The Victory Cup was a one-off Scottish football competition held in 1919 to celebrate the end of World War I. It is an unofficial competition in statistical terms, taking place at the end of the 1918–19 season just before official competitions such as the Scottish Cup resumed (the top division of the Scottish Football League continued during the conflict).
The winners of the Victory Cup were St Mirren who defeated Heart of Midlothian 3–0 after extra time in the final at Celtic Park in Glasgow.
Summary The format was a straight knockout tournament involving clubs in the south and west of Scotland, with each round played as a single match with replays as necessary, and the final at a neutral venue. Matches took place between March and April 1919.
Due to the scarcity of materials and the swift manner in which the competition was organised, no trophy was available to be presented to the winners at the time; St Mirren instead received a 'Victory Cup Shield'. They received a trophy at a later time.
A similar wartime competition was held at the end of World War II, won by Rangers. Coincidentally, the manager of the losing team in that final (Willie McCartney of Hibernian) was the son of John McCartney, the Hearts manager in 1919.
Results
First round Team 1AggregateTeam 2Airdrieonians5–1AbercornAlbion Rovers1–1KilmarnockCeltic2–0Vale of LevenClyde2–0JohnstoneFalkirk3–0Dumbarton HarpMorton2–1ClydebankMotherwell2–0Stevenston UnitedPartick Thistle4–3RentonQueen's Park2–1ArthurlieSt Mirren0–0Dumbarton Replays Team 1AggregateTeam 2Kilmarnock0–1Albion RoversDumbarton0–1St Mirren
Second round Team 1AggregateTeam 2Albion Rovers1–3CelticHamilton Academical0–100RangersHibernian1–0Ayr UnitedMotherwell2–1MortonPartick Thistle2–0FalkirkQueen's Park0–4AirdrieoniansSt Mirren3–2ClydeThird Lanark1–2Heart of Midlothian
Quarter-finals Team 1AggregateTeam 2Airdrieonians1–0RangersHibernian2–0MotherwellPartick Thistle0–2Heart of MidlothianSt Mirren1–0Celtic
Semi-finals Team 1AggregateTeam 2Heart of Midlothian7–1AirdrieoniansHibernian1–3St Mirren
Final
St Mirren: GK William O'HaganDF 2 Jack MarshallDF 3 John FultonMF 4 Bob PerryMF 5 Harold McKennaMF 6 Harry AndersonFW 7 Frank HodgesFW 8 Tom PageFW 9 John ClarkFW 10 Charles SutherlandFW 11 James ThomsonManager:Johnny CochraneHeart of Midlothian: GK 1 Willie BlackDF 2 Bob BirrellDF 3 Jock WilsonMF 4 Bob PrestonMF 5 Bob MercerMF 6 Jack SharpFW 7 George SinclairFW 8 George MillerFW 9 Andy WilsonFW 10 Alex McCullochFW 11 Willie WilsonManager: John McCartney
See also Heart of Midlothian F.C. and World War I
References