• Source: Football Times Cup

      • The Football Times Cup is an annual association football cup for competition between football clubs across the Highlands & Islands of Scotland.
      The cup is a registered Scottish FA competition which runs under the auspices of the North Caledonian FA.


      Origins


      The Football Times Cup was named after "The Football Times" – a Saturday evening football results and general news print newspaper produced by Highland News Ltd for distribution in Inverness and surrounding counties, from 1888 until the late 1960s.
      The title made a brief return in the 1990s as a supplement of Highland News Group publications, including the Highland News, North Star and Lochaber News, but was again fazed out and ceased to exist by the 2000s.
      First introduced the 1923-24 season, the sterling silver Football Times Cup was donated by Highland News Ltd for competition between clubs connected to the North of Scotland Junior FA.
      Until the 1970s, the trophy was traditionally presented to the winning captain by the editor of the newspaper, or a representative from Highland News.
      The Football Times Cup remains the second oldest cup competition to come under the auspices of the North of Scotland Junior FA (now known as the North Caledonian League), the oldest being the North Caledonian Cup.


      History


      At the time of the Football Times Cup's introduction, the North of Scotland Junior FA's membership was made up in the majority by Highland Football League reserve sides, or 'A' combinations, from Inverness or Nairn, along with a select group of junior clubs, such as Nelson, Dingwall Victoria United (who later became Ross County) and Muir of Ord Rovers.
      Highland League 'A' sides continued to dominate the competition until the 1960s when the league's presence grew across the Highlands and membership from clubs outside of the central Highlands increased.
      During the 1993–94 season, with an unprecedented 16 teams holding membership and some clubs facing a campaign of over 40 games, the North Caledonian FA elected to play the Football Times Cup as a seven-a-side competition.
      Although the format was popular with teams, it immediately returned to an 11-a-side competition the following season.
      In 2019-20, the trophy was played for across a group format, split between the North and South of its competing members, along with guest club Lewis & Harris. After all group games were played, the winners of each group played in the final.


      Past winners




      Performance by club




      References

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