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.
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.[1] 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.[2]
In May 1888, the association changed its name to the East of Scotland Football Association.[3]
The first winner was Mossend Swifts, which came from behind to beat Burntisland Thistle 4–1 in the final at
Easter Road.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] The competition was therefore abandoned.[7]
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
Livinsgston United 1–0 after extra time, United having beem down to ten men from the 50th minute when captain Hassan Nyang was red-carded.[8][9]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.[10]