Lincolnshire Senior Cup

Lincolnshire Senior Cup
Founded
1881
Current Holders
Grantham Town
Country
England England
County
Lincolnshire
Most Successful Clubs
Lincoln City, Grimsby Town
(38 Wins)

The Lincolnshire Senior County Cup is a football (soccer) competition for senior football clubs in Lincolnshire organised by the Lincolnshire FA.

The competition can be traced back to the formation of the Lincolnshire FA at a meeting held at the Queens Hotel in Lincoln on Saturday 17 September 1881[1] and sixteen teams entered the inaugural Lincolnshire Cup competition with Spilsby the first winners in 1881—82. Spilsby would go on to win the first three competitions and consequently they were allowed to retain the initial trophy.[2]

When the competition first started it was treated as seriously as the FA Cup and the need for a Lincoln team to be successful in the competition following the initial victories by Spilsby, who defeated three Lincoln based teams – Lincoln Rovers, Lincoln Lindum and Lincoln Albion – in the 1883–84 competition, that led to the formation of Lincoln City on 26 June 1884.[3]

The elevation of Grimsby Town and Lincoln City to the Football League in 1892 and Gainsborough Trinity in 1896 saw the importance of the competition decline over time and the format has undergone a number of changes over time as has the type of trophies offered by the Lincolnshire FA. In this entry attention is focused upon the most senior trophy offered by the Lincolnshire FA which currently has the official title of "The Lincolnshire Football Association Ltd Senior County Cup Competition"[4] and is competed annually by the four senior clubs of the county: Boston United, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City and Scunthorpe United. The current holders are Cleethorpes Town.

  1. ^ Lincolnshire F.A. History Archived 8 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Lincolnshire Senior Cup Trophy returned to Spilsby Archived 12 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Ian & Donald Nannestad, Lincoln City F.C. The Official History, pp. 9–10, Yore Publications, 1997.
  4. ^ Handbook, Rules and Directory of the Lincolnshire Football Association Limited Season 2007–2008[permanent dead link], p15.