May Object of the Month: Caithness Football Association County League Trophy

In our collections we hold this striking silver trophy that celebrates the long and passionate history of football in Caithness.

This cup bears the inscription:

 “Caithness Football Association. County Football League. Presented By Sir Alexander Grant. Bt. For Annual Competition.”

The reverse of the trophy tells its own story. Carefully engraved on the trophy is a long list of clubs and dates, documenting the winners of the Caithness County Football League across many decades. The earliest recorded winners on the cup are Thurso Academicals in the 1926–27 season.

Across the years, a wide range of Caithness clubs appear on the trophy. Names such as Thurso Swifts, Wick Groats, Castletown FC, Halkirk FC, and Lybster Portland FC reflect the spread of football across towns and villages throughout the region. Some clubs appear only once, while others returned repeatedly to claim the cup again and again.

Certain teams clearly dominated at different times. Thurso Academicals feature prominently in the mid-twentieth century, while Wick Groats and Halkirk FC also enjoyed successful runs during the later decades. Perhaps most striking is the sequence of victories by Pentland United FC, whose name appears year after year throughout

 the late 1990s and early 2000s holding the longest, unbroken streak. The final engraving on the trophy records Wick Thistle F.C. as winners in 2002, bringing the recorded story on the cup up to the early years of the twenty-first century.

Sporting trophies such as this offer more than a record of results. They are physical reminders of Saturday afternoons on local pitches, of rivalries between neighbouring communities, and of the players, supporters, and volunteers who kept grassroots football alive across Caithness for generations.

These great teams would be nowhere without their fans or their players. Tommy Geddes, born in Mey and who played for Pentland United, had the pleasure of being both and, wanting to share his stories with future generations, took the time to put down some of his memories so that they may be preserved.  

This trophy is currently on display in our changing highlights case in the North Coast Visitor Centre.

The full list of winners are as follows: