Camanachd Cup Final

The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup a.k.a. the Camanachd Cup or Scottish Cup is the premier prize in the sport of shinty. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shinty.

The present holders are Newtonmore who won the cup 1-0 against Oban Camanachd in September 2016. This is Newtonmore's 31st title, a record.

The tournament was first played in 1896 with Kingussie beating Glasgow Cowal 2-0 at Needlefield Park, Inverness.

At present the tournament is contested by the eligible teams in North and South Division 1 (and from 2014, National Division One), together with the teams in the Premiership, who join the competition at the second round stage. There was formerly a Qualifying Cup.

Traditionally, the trophy was competed for on a North/South basis with the best team from the North facing the best team from the South only in the final. In 1983 the open draw was introduced which resulted in the first, and until 2012, only all-South final, between Kyles and Strachur. 1984 saw the first ever All-North final and first ever final clash between heated rivals Kingussie and Newtonmore.

Four teams have won the trophy three times in a row, Newtonmore, Kingussie, Kyles Athletic and Fort William.

The highest margin of victory was in 1997 when Kingussie hammered Newtonmore 12-1. The highest scoring final, and the previous largest margin of victory was held by Newtonmore themselves, 11-3 with Furnace in 1907.

Only Furnace (1923) and Newtonmore (2013) have gone through the competition without conceding a goal.

In 2006, the Cup had its first ever televised draw on BBC Scotland sports programme Spòrs, with the final also being broadcast live.

The trophy itself was made after public donation in 1896 and, as befits such a Blue Riband event, the cup is designed and constructed by Hamilton and Inches, Edinburgh. The player on the lid was modelled from Jock Dallas who played for Kingussie and whose great grandson, Ally Dallas, still plays for Kingussie.

In 2006, the ancient trophy made its way to New York City for the Tartan Day celebrations, the first time it had ever left Scotland.

Due to the rumbunctious nature of the celebrations of victorious teams leaving the trophy in a fragile state,(drinking whisky from the bowl is a traditional ritual and on one occasion the trophy was abandoned and then found in Somerled Square, Portree, after Skye Camanachd's 1990 victory, as everybody had assumed somebody else was looking after it), the board of directors at the Camanachd Association took the decision to have the trophy renovated and a replica of the trophy made for presentation after finals. The replica was to be ready for the centenary final in 2007 in Inverness but the cost of a replica were considered prohibitive and therefore the original trophy is still used.

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Wikipedia