The trophy itself was donated by Bailie Milne, the first chairman of Aberdeen F.C. It was originally intended for competition between Lerwick and Scalloway, but instead the cup was first competed for in 1908 by teams representing Lerwick and Kirkwall. From 1913 onwards the teams represented Shetland and Orkney, although formally speaking the Shetland F.A. and the Orkney F.A. were not formed until 1919 and 1920 respectively. Prior to 1920 the Thorfinn club selected the Orkney team.
In the earliest years the prevalent code on the islands was rugby union, and indeed the first reported association football match in Shetland was played in July 1887 when the local rugby club Lerwick F.C. was challenged to an association match by a group of building contractors from Edinburgh; Lerwick led 2-1 when the match ended early due to the ball bursting. The first match (under association rules) between teams from the two archipelagos was on the 20th June 1901, when Lerwick beat Kirkwall 2-0. In May 1907 a Lerwick team selected from the Viking and Thistle clubs played in Orkney, drawing 1-1 with Thorfinn at Kirkwall and beating Stromness 3-0. The latter visit appears to have led directly to the annual representative matches beginning in 1908.
Since 1908 the Milne Cup match has been played annually, apart from interruptions due to war, a postponement in 1971 (two matches were played in 1972), and a disagreement in 1975 when the two sides could not decide upon a suitable date. The Milne Cup matches for 1968, 1969, 1971 (held 1972), and 1972 also formed part of the North Atlantic Cup, a triangular tournament including the Faroe Islands.
From 2006 to 2014 an analogous match for women's representative teams, the Mitchell Shield, was also played.
No. Year ( Date ) Home Score Away Notes 1 1908 (May 7) Lerwick 5-1 Kirkwall 2 1909 (May 19) Kirkwall 4-3 Lerwick AET 3 1910 (May 23) Lerwick 2-0 Kirkwall 4 1911 (May 10) Kirkwall 3-2 Lerwick 5 1912 (Apr 15) Lerwick 0-0 Kirkwall AET; Kirkwall retained the cup 6 1913 (May 7) Orkney 3-2 Shetland 7 1914 (Apr 27) Shetland 0-1 Orkney - 1915-18 not played (war) 8 1919 (Jun 11) Orkney 2-3 Shetland 9 1920 (May 24) Shetland 3-0 Orkney 10 1921 (May 14) Orkney 2-1 Shetland 11 1922 (May 29) Shetland 7-1 Orkney 12 1923 (May 11) Orkney 1-2 Shetland AET 13 1924 (May 19) Shetland 2-1 Orkney 14 1925 (May 29) Orkney 2-3 Shetland 15 1926 (May 24) Shetland 2-0 Orkney 16 1927 (May 6) Orkney 5-1 Shetland 17 1928 (May 21) Shetland 2-3 Orkney 18 1929 (May 24) Orkney 1-3 Shetland 19 1930 (May 26) Shetland 1-3 Orkney 20 1931 (May 29) Orkney 5-2 Shetland 21 1932 (May 23) Shetland 6-0 Orkney 22 1933 (May 19) Orkney 1-0 Shetland 23 1934 (May 28) Shetland 4-0 Orkney 24 1935 (May 31) Orkney 3-1 Shetland 25 1936 (May 18) Shetland 0-1 Orkney 26 1937 (May 21) Orkney 4-1 Shetland 27 1938 (May 30) Shetland 7-4 Orkney 28 1939 (Jun 2) Orkney 2-0 Shetland - 1940-45 not played (war) 29 1946 (Aug 22) Shetland 3-5 Orkney 30 1947 (Aug 22) Orkney 2-2 Shetland AET; Orkney retained the cup 31 1948 (Jun 3) Shetland 2-1 Orkney AET 32 1949 (Aug 26) Orkney 6-1 Shetland 33 1950 (Aug 31) Shetland 1-2 Orkney 34 1951 (Aug 24) Orkney 4-0 Shetland 35 1952 (Aug 21) Shetland 2-5 Orkney 36 1953 (Aug 28) Orkney 1-3 Shetland 37 1954 (Aug 19) Shetland 3-1 Orkney AET 38 1955 (Aug 5) Orkney 3-2 Shetland 39 1956 (Aug 16) Shetland 1-6 Orkney 40 1957 (Aug 2) Orkney 2-4 Shetland 41 1958 (Aug 21) Shetland 0-2 Orkney 42 1959 (Aug 14) Orkney 4-2 Shetland 43 1960 (Aug 18) Shetland 0-2 Orkney 44 1961 (Aug 4) Orkney 6-4 Shetland 45 1962 (Aug 16) Shetland 4-5 Orkney AET 46 1963 (Aug 2) Orkney 7-9 Shetland