What is the oldest national football trophy in the world?

On 13th March 1873 eight clubs came together to form the Scottish Football Association. The new organisation collected £56 12s 11d in order to institute a Challenge Cup. Queen’s Park, Scotland’s leading club of the period, won the first final in 1874 with a 2-0 victory over Clydesdale.

Although there is evidence of football trophies existing prior to 1873 it is factually correct to state that the Scottish Cup is the oldest trophy within Association football and the oldest national football trophy in the world. Surviving trophies such as the Youdan Cup (1867) are from a different football code (Sheffield Rules) and cannot be placed within the context of the Association game. As Association football is the modern world game it can be argued that the Scottish Cup is the oldest trophy in World Football. The FA Cup as a competition dates from 1871 making it two years older than the Scottish Cup competition but the present FA trophy dates from 1911 due to the original being stolen in 1895, never to be recovered.