The McCullough Cup is a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

competition. It is an annual tournament played for by schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition is held in the winter term of each school year, with the older

Burney Cup The Burney Cup (Ulster Schoolboys' Senior Hockey Cup) is an annual competition involving the strongest schools affiliated to the Ulster Hockey Union, Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition is held in the spring term of eac ...

running in the Spring term. The most successful school is

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

with 17 wins (16 outright wins and 1 shared win). The current holder is Royal Belfast Academical Institution.

Trophy

The trophy is called ''The Ian McCullough Memorial Cup''. It was donated by a well-known family in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

hockey circles, in memory of their son Ian. Ian (full name – John Truesdale McCullough) was a 15-year-old Newry Grammar School pupil. He was accidentally killed after being struck by a hockey ball during a match against

at Bladon Drive on 3 December 1960.

Teams

The teams that compete for this trophy are the strongest boys' first teams from schools in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

. All players must be under 18 on 1 July at the start of the year of the competition. Fourteen teams from thirteen schools competed for the trophy in the 2013–14 season.

Format

The competition started out as a straight knockout event with the first winners being the defunct Bushmills Grammar School. However it was soon decided to move all matches to the winter term, with a league format introduced to provide all schools with a guaranteed number of fixtures. Under the current format, all teams are divided into two pools, with each school playing all the other schools in their pool once. The top two teams from each pool qualify for the semi-finals. In the semi-finals the teams in first place in the pools play the second place teams from the other pool. The winners of the semi-final ties contest the final, which is usually played at a neutral venue on the second Wednesday in December.

Performance by school

Footnote * ^† Total includes

Annadale Grammar School Annadale Grammar School for Boys was an all-boys school located on the Annadale Embankment skirting the River Lagan in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1990, Annadale Grammar School (all boys) amalgamated with Carolan Grammar School (all girl ...

performance (one win and one beaten finalist). Wellington College was formed as a result of merger involving Annadale Grammar School.

Finals

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Sources

External links

Ulster Branch of Irish Hockey Union
{{Ulster field hockey links Field hockey competitions in Ulster 1961 establishments in Ireland Field hockey cup competitions in Ireland