East of Scotland Shield

East Of Scotland Shield

The East of Scotland Shield is a Scottish football trophy awarded by the East of Scotland Football Association. The only older cup competition in Scottish football is the Scottish Cup.

The tournament is the third-oldest in world football still competed for annually, after the FA Cup and the Scottish Cup. The next oldest tournament in world football is the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup; the next oldest tournament in Scottish football is the Renfrewshire Cup.

The competition was a knockout tournament for football clubs based in Edinburgh and the surrounding area. These clubs included Alloa Athletic, Armadale, Bathgate, Berwick Rangers, Bo'ness, Bonnyrigg Rose, Cowdenbeath, Edinburgh University, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Leith Athletic, Lochgelly United, Meadowbank Thistle and St Bernard's.

Hearts and Hibs, traditionally the strongest clubs in the area, contested most of the finals. Declining attendances meant that the competition was no longer contested after 1989–90 as an adult-level cup, although it continued as a youth tournament. The competition was revived in 2004 as an annual one-off match between Hearts and Hibs, often in the form of reserve teams, acting as a fundraiser for the East of Scotland Football Association.

The competition was initially known as the Edinburgh F.A. Cup. Hibs won the Cup outright by winning it in three successive years from 1879 to 1881, which meant that it was renamed the East of Scotland Shield. It played a significant part in establishing Hibs and Hearts as the predominant football clubs in Edinburgh, as the 1878 Edinburgh Cup went to four replays and built interest in the two newly formed clubs.