The West of Scotland Junior Challenge Cup was an annual

Scottish football Association football ( sco, fitbaa, gd, ball-coise) is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Sc ...

competition played in a one-leg knockout format (played at 'home' team grounds as drawn, until the final at a neutral venue), organised by the West Region of the

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football ...

. After the entire West Region joined the senior pyramid structure in 2020, a new league competition was started, the West of Scotland League, and with it the new West of Scotland League Cup.

History

The tournament has its origins in the

Intermediate dispute The Intermediate dispute was a major split in Scottish football which lasted from 1925 to 1931 and concerned the compensation that Junior clubs received when one of their players moved to a Senior football league side. Although largely confined to ...

of the 1920s, in which most of the leading Junior clubs in the west of Scotland left the

and formed their own Scottish Intermediate Football Association in 1927, which organised new leagues and cups similar to those run by the

SJFA The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football (soccer), football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the ...

, including the ''Scottish Intermediate Cup'' as a replication of the flagship Junior competition, the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compet ...

. The dispute was resolved in 1931, the rebel clubs rejoined the SJFA and the competitions were continued, with the Scottish Intermediate Cup re-designated the West of Scotland Cup, below the Scottish Cup in the hierarchy. Initially it was open only to the clubs which had been in the intermediates (the historic Glasgow League, now replaced by the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

, and the Western League in northern Ayrshire which had existed both before and after the dispute) but by 1949 this had been extended to other clubs which had joined those leagues – notably a group in southern Ayrshire – and those in the Lanarkshire League which had continued during the dispute, with a total of 82 clubs entering the 1949–50 edition.West of Scotland Junior Cup
AntsHistory The format has remained almost unchanged since, with mergers in the leagues (

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

joining Central in 1968, and Central and Ayrshire merging as West Region in 2002) not affecting involvement in the West Cup. From 2003 until 2012, the winners qualified for the Evening Times Cup Winners Cup along with the other league and cup winners in the regionEvening Times Competitions
AntsHistory (this thereafter changed to a 'Champions Cup' format for league divisional winners only). The current (2019) holders are Beith Juniors who defeated

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed ''The Rabs'' or ''The Roy'', they were formed in 1878. They wear red and black strips and currently compete in t ...

in a

Penalty shoot-out (association football) A penalty shoot-out (officially kicks from the penalty mark) is a tie-breaking method in association football to determine which team is awarded victory in a match that cannot end in a draw, when the score is tied after the normal time as wel ...

at the final played at Meadow Park in Irvine; Beith were also finalists in 2018, losing on penalties to Hurlford United at the same venue. The Junior competition should not be confused with the ''West Of Scotland Amateur Cup'' operated by the

Scottish Amateur Football Association The Scottish Amateur Football Association (SAFA) is the organising body for amateur football across Scotland. An affiliate of the Scottish Football Association, the SAFA has in turn 50 regional associations affiliated to it and some 67 diff ...

, encompassing a similar geographical area and occupying a similar prominence below the

Scottish Amateur Cup The Scottish Amateur Cup is a nationwide knockout tournament supported and organised by the Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Scottish Amateur Cup is contested by hundreds of football clubs every year. The first and second rounds are re ...

, nor with a ''West of Scotland Cup'' for Under-21 teams operated by the Scottish Youth FA.Cup Draws: LSK West of Scotland Cup
West of Scotland 21's Youth Football League

Finals

* (R) = Won after a replay/2nd replay. * (aet) = Result after extra time. * (P) = Won on penalties. ; Notes

Club Performance

; Notes

References

External links

Results and Fixtures
at

{{SJFA West Region 1931 establishments in Scotland 2020 disestablishments in Scotland Defunct football cup competitions in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom Annual events in Scotland Recurring sporting events established in 1932 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2020