The Forfarshire Cup is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

competition in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

competed for by teams in the Forfarshire Football Association from Angus,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. The name of the competition is often baffling to some, as "Forfarshire" is an archaic and

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

name for Angus which became official in the late 19th century around the time of

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it foll ...

which restructured and renamed many of Scotland's counties, however the name quickly fell into disuse and was very rarely used in everyday conversation and non existent today. The Forfarshire Football Association was founded in 1883 and comprised eighteen clubs. Twelve from Dundee, two from

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. Th ...

and one each from

Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach Tatha''; Scots: ''Brochtie'') is a suburb of Dundee, Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until 191 ...

and Lochee (both independent of Dundee at the time),

Coupar Angus Coupar Angus (; Gaelic: ''Cùbar Aonghais'') is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, south of Blairgowrie. The name Coupar Angus serves to differentiate the town from Cupar, Fife. The town was traditionally on the border between Angus and P ...

and Montrose. The association immediately put up a trophy for competition between its member clubs. At that time, cup competitions were the only form of organised football in Scotland. In the early days of Scottish football the county cups were regarded as just as prestigious as the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Central Belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in 2019), including Gre ...

whose teams were most successful in the Scottish Cup, with the result that they often attracted substantial crowds. Even in 1911, several special trains conveyed supporters of

to Dens Park for the final against Dundee Hibs and they contributed to a crowd of more than 7,000. The competition has continued to be played every season as of 2006, although the Dundee clubs left in the 1980s. Dundee United asked the Forfarshire FA for permission to field their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, as it had become virtually impossible for United to find suitable dates for their ties due to their regular participation in European competition. When this was refused the club withdrew from the competition and the FFA; shortly afterwards,

followed suit. United re-entered the competition in the 2001–02 season, and the club now fields a mixture of first team and reserve/youth players. Even long before this

played reserve teams in the early 20th century and withdrew from various seasons' competitions.

withdrew completely for a few years in the early 1950s and also in the 1960s due to fixture congestion. From 2011–12 season, the competition was played as an under-19 tournament.

, to date, have won 28 trophies and as such are the most successful team in the competition's history. Forfarshire FA remains an Affiliated Association of the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility f ...

List of winners

* Note that until October 1923 Dundee United were known as Dundee Hibernian * Lochee United were a senior team not affiliated with their junior namesake * 1919–1920 competition was replayed after Dundee appealed against an ineligible player * 1927–1928 competition was discontinued at the semi final stage * Stadium info- Rollo's Pier- home of Strathmore (Dundee). Strathmore later merged with Johnstone Wanderers to form Dundee Wanderers. East Dock Street- home of Dundee Harp.

References

External links

Complete record of all games
at ''Scottish Football Historical Archive'' {{Football in Dundee Football in Dundee Football in Angus, Scotland 1883 establishments in Scotland Football cup competitions in Scotland Football in Perth and Kinross