Mod Cup

The Mod Cup is a trophy in the sport of shinty first competed for in 1969, traditionally played for by the two teams who are based closest to the host venue of the Royal National Mod. The current holders are Oban Camanachd.

The Cup is presented by the Aviemore branch of An Comunn Gaidhealach as part of the week-long Mod as a celebration of shinty's links with Scottish Gaelic. The trophy originally had a lid which has been lost. The first running of the cup was in 1969 as the Mod was held in Aviemore and the two closest sides were the sport's historic giants, Kingussie and Newtonmore. Newtonmore won the first running of the cup 5-2 and to this day the Mod Cup is perhaps the one trophy that the club is eligible to compete for that Kingussie has never won.

Over the years, the Mod has been held in towns without shinty teams which has resulted in teams being imported (Stornoway Mods in the 1980s, when Beauly Shinty Club and Skye Camanachd or in areas with a plethora of shinty teams, such as the Lochaber Mod 2007 when a select Lochaber East Side played Lochaber West in Ardnamurchan. The expansion of shinty into areas where it had previously not been played for a long time means that there should be teams from that locale competing for the trophy in future. This was the case with the Caithness Mod in 2010 and the Western Isles Mod in 2011.

The 2004 fixture was played between Tayforth and Edinburgh East Lothian, at South Inch, Perth. The 2008 fixture was to be competed for between Aberdour Shinty Club and Glasgow Mid-Argyll at Little Kerse, Grangemouth as part of the Mod in Falkirk. However, the fixture was rained off.

The 2009 fixture was played between Lochside Rovers and Oban Celtic at Mossfield Park, Oban on 10 October 2009 as part of a normal league fixture which Lochside won. The Cup provides many smaller teams with an opportunity to win national silverware.

The 2010 fixture between Caithness and Sutherland was an historic game as it was the most northerly official shinty game ever played. Caithness won 3-1.

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