Mod Cup
Encyclopedia
The Mod Cup is a trophy in the sport of shinty
Shinty
Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...

 first competed for in 1969, traditionally played for by the two teams who are based closest to the host venue of the Royal National Mod
Royal National Mod
The Royal National Mod is the annual national mod, a festival of Scottish Gaelic song, arts and culture.The Mod is run by An Comunn Gàidhealach , and includes competitions and awards.-History:...

. The current holders are Lewis Camanachd
Lewis Camanachd
Lewis Camanachd AKA Comann Camanachd Leòdhais in Scots Gaelic, is the senior shinty team from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The club entered North Division Three for the first time in 2011. This was the first time a team from the Western Isles was allowed to compete in league shinty...

.

History

The Cup is presented by An Comunn Gaidhealach
An Comunn Gàidhealach
An Comunn Gàidhealach , literally The Gaelic Association) is an organisation in Scotland which seeks to promote Scottish Gaelic language and culture, following in the footsteps of the Gaelic Athletic Association or GAA in Ireland....

 as part of the week long Mod as a celebration of shinty's links with Scottish Gaelic. Over the years, the Mod has been held in towns without shinty teams which has resulted in teams being imported (Stornoway Mods in the 1980s, when Beauly Shinty Club
Beauly Shinty Club
Beauly Shinty Club is a shinty club from Beauly, Scotland. The club was founded in 1892. The club has two sides, the first team competing in Marine Harvest North Division One and the second team in North Division Three.-History:...

 and Skye Camanachd
Skye Camanachd
Skye Camanachd is a shinty team from the Isle of Skye, Highland, Scotland. It plays in North Division One and has a reserve team in North Division Two. The club is based at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree.-Early history:...

 or in areas with a plethora of shinty teams, such as the Lochaber
Lochaber
District of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region...

 Mod 2007 when a select Lochaber East Side played Lochaber West in Ardnamurchan
Ardnamurchan
Ardnamurchan is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its length.-Geography:...

. The expansion of shinty in to areas where it had previously not been played for a long time means that there should be teams from that locale competing for the trophy in future. This was the case with the Caithness Mod in 2010 http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1938764?UserKey= and the Western Isles Mod in 2011.

The 2008 fixture was to be competed for between Aberdour Shinty Club
Aberdour Shinty Club
Aberdour Shinty Club is a shinty club which plays in Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. It is the only senior Shinty Club in Fife and was founded in 2001...

 and Glasgow Mid-Argyll at Little Kerse, Grangemouth
Grangemouth
Grangemouth is a town and former burgh in the council area of Falkirk, Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk, west of Bo'ness and south-east of Stirling. Grangemouth had a resident population of 17,906 according to the 2001...

 as part of the Mod in Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....

but the fixture was rained off. The 2009 fixture was played between Lochside Rovers and Oban Celtic at Mossfield Park, Oban on 10th October 2009http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1428533?UserKey= as part of a normal league fixture which Lochside won. The Cup provides many smaller teams with an opportunity to win national silverware.

The 2010 fixture between Caithness and Sutherland was an historic game as it was the most northerly official shinty game ever played,. Caithness won 3-1.http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1938764?UserKey=

The 2011 final was played in Uist, and was contested between Uist and Lewis, with Lewis gaining revenge over their 2005 conquerors, winning 2-0.

Winners

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