Derbyshire Senior Cup
| Founded | 1883-84 (won by Staveley) |
|---|---|
| Region | Derbyshire |
| Number of teams | Varies |
| Current champions | Matlock Town (9th victory) |
| Most successful club(s) | Ilkeston Town (11 victories) |
| Website | Derbyshire County Football Association |
The Derbyshire County FA Senior Cup is a local county football cup for teams based in the county of Derbyshire. Founded in 1883-1884, the first competition was won by Staveley, who beat Derby Midland 2-1 in the final. 1885-1886 saw Heeley from Yorkshire win the competition. It wasn't until 1892 that the county's top club Derby County first won the trophy. This delay was partially helped by a disagreement during Derby County's first season 1884-1885. After beating Derby St. Luke's and Wirksworth, Derby County were drawn at home to Long Eaton Rangers in the third round. The club applied for a week's delay in playing the fixture, however Long Eaton Rangers claimed the tie stating that they weren't aware of any change in date and had arrived on the set date to play. A correspondent of the 'Derby Daily Telegraph' wrote that the referee had arrived to take charge on the re-arranged date. The Derbyshire County FA awarded the tie to Long Eaton Rangers and the following season Derby County played in the Birmingham and District FA Senior Cup and set up their own Charity Cup. Players also boycotted playing for the County FA team in protest. It wasn't until 1887-1888 that Derby County next played in their own county's competition, where again in the third round they were drawn to play Long Eaton Rangers who won the tie 4-1.
Due to low attendances and receipts the Derbyshire County FA took the decision to change the cup to a League format in the hope that more games would increase their revenue and invited 14 teams to take part for the 1893-1894 season. Heanor Town were the first champions in this format.
Its final was traditionally held at Derby County's Baseball Ground on Easter Monday evening during the 1950s and 1960s but became a two-legged affair from season 1966–67 onwards. It reverted to a single leg tie at a neutral venue for season 2008–09.
In the 2010–11 competition, Derbyshire's two professional club's, Derby County and Chesterfield returned to the competition after a 25-year absence, after declining to take part in their traditional Derbyshire FA Centenary Cup pre-season competition. Their return was greeted with disappointment by some fans, who saw it as reducing a competition enjoyed by non-league football followers to a "farce" as the far-superior league sides would breeze through their opponents. The fear proved well-founded as Derby County's reserve team scored 24 goals in their four games and conceded only 4 (3 of which came from fellow professional club Chesterfield in the Quarter Final) culminating in a 5–0 rout of Buxton in the final on 20 April 2011. In the following season Buxton gained revenge over Derby County, beating them 1–0 in the final, which was held at Chesterfield's B2net Stadium on 25 April 2012, through a Mark Reed goal.
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