OUT ON LOAN
Durand Cup travels from Scotland to Switzerland
ONE of the world’s oldest football trophies is leaving its Scots home so it can take pride of place at a FIFA exhibition in Switzerland.
The Durand Cup tournament, which was first won by the Royal Scots Fusiliers, was launched in India in 1888 to stop British soldiers getting fat and unfit.
It was named after Sir Mortimer Durand, the then foreign secretary in charge of India.
Bosses at the Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum in Glasgow say the cup is being sent on loan to the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich for a month.
Dr Joyce Steele, curator of the RHF Museum, said: “This is a very important trophy – in fact, it is one of the oldest non-UK football trophies in the world.
“Sir Mortimer Durand felt that soldiers were becoming too fat and unfit in India and he developed the idea of an all-India trophy to encourage them to get more active.
“At the first match in 1888, Winston Churchill’s old regiment the Royal Scots Fusiliers beat The Highland Light Infantry in the first match.
“The HLI then went on to win it five times, so they got to keep the trophy. The RSF and HLI amalgamated in 1959 to form The Royal Highland Fusiliers, so that’s why we have the cup. “It will be sad to see it go from its home here but at least we know we will be getting it back in the not too distant future.” At first, the Durand Cup was largely the preserve of the British Indian Army troops in India. After World War II, the British Army left India and the tournament was opened up to non-military teams to maintain the level of competition.
The tournament still runs and is now one of the leading prizes in Indian football, where the tournament’s popularity continues to grow.
India will next month host the Under-17s World Cup for the first time. And the Durand Cup will be transported from Glasgow across Europe and placed on display in the foyer of the FIFA Museum as an artefact from India.
In the inaugural final of the tournament, the Royal Scots Fusiliers beat the Highland Light Infantry 2-1.
The Durand Cup has only been suspended twice due to the two world wars.