football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
competition played in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Football Association, who were not members of the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
or
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League first division, Queen's Park F.C., and four other clubs voted in.
At the end of the 1896–97 season, the Lanarkshire Football Association proposed abolishing the Qualifying Cup in favour of everyone starting at round 1, on the basis that "the exemption of the leading clubs had been the cause of much of the decadence of football in this country, and it was hastening the end of many in Lanarkshire. The exemption had killed four clubs, and the best was in a perilous state"; this was on the basis that attendances in the Qualifying Cup were too low even to pay expenses. The proposal was defeated by 46 votes to 36.
Although the first Qualifying Cup was played out until a national final, the last sixteen clubs in the competition (i.e. those who had reached the fifth round stage of the Qualifying Cup) would be put through to the first round of the national competition.
The format of having a number of clubs qualify for the competition proper, but still playing to one or two finals, remained the format for the competition's existence, although the number of entrants and qualifying clubs varied. This led to a paradox where teams that had met in the Qualifying Cup could also meet in the competition proper. For example, the Qualifying Cup final in 1928–29 saw Murrayfield Amateurs beat Thornhill, and the two teams were then drawn together in the "official" first round, Murrayfield winning again.
Annbank F.C. won the first-ever Qualifying Cup in 1895–96, beating East Stirlingshire in the final at Underwood Park in Paisley, the ground of Abercorn F.C.; the Shire showed the greater skill, but the Miners, with the veteran "White" Gourlay marshalling the defence, gained something of a smash and grab victory.; the protest was against an East Stirlingshire player so was left unheard. Annbank reached the second round of the competition proper; the furthest any of the qualifying clubs reached in the first season was
Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...
reaching the quarter-finals (third round).
The furthest in the competition any Qualifying Cup side reached was the semi-finals, Kilmarnock (Qualifying Cup winners in 1896–97) and Stenhousemuir (Qualifying Cup runners-up in 1902–03) both doing so.
Until season 1930–31 the competition was played as a single national competition, although ties were often drawn on a geographical basis so that the final would often be between the best teams in the North and South. From 1908 until 1914 there was also a Consolation Cup for teams eliminated in the earlier rounds; this was a common arrangement in Scottish cup competitions until expanding leagues reduced the time available for extra cup matches.
From 1931 there were separate competitions for the North and South, and additionally in 1946–47 and 1947–48 there was a Midlands competition (won by Forfar Athletic and Montrose respectively, both times beating East Stirlingshire in the final). There was a brief hiatus for three seasons between 1954–55 to 1956–57 when all clubs were given direct entry into the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2006–07.
Coldstream
Coldstream () is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream was where the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army, originated.
Description
Coldstream li ...
Spartans
Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...
South of Scotland Football League
The South of Scotland Football League (SoSFL) is a senior football league based in south-west Scotland. The league sits at level 6 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League.
Founded in 1946, it ...
**
Newton Stewart
Newton Stewart (Scottish Gaelic language, Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland.
The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to ...
Burntisland Shipyard
Burntisland Shipyard Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Burntisland, Fife. The club competes in the and play their home matches at Recreation Park. They are full members of the Scottish Football Association.
Histo ...
Girvan
Girvan (, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, and north of St ...
of the
SJFA West Region
The Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region was one of three regions of the SJFA which organised its own distinct league and cup competitions.
The SJFA used to be split into six regions, but in 2002 they decided to reform into three (Ea ...
*
Glasgow University
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
Qualifying Cup (national)
*Most wins: 3 - Leith Athletic and
Bathgate
Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...
.
*Most appearances in the final: 5 -
East Stirlingshire
East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins can b ...
.
*Most appearances in the final without winning: 2 - Dykehead and
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...