Northern Ireland Players in Scottish Charity Cups

From the very earliest days of sport there has been a charitable side, with tournaments regularly held in aid of causes, both local and global. In football, this manifested itself with end-of-season competitions.

One of the few remaining instances of this type of competition is the England's FA Community Shield which has it's roots in the Sheriff of London Charity Shield (founded in 1898). Locally, the NIFL Charity Shield (last held in 2017) can loosely be linked back to the Belfast Charity Cup, which ran from 1883-1941.

Scottish football held a number of regional charity competitions, the most notable of these being the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup (1877-1966) and the Rosebery Charity Cup (1882-1945), while dozens of other similar tournaments were also held across the country.

These tournaments, along with other regional trophies, were regarded with some prestige for many decades, only second in importance to the league and Scottish Cup. Their importance waned after the Second World War, particularly with the introduction of the Scottish League Cup, regular visits from touring "foreign" sides and organised European competition.

GLASGOW MERCHANTS CHARITY CUP

Glasgow, being Scotland's "football capital" had the most highly-regarded Charity Cup, and perhaps the most ornate trophy. 

For the majority of its history, the Glasgow Charity Cup was a three-round knock-out competition featuring clubs from in-and-around Glasgow with teams occasionally invited from further affield. As such it was a much more effective fundraiser even than the FA Charity Shield, often yielding around three times as much revenue for the causes it supported. The final editions of the Glasgow Charity Cup saw a Glasgow XI facing an invited English side in a one-off match. As interest waned the trophy suffered a prolonged decline and was finally abandoned in 1967 after repeated failures to attract a suitably glamorous opponent to face the Glasgow XI.

Northern Ireland Players in the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup Final:

CELTIC FC [Club: 28 Wins (inc. 1 shared - 14 Runners-Up / NI Players*: 13 Wins - 1 Runner-Up]
Players	Winner	Runners-Up
Patsy Gallagher [7-0]	1911/2, 1912/3, 1913/4, 1914/5, 1915/6, 1920/1, 1923/4 (1)
Bertie Peacock [3-0]	1949/0, 1952/3, 1958/9
Charlie Tully [2-0]	1949/0, 1952/3
Tom Morrison [1-0]	1894/5
Billy Cook [0-1]		1929/0

* There may be further NI interest in the following matches for which line-ups remain untraced 1917/18, 1925/26 

[Mickey Hamill]

CLYDE FC [Club: 4 Wins (inc. 2 shared) - 6 Runners-Up / NI Players*: 0 Wins - 1 Runners-Up]
Players	Winner	Runners-Up
Ned Weir [0-1]		1939/0

* There may be further NI interest in the following matches for which line-ups remain untraced 1924/25, 1941/42, 1943/44

[Jack McGrillen, Frank Thompson, Eddie Falloon]

RANGERS FC [Club: 32 Wins - 19 Runners-Up / NI Players: 17 Wins - 5 Runners-Up]
Players	Winner	Runners-Up
Alex Craig [0-1]		1914/5
Sam English [1-0]	1931/2 (2)
Bob Hamilton [2-0]	1927/8, 1929/0
Bertie Manderson [4-2]	1918/9, 1921/2, 1922/3, 1924/5	1920/1, 1923/4
Billy McCandless [4-1]	1921/2, 1924/5, 1926/7, 1928/9	1923/4
Whitey McDonald [4-0]	1930/1, 1931/2, 1932/3, 1933/4
Billy Simpson [2-1]	1954/5, 1956/7	1954/5

ROSEBERY CHARITY CUP (Edinburgh & East of Scotland)

Clubs in Scotland's actual capital, Edinburgh, were inspired by their colleagues in the west to found a tournament similar to the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup. As with so many sporting events, Lord Rosebery stepped in to act as patron and give his name to the tournament. 

Edinburgh's "big two", Hearts and Hibs, dominated the trophy, between them claiming 54 of the 63 editions. There were a few occasions during war-time where the tournament was a single match between the two "giants". The final final was played on 9th May 1945, just two days after VE Day ended the Second World War in Europe.  

