Peel Cup

The Peter J. Peel Challenge Cup, better known as the Peel Cup, was an open soccer competition that crowned the Illinois state champion until it was replaced by the Illinois Governor’s Cup in 1971.

Peter Peel was born in 1866 in Dublin, Ireland and moved to Chicago, Illinois when young. He founded the first soccer association in Illinois, served as president of the Chicago Soccer League, and later became president of the United States Football Association. In 1909, he established a competition, named after himself, open to all soccer clubs in the Midwestern United States. Proceeds from the competition went to a fund to benefit injured soccer players. The first tournament included clubs from Chicago, Peoria, and Coal City. Peel also had plans to include clubs from St. Louis, Detroit, and Cleveland the following year. On October 3, 1909, the Campbell Rovers defeated Coal City 3-0 in front of a large crowd at the 124th Field Artillery Amory (52nd Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue) to win the first cup. Until the 1914 establishment of the National Challenge Cup, the Peel Cup was among the most significant cup competition in the United States. While it was originally intended to determine the club champion of the mid-west, the Peel Cup quickly became the tournament to determine the Illinois State Champions. For several years it was a de facto Chicago championship, due to the large number of talented teams in the city, especially those playing in the National Soccer League of Chicago. At the time, aside from Bethlehem Steel, teams from Chicago, New York City and Saint Louis dominated American soccer.

After being awarded to the Olympics on November 1, 1970, the Peel Cup disappeared. The decision was made at that time to replace it with the Governor’s Cup. Since then, the cup has changed names multiple times based on a tradition that the first team to win it three times keeps the cup. However, through all its name changes it continues to crown the annual Illinois State Champions and is commonly referred to as the Illinois State Cup. The winner, and runner up, of the Illinois State Cup advances to the Regional Tournament of Champions.

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