The MacTavish Cup is a knock-out cup competition in the sport of shinty. It is competed for by senior teams from the North of Scotland district. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shinty. [1] The current holders are Newtonmore. The competition is currently sponsored by cottages.com.
The final is habitually played at the Bught Park, Inverness. [2]
The trophy is a rose bowl [3] presented by Duncan MacTavish of Stratherrick in 1898 and the first competition was played that year and was won by Skye Camanachd.
The final was televised for the first time in 2009 by BBC Alba. The 2009 winners were Newtonmore Camanachd, managed by Norman MacArthur.
As of 2010, the opening rounds of the cup were to be played midweek, in order to reduce the backlog of fixtures that has regularly afflicted shinty. [4] This caused major controversy and Skye Camanachd sent an official letter of complaint to the Camanachd Association. [5] However, this decision was reversed and midweek fixtures were reserved for junior level cups.
The 2010 final was played between Kingussie and Kilmallie, who upset Fort William to reach the final. The game was a magnificent advert for shinty and was won 5-4 by Kingussie. [6] It was broadcast live on BBC 2 Scotland.
In 2014, the MacTavish Plate was established for teams losing in the first round. Fort William triumphed 2-1 over Skye Camanachd in the first final at Craigard, Invergarry.
Only 5 clubs have managed to retain the trophy. Newtonmore being the most recent in 2016 and 2017, however Kingussie and Newtonmore have both done it multiple times both dominating for long periods. Fort Augustus and Inverness have both also successfully defended the trophy both doing so before The Great War.
Glenurquhart won the cup in 2015, defeating Newtonmore. This was notable not only for being their first victory in the competition but having lost the previous two finals to Lovat, as well as the 2008 final to Kingussie.
The 2018 final saw Newtonmore comeback from a goal down to defeat 2017 Premiership League champions Kinlochshiel 2-1 in a closely fought encounter at the Bught Park, Inverness. The match was shown live on BBC Alba.
| Club | Total | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Newtonmore | 42 | 1902, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 2002, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| Kingussie | 30 | 1901, 1914, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Lovat | 8 | 1906, 1926, 1928, 1947, 1949, 1953, 2013, 2014 |
| Caberfeidh | 4 | 1932, 1934, 1935, 1937 |
| Kilmallie | 4 | 1959, 1961, 1967, 1969 |
| Beauly | 3 | 1899, 1905, 1913 |
| Inverness | 3 | 1907, 1911, 1912 |
| Kinlochshiel | 1 | 2021 |
| Spean Bridge | 3 | 1922, 1925, 1933 |
| Ballachulish | 3 | 1938, 1948, 1952 |
| Fort William | 3 | 1996, 2000, 2007 |
| Fort Augustus | 2 | 1909, 1910 |
| Skye | 1 | 1898 |
| Laggan | 1 | 1900 |
| Wester Ross | 1 | 1908 |
| Glenurquhart | 1 | 2015 |
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