The North Atlantic Cup was a competition played on a round-robin basis between the representative teams of the Faroe Islands, the Shetland Islands, and the Orkney Islands, each hosting both opponents twice over a period of six years.
The competition was a successor to the Adam Shield which had been contested ten times by the Faroes and Shetland between 1935 and 1967.
The trophy, valued at GBP 150, was provided by the Ítróttasamband Føroya (Faroe Islands Sports Association) following donations by Faroese businessmen.
The pace of the competition was leisurely, with one team playing two away games each year. All four of the Shetland-Orkney matches also counted for the Milne Cup, which had been played annually since 1908.
After the trophy was awarded to Orkney in 1973, it was proposed that a new competition (with a new trophy) would be played as a single round-robin over one week, on a biennial basis, with Faroe hosting in 1974, Orkney in 1976, and Shetland in 1978. However this did not take place; regular meetings at representative level lapsed, although smaller scale events were played at club level in 1974 and 1975.
Shetland played Faroe in friendly matches in 1981, 1985, and 1990, and in the Island Games of 1989 and 1991, while Orkney continue to play Shetland annually for the Milne Cup. Orkney have not played Faroe at representative level since 1973.
First half
14-Jul-1968 Faroe 0-2 Orkney [at Gundadalur, Tórshavn]
[Harvey Spence 21', Eric Hutchison 77']
15-Aug-1968 Shetland 2-2 Orkney [at Gilbertson Park, Lerwick]
[James Mouat 15', Basil Thompson (2-0) / Eric Hutchison (2-1), Keith Hutchison 80']
[Note: this was also a Milne Cup match; the score after 90 minutes (2-2) counted
for the North Atlantic Cup, while extra time was played for the Milne Cup:
Shetland won 3-2 after extra time, the winning goal scored by Basil Thompson.]
19-Jul-1969 Faroe 2-1 Shetland [at Gundadalur, Tórshavn]
[Heri Nolsøe x2 / Jim Leask 22']
11-Aug-1969 Orkney 0-3 Shetland [at Bignold Park, Kirkwall]
[Jack Halcrow 14', Arthur Williamson ~50', Ernie Smith ~60']
[Note: this was also a Milne Cup match.]
10-Jul-1970 Orkney 3-4 Faroe [at Bignold Park, Kirkwall]
[Keith Hutchison 3', Calvin Slater, Harvey Spence / Heri Nolsøe x3, Johan 'Hanneman' Müller]
16-Jul-1970 Shetland 3-0 Faroe [at Gilbertson Park, Lerwick]
[Ernie Smith 43' 61', Jack Halcrow 70']
Table at halfway stage:
1.Shetland Islands 4 2 1 1 9- 4 5
2.Faroe Islands 4 2 0 2 6- 9 4
3.Orkney Islands 4 1 1 2 7- 9 3
Second Half
27-Jun-1971 Faroe 1-1 Orkney [at Gundadalur, Tórshavn]
[Sólbjørn Mortensen 60' / Brian Wood 80']
2-Aug-1971 Shetland ppd Orkney [postponed due to fog] [at Bignold Park, Kirkwall]
[Note: this was also a Milne Cup fixture.]
25-Jun-1972 Faroe 6-2 Shetland [at Gundadalur, Tórshavn]
[Jens Weihe 11', Eirikur Rasmussen 17', Heri Nolsøe 20' 80', Dánjal Jákup Thomsen 42' 58' / Jack Halcrow 16', Dougie Dalziel 71']
8-Jul-1972 Shetland 1-7 Orkney [at Seafield]
[Davie Leask ~10' / Eric Hutchison 7', Raymond Stanger 40', Alan Hutchison ~55' ~60' ~70', Calvin Slater ~65' pen, Keith Hutchison ~80']
[Note: this was also a Milne Cup match, for the 1972 edition.]
14-Aug-1972 Orkney 3-1 Shetland [at Bignold Park, Kirkwall]
[Raymond Stanger 25', Keith Hutchison 65', Graham Johnston 87' / Jim Leask 80']
[Note: this was also a Milne Cup match, for the postponed 1971 edition.]
13-Jun-1973 Shetland 5-1 Faroe [at Seafield]
[Graham Sandison, Ernie Smith, David Leask x2, Bruce Williamson / Páll Augustinussen ~35']
18-Jun-1973 Orkney 2-1 Faroe [at Bignold Park, Kirkwall]
[Graham Johnston ~40', Alan Hutchison ~50' / Áku Petersen 25']
Final Table:
1.Orkney Islands 8 4 2 2 20-13 10
2.Shetland Islands 8 3 1 4 18-21 7 [g.a. 0.86]
3.Faroe Islands 8 3 1 4 15-19 7 [g.a. 0.79]
With thanks to Ian King, Barrie Courtney and Mark Cruickshank
Prepared and maintained by Neil Morrison for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Neil Morrison
Last updated: 15 Jul 2020
(C) Copyright Neil Morrison and RSSSF 2000/20
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
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