The Bullough Cup is a knock-out competition in the sport of shinty.
It is played for by reserve-level teams from the South District of Shinty, which includes all of Scotland South of Ballachulish as well as England. All teams playing in South Division Two, Kyles Athletic Seconds, Lochside Rovers, Inveraray Second Team, Glasgow Mid-Argyll Second Team, as well as non-league teams such as London Camanachd are eligible. Kyles Athletics Second Team are the current holders, having won it in 2023.[1]
The trophy was presented by Sir George Bullough, Victorian playboy and raconteur, who owned the hunting estate on the island of Rùm. http://oldappin.com/appin-shinty-reports-updated-072009/ The trophy was first played for in 1906 with an abeyance for the Great War. Its early years saw the competition dominated by teams from North Argyll, then Oban. With the amalgamation of the Dunn and Southern Leagues, the trophy become more open. The trophy has had two significant periods of abeyance, one in the lead up to the Second World War, and the other in the mid-Sixties. There was also a shorter period in the 1990s.
Lochside Rovers were champions in 2009 defeating Kyles Athletic in a rearranged final in Tighnabruaich after the original final was called off.
The Bullough Cup has seen several interesting developments in recent years, in 2005 it was run as a league cup, which marked the re-entry of Col-Glen and London to competition as well as the first senior fixtures of Aberdour Shinty Club. It has also seen the first Camanachd Association fixture in England for 80 years[2] and the victory by the Highlanders in 2006.
As of 2010, the opening rounds of the cup will be played midweek, in order to reduce the backlog of fixtures that has regularly afflicted shinty.[3]
Glasgow Mid-Argyll won the 2010 cup defeating Kyles Athletic 3–1,[4] and again in 2022 winning 2–0 against Kilmory.
In 2014, the Bullough Plate was created for first round losers to compete for and this was won by Glenorchy.[5] [6] The Bullough Plate was discontinued in 2015.
Wins By Clubs
| Club | Total | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lochside Rovers | 24 | 1912, 1913, 1921, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1971, 1972, 1989, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 | |
| Ballachulish | 11 | 1906, 1907, 1908, 1920, 1924, 1968, 1980, 1981, 1991, 1993, 2013 | |
| Inveraray | 10 | 1910, 1911, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1990, 2003, 2007, 2017 | |
| Oban Celtic | 10 | 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1949, 1963, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975 | |
| Glenorchy | 6 | 1973, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 | |
| Appin | 4 | 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954 | |
| Strachur | 4 | 1955, 1977, 1978, 1994 | |
| Kyles Athletic | 3 | 1987, 2004, 2014, 2023 | |
| Glasgow Mid-Argyll | 2 | 2010, 2022 | |
| Kilmory | 2 | 1979, 1992 | |
| Tayforth | 2 | 2015, 2016 | |
| The Highlanders | 1 | 2006 | |
| Bute | 1 | 1995 | |
| Col-Glen | 1 | 1983 | |
| Dunstaffnage | 1 | 1951 | |
| Duror | 1 | 1922 | |
| Glencoe | 1 | 1914 | |
| Kelburn | 1 | 1909 |