AET 47 1964 (Aug 20) Shetland 3-3 Orkney AET; Shetland retained the cup 48 1965 (Aug 6) Orkney 2-1 Shetland 49 1966 (Aug 18) Shetland 1-6 Orkney 50 1967 (Aug 3) Orkney 1-2 Shetland 51 1968 (Aug 15) Shetland 3-2 Orkney AET; first 90 minutes (score 2-2) also part of the North Atlantic Cup 52 1969 (Aug 11) Orkney 0-3 Shetland part of the North Atlantic Cup 53 1970 (Aug 20) Shetland 1-1 Orkney AET; Shetland retained the cup 54 1971 (1972 Aug 14) Orkney 3-1 Shetland postponed from 1971 (Aug 2) due to fog; part of the North Atlantic Cup 55 1972 (Jul 8) Shetland 1-7 Orkney part of the North Atlantic Cup 56 1973 (Aug 3) Orkney 3-2 Shetland 57 1974 (Aug 3) Shetland 2-1 Orkney - 1975 not played (no date could be agreed) 58 1976 (Jul 30) Orkney 2-1 Shetland 59 1977 (Jul 29) Shetland 1-0 Orkney 60 1978 (Jul 28) Orkney 1-2 Shetland 61 1979 (Jul 28) Shetland 2-0 Orkney AET 62 1980 (Jul 25) Orkney 0-1 Shetland 63 1981 (Jul 25) Shetland 0-1 Orkney 64 1982 (Jul 30) Orkney 0-1 Shetland 65 1983 (Jul 30) Shetland 1-0 Orkney 66 1984 (Jul 27) Orkney 0-1 Shetland 67 1985 (Jul 26) Shetland 6-1 Orkney 68 1986 (Jul 25) Orkney 0-1 Shetland 69 1987 (Jul 24) Shetland 2-0 Orkney 70 1988 (Jul 29) Orkney 1-0 Shetland 71 1989 (Jul 28) Shetland 4-1 Orkney 72 1990 (Sep 1) Orkney 1-0 Shetland postponed from July 27 due to fog 73 1991 (Jul 26) Shetland 4-2 Orkney 74 1992 (Aug 1) Orkney 0-2 Shetland 75 1993 (Jul 30) Shetland 3-0 Orkney 76 1994 (Jul 30) Orkney 0-0 Shetland AET; Shetland retained the cup 77 1995 (Sep 1) Shetland 2-0 Orkney postponed from July 28 due to fog 78 1996 (Jul 27) Orkney 0-4 Shetland 79 1997 (Jul 25) Shetland 5-0 Orkney 80 1998 (Jul 18) Orkney 2-3 Shetland 81 1999 (Jul 31) Shetland 4-1 Orkney 82 2000 (Jul 29) Orkney 0-7 Shetland 83 2001 (Aug 24) Shetland 2-1 Orkney postponed from July 27 due to fog 84 2002 (Jul 27) Orkney 1-3 Shetland 85 2003 (Jul 25) Shetland 3-1 Orkney AET 86 2004 (Jul 31) Orkney 5-4 Shetland AET 87 2005 (Jul 29) Shetland 3-0 Orkney 88 2006 (Jul 29) Orkney 0-4 Shetland 89 2007 (Jul 27) Shetland 4-1 Orkney 90 2008 (Jul 26) Orkney 1-2 Shetland 91 2009 (Jul 25) Shetland 1-0 Orkney AET 92 2010 (Jul 31) Orkney 0-2 Shetland 93 2011 (Jul 30) Shetland 1-0 Orkney 94 2012 (Jul 28) Orkney 3-1 Shetland 95 2013 (Jul 27) Shetland 4-1 Orkney 96 2014 (Jul 12) Orkney 2-3 Shetland AET 97 2015 (Aug 1) Shetland 6-0 Orkney 98 2016 (Jul 30) Orkney 3-2 Shetland 99 2017 (Jul 29) Shetland 2-0 Orkney 100 2018 (Jul 28) Orkney 5-1 Shetland 101 2019 (Jul 27) Shetland 1-1 Orkney AET; 5-4 pen 102 2020 (Oct 17) Orkney 0-1 Shetland postponed from July 25 due to COVID-19 pandemic 103 2021 (Jul 31) Shetland 1-2 Orkney AET 104 2022 (Jul 30) Orkney 0-8 Shetland 105 2023 (Sep 16) Shetland 6-1 Orkney 106 2024 (Jul 27) Orkney 1-2 Shetland AET Total number of cup wins Shetland (including Lerwick) 64 (3 retained after draw, 1 won on penalties after draw) Orkney (including Kirkwall) 42 (2 retained after draw) Total number of match wins Shetland (including Lerwick) 60 Orkney (including Kirkwall) 40 Draw 6 Longest unbeaten run Shetland 13 years 1991-2003 (one match drawn) Greatest winning margin 2022 Orkney 0-8 Shetland Most goals in a match 1963 Orkney 7-9 Shetland [AET]
Sources: historical archives of the following local newspapers: "Shetland Times," "Shetland News," "Orkney Herald," "Orcadian."
Prepared and maintained by Mark Cruickshank and Neil Morrison for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Mark Cruickshank and Neil Morrison
Last updated: 1 Aug 2024
(C) Copyright Mark Cruickshank, Neil Morrison, and RSSSF 2007/24
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