896–97	Kilmarnock Athletic (1888)	1–1*	Kilmarnock	Beresford Park, Ayr
1896–97 (R)	Kilmarnock Athletic (1888)	3–0	Kilmarnock	Somerset Park, Ayr
1897–98	Kilmarnock	9–3	Galston	Holm Quarry, Kilmarnock
1898–99	Kilmarnock	6–3	Galston	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1899–1900	Kilmarnock	4–0	Ayr Parkhouse	Somerset Park, Ayr	4,000 - 5,000
1900–01	Ayr	1–1*	Stevenston Thistle	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	6,000
1900–01 (R)	Ayr	2–1	Stevenston Thistle	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	3,000 - 4,000
1901–02	Ayr Parkhouse	1–0	Galston	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1902–03	Galston	4–3‡^[c]	Annbank	Beresford Park, Ayr
1902–03	Galston	1–1‡^[c]	Annbank	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	3,000
1902–03	Galston	2–0^[c]	Annbank	Somerset Park, Ayr
1903–04	Galston	4–1	Beith	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1904–05	Ayr	1–0	Kilmarnock	Beresford Park, Ayr	5,000
1905–06	Ayr	1–0	Ayr Parkhouse	Beresford Park, Ayr	3,800
1906–07	Hurlford	3–1	Lanemark	Somerset Park, Ayr
1907–08	Galston	2–2*	Kilmarnock	Somerset Park, Ayr
1907–08 (R)	Galston	2–1	Kilmarnock	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1908–09	Hurlford	1–1*	Ayr	Beresford Park, Ayr
1908–09 (R)	Hurlford	1–0	Ayr	Beresford Park, Ayr
1909–10	Ayr	1–0	Ayr Parkhouse	Somerset Park, Ayr	5,000
1910–11	Hurlford	3–2	Ayr United	Beresford Park, Ayr
1911–12	Ayr United	2–0	Hurlford	Beresford Park, Ayr
1912–13	Galston	3–3*	Ayr United	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1912–13 (R)	Galston	2–1	Ayr United	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1913–14	Galston	3–2	Stevenston United	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1914–15	Stevenston United	0–0*	Kilmarnock	Riverside Park, Galston
1914–15 (R)	Stevenston United	2–1 *	Kilmarnock	Riverside Park, Galston
No competition from 1915–16 to 1918–19 due to World War I
1919–20	Stevenston United	1–0	Galston	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1920–21	Kilmarnock
1921–22	Kilmarnock	5–2	Stevenston United	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1922–23	Kilmarnock	5–0	Ayr United
1923–24	Beith		Galston
1924–25	Galston	4–1	Kilmarnock	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	1,000
1925–26	Ayr United	3–3 (agg)	Beith
1925–26 (R)	Ayr United	4–1	Beith
1926–27	Beith
1927–28	Kilmarnock
1928–29	Ayr United	5–1	Kilmarnock	Somerset Park, Ayr	1,000
1929–30	Kilmarnock
1930–31	Kilmarnock	5–1	Beith	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
1931–32	Incomplete
1932–33	Ayr United	3–1	Kilmarnock		2,000
1933–34	No Competition
1934–35	Kilmarnock	3–3*	Ayr United
1934–35 (R)	Kilmarnock	8–0	Ayr United
1935–36	Ayr United	2–2*	Kilmarnock
1935–36 (R)	Ayr United	3–2	Kilmarnock
1936–37	No Competition
1937–38	Ayr United	7–1	Beith
1938–39	Ayr United	2–2*	Kilmarnock
1938–39 (R)	Ayr United	3–1	Kilmarnock
No competition from 1939–40 to 1945–46 due to World War II
1946–47	Kilmarnock	4–2	Ayr United
1947–48	No Competition
1948–49	No Competition
1949–50	Ayr United	3–1 (agg)	Kilmarnock
1950–51	Kilmarnock	6–1 (agg)	Ayr United
1951–52	Kilmarnock	4–3 (agg)	Ayr United
1952–53	Kilmarnock	5–0 (agg)	Ayr United
1953–54	Kilmarnock	5–1 (agg)	Ayr United
1954–55	Kilmarnock	3–0	Ayr United
1955–56	Kilmarnock	7–0 (agg)	Ayr United
1956–57	Kilmarnock	1–0	Ayr United
1957–58	Ayr United	2–1 (agg)	Kilmarnock
1958–59	Kilmarnock^[d]	4–4 (agg)	Ayr United^[d]
1959–60	Kilmarnock	3–2 (agg)	Ayr United
1960–61	Ayr United	3–0	Kilmarnock
1961–62	Kilmarnock	7–2 (agg)	Ayr United
1962–63	Incomplete
1963–64	Incomplete
1964–65	Ayr United	1–0	Kilmarnock
1965–66	Kilmarnock	3–1 (agg)	Ayr United
1966–67	Incomplete
1967–68	Incomplete
1968–69	Ayr United		Kilmarnock
1969–70	Ayr United	2–0	Kilmarnock
1970–71	Ayr United	2–2 (agg) (5–4p)†	Kilmarnock
1971–72	Kilmarnock	3–1 (agg)	Ayr United
1972–73	Kilmarnock	2–1 (agg)	Ayr United
1973–74	Kilmarnock	1–1 (5–4p)†	Ayr United
1974–75	Ayr United	1–0	Kilmarnock
1975–76	Ayr United	4–0 (agg)	Kilmarnock
1976–77	Ayr United	2–2 (6–5p)†	Kilmarnock
1977–78	Ayr United	2–1	Kilmarnock
1978–79	Kilmarnock	4–0	Girvan
1979–80	Ayr United	10–2 (agg)	Girvan
1980–81	Kilmarnock	2–0 (agg)	Ayr United
1981–82	Kilmarnock	12-0	Girvan
1982–83	Kilmarnock	1–0	Ayr United
1983–84	Kilmarnock	2–1	Ayr United
1984–85	Kilmarnock	2–1	Ayr United
1985–86	Ayr United	2–1	Kilmarnock
1986–87	Kilmarnock	3–0	Ayr United
1987–88	Ayr United	2–0	Kilmarnock
1988–89	Ayr United	2–0	Kilmarnock
1989–90	Kilmarnock	2–1*	Ayr United
1990–91	Ayr United	2–1	Kilmarnock
1991–92	Kilmarnock	4–0	Ayr United
1992–93	Kilmarnock	2–1	Ayr United
1993–94	Kilmarnock	3–3 (3–2p)†	Ayr United		3,613
1994–95	Ayr United	4–3	Kilmarnock
1995–96	Kilmarnock	1–0	Ayr United
1996–97	Ayr United	2–0	Kilmarnock		2,176
1997–98	Kilmarnock	4–2	Ayr United		4,652

