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U.S. Open Cup

HISTORY

Dating back to 1914, the U.S. Open Cup is the oldest competition in the United States and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is an 85-year-old single-elimination tournament. The U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions popular throughout Europe, South America, and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrently with a country's league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving local amateur teams a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer.  The winner of each country's domestic cup competition, in addition to taking home the prize money, is automatically placed into a tournament to compete against neighboring countries' cup winners. In Europe, this tournament is known as the Cup Winner's Cup competition, and in North and Central America and Carribean it is the CONCACAF Cup Winner's Cup, which was first competed in 1992.

As the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history, the U.S. Open Cup dates back to 1914 when the Brooklyn Field Club won the first national title by defeating the Brooklyn Celtics in Pawtucket, R.I. First instituted as the National Challenge Cup it was conceived as a competition open to all players (amateur and professional) and based upon England's Football Association Cup format. During the Open Cup's early years, teams sponsored by industry in the East's urban centers dominated the competition. Bethlehem Steel (Pa.) won four Open Cup titles between 1915 and 1919, while Fall River F.C. (Mass.) won five national crowns between 1917 and 1931, tying Bethlehem Steel (a winner also in 1926) and Maccabbees S.C. of Los Angeles (1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, and 1981) as the tournament's only five time winners. Although there have been numerous back-to-back winners (eight overall by seven different teams), only Greek American AA of New York City has won three consecutive crowns (1967-1969).

While teams sponsored by industries in the East's urban centers dominated the Open and Amateur Cups until the 1950s, the teams from the West and Midwest have performed very well more recently. California alone has garnered the lion's share of that success, winning ten titles since 1973. Missouri, Illinois, and Florida have also appeared regularly on the winner's list. Although it is now a complete "knock-out" tournament, with a few exceptions the U.S. Open Cup final was a two-leg, home-and-away series between 1928 and 1968. Despite the prominence of the North American Soccer League from 1967 to 1984, NASL teams rarely showed the inclination to enter the U.S. Open Cup competition. In fact, until the emergence of Major League Soccer, full professional teams were almost non-existent in the competition. That has changed in recent years, though, with the MLS taking part since 1996, thus helping to make the tournament a true "national" championship. Due to increased sponsorship and greater media attention, the U.S. Open Cup is now beginning to enjoy a prominence equal to its importance as America's "open" soccer championship.

PAST U.S. OPEN CUP Results

The results of the  2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, 2003 U.S. Open Cup, 2004 U.S. Open Cup, 2005 U.S. Open Cup and 2006 U.S. Open Cup are posted.  Includes all results from the beginning of the tournament all the way to the championship.

HISTORY OF THE DEWAR CUP
The Dewar Cup, the oldest trophy in United States team sports, was refurbished in 1997 by the U.S. Amateur Soccer Association and, after being retired in 1979, has been presented to each U.S. Open Cup champion since the Dallas Burn's victory in Indianapolis in 1997. The trophy, a silver sculpture standing almost three feet high, was originally donated to the American Amateur Football Association (AAFA) by Sir Thomas R. Dewar, the British sportsman and philanthropist, when the AAFA (now the USASA) visited London before the 1912 Olympic Games. Purchased by Dewar for the equivalent of $500, it was given in the hope of promoting soccer in the United States and in the name of Anglo- American friendship. After first being awarded to the Yonkers Football Club (N.Y.) in 1912 after they defeated the Hollywood Inn