ARMADALE FC [Club: 0 Wins - 1 Runners-Up]

none

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN FC [Club: 32 Wins - 20 Runners-Up]

William Reid W 1933/34 (2), 1934/35

HIBERNIAN FC [Club: 22 Wins - 17 Runners-Up]

-

LEITH ATHLETIC FC [Club: 4 Wins - 15 Runners-Up]

(?) John Meaney (IFA Triallist) (?) RU 1908/09, 1909/10 (no line-up yet traced)

MOSSEND SWIFTS FC [Club: 1 Win - 1 Runners-Up]

none

MOTHERWELL FC [Club: 0 Wins - 1 Runners-Up]

none

Rest of EDINBURGH XI [Club: 0 Wins - 1 Runners-Up]

-

ST. BERNARD'S FC [Club: 4 Wins - 7 Runners-Up]

Ned Weir W 1930/31; RU 1935/36 

ALLISON TROPHY (Edinburgh Charities Day Committee)

Mr W.S. Allison, chairman of the Edinburgh Charity Day Committee, presented the Allison Trophy to be played for by an Edinburgh Select and an invited team. The first match saw a strengthened Hearts XI defeat a "star-studded" R.A.F. XI. Thereafter, an English club was invited to compete against a Hearts/Hibs XI each August as a season curtain-raiser, with the host ground alternating between Tynecastle and Easter Road. The trophy was to be permanently awarded to any English club winning consecutive matches but when this feat was achieved by Burnley in 1962 they agreed to hand the trophy back to the committee. The final match was played the following year (1963), with Dunfermline providing the opposition. The matches raised a total of £91,000 for worthy causes between 1944 and 1962.

City of Edinburgh Cup

• 1941 HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN FC 0-1 ARSENAL (Tynecastle)
• none

Allison Trophy

• 1943 HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN SELECT XI 3-2 R.A.F. XI (Tynecastle)
• (RAF) Peter Doherty (1 pen)
• 1944 ASTON VILLA FC 4-3 EDINBURGH XI (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1945 EDINBURGH XI 4-0 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN FC (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1946 ASTON VILLA FC 3-2 EDINBURGH XI (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1947 DERBY COUNTY 5-4 EDINBURGH XI (Easter Road)
• none
• 1948 EDINBURGH XI 1-1 BLACPOOL FC (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1949 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 3-2 EDINBURGH XI (Easter Road)
• (WWFC) Sammy Smyth
• 1950 EDINBURGH XI 1-1 NEWCASTLE UNITED FC (Tynecastle)
• (NUFC) Alf McMichael 
• 1951 LIVERPOOL 2-1 EDINBURGH XI (Easter Road)
• none
• 1952 EDINBURGH XI 3-2 PORTSMOUTH FC (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1953 EDINBURGH XI 3-2 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS FC (Easter Road)
• none
• 1954 EDINBURGH XI 3-2 BOLTON WANDERERS FC (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1955 EDINBURGH XI 1-1 NEWCASTLE UNITED FC (Easter Road)
• none
• 1956 EDINBURGH XI 2-1 BIRMINGHAM CITY FC (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1957 PRESTON NORTH END FC 3-1 EDINBURGH XI (Easter Road)
• none
• 1958 EDINBURGH XI 2-2 LIVERPOOL FC (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1959 EDINBURGH XI 4-3 NEWCASTLE UNITED FC (Easter Road)
• (NUFC) Dick Keith, Alf McMichael
• 1960 EDINBURGH XI 3-2 CHELSEA FC (Tynecastle)
• none
• 1961 BURNLEY FC - EDINBURGH XI (Easter Road)
• (BFC) Alex Elder, Jimmy McIlroy
• 1962 BURNLEY FC - EDINBURGH XI (Tynecastle)
• (BFC) Alex Elder, Jimmy McIlroy
• 1963 EDINBURGH XI 7-0 DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC FC (Easter Road)
• none

LORD PROVOST RENT RELIEF FUND CUP

The "Unemployed Relief" Cup was separate competitions held in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the 1921/22 season. The Edinburgh final was held over to 1923.

GLASGOW

• RANGERS FC 2-0 CELTIC FC
• (RFC) Bertie Manderson, Billy McCandless; (CFC) Patsy Gallagher

EDINBURGH

• HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN FC 2-1 HIBERNIAN FC
• none

FLEMING CHARITY SHIELD
The Lord Provost Sir John Fleming Charity Shield replaced the Aberdeenshire Charity Cup as the area's premier charity fundraising competition in 1900.

• 1906/07 ABERDEEN FC 1-0 PETERHEAD FC
• (AFC) Charlie O'Hagan
• 1907/08 ABERDEEN FC 4-0 PETERHEAD FC
• (AFC) Charlie O'Hagan

STIRLING CHARITY CUP

The Stirling Charity Cup was originally founded for clubs from Stirling & District. It then evolved into a one-off match for the area's Scottish League club, King's Park (later Stirling Albion) against clubs invited from beyond Stirlingshire.

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN FC

William Reid W 1934/35; RU 1933/34

PARTICK THISTLE FC

Harry Chatton W 1923/24; [possibly RU 1925/26, 1926/27]

RANGERS

- RU 1927/28 (match played between Merchants Cup final and semi-final)