See also

• Ayrshire derby

Notes

1. Includes one title shared between Kilmarnock and Ayr United in 1959
2. Annbank and Kilmarnock refused to play the final at Warner Park, Stevenston, which had been stipulated as the venue by the Ayrshire Football Association. The cup and badges were withheld but the teams played a game for the Championship.
3. The game at Somerset Park on 18 April 1902 was unfinished due to a break-in by Annbank supporters. Annbank lodged another protest regarding Ralston of Galston but this was thrown out by the Ayrshire F.A. The Association also voted by 7 votes to 2 to award the Cup to Galston as Annbank had wanted the game replayed as the game had not been completed. This was after a protested game won 4-3 by Galston at Beresford Park, Ayr and a 1-1 draw at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock on 11 April
4. Title shared between Kilmarnock and Ayr United

Ayrshire Cups in other categories

Ayrshire Cups continue to operate at Junior level^[7][8] – the region's clubs have a strong presence nationally, winning the Scottish Junior Cup on multiple occasions^[9] – and in the local amateur league.^[10][11]

The Ayrshire Cup was last run in the 2017-18 season, with Kilwinning Rangers winning the last edition after defeating Largs Thistle.^[12]

References

1. "Ayrshire Football Association". North British Daily Mail: 3. 22 October 1877.
2. "Ayrshire Cup". Scottish football historical archive. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
3. "Ayrshire Cup 1877-1998". KillieFC. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
4. "Ayr United welcome return of the Ayrshire Cup". Ayrshire Post. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
5. "Ayrshire Cup". sfha.org.uk.
6. "Ayrshire Cup". Scottish football historical archive. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
7. . Scottish Junior Football Association. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
8. "Auchinleck Talbot hit Cumnock for five to win Ayrshire Weekly Press Cup". Cumnock Chronicle. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
9. . Kilmarnock F.C. 23 April 2018. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
10. . AAFA. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
11. "Talbot weekly news:Ayrshire Amateur FA". Auchinleck Talbot F.C. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
12. Laing, Paul (10 June 2018). "Largs Thistle 0-1 Kilwinning Rangers - Ayrshire Cup FINAL, 9th June 2018". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2018.