History
In 1975 moves were made by non-university colleges to set-up their own knock-out Gaelic Football Championship tournament as a consequence of being shut out of the Sigerson Cup Championship. The initiative came from St. Joseph's Training College, Belfast. The concept of the Trench Cup was proposed by Pat Blake, Comhairle Ard Oideachais Chairman (1978-1983), and Peter McGinnity (later a Fermanagh All-Star) as a knock-out competition for all higher education colleges not in the Sigerson Cup tournament. Pat Blake purchased a trophy costing £80 sterling at Tommy Lennon's Jewellers, Smithfield Market, Belfast. The trophy was named 'The Trench Cup' after Trench House, St Joseph's Training College, Belfast.
The competition first came into existence in the 1975/76 season. The inaugural final was played between St Joseph's T.C., Belfast and the National College of Physical Education, Limerick at Croke Park. NCPE became the inaugural champions. In the 1980s the Sigerson championship was opened up to allow an increasing number of Universities, Regional Technical Colleges and Institutes of Higher Education to participate on the basis of their league success. Subsequently the Trench Cup became the second tier competition for the third-level institutions which were not in the Sigerson championship.
The 2013 Trench Cup winner is the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown who defeated St Patrick's-Mater Dei at Athlone IT on 23 February. Sligo IT has won the Trench Cup the most times, a total of five wins which were in 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991. The highest winning margin ever is that of Thomond College, Limerick over Sligo RTC of 16 points in 1977, while the largest margin in the 21st century is that of Trinity College Dublin over Hope University, Liverpool of 10 points in 2012. The joint highest individual points scorers in any Trench Cup final are D. Duggan of Garda College in 1993 and Seán O'Sullivan of Limerick IT in 1999 . The championship is currently sponsored by the Irish Daily Mail . The Trench Cup was previously sponsored by Bus Éireann, Datapac and Ulster Bank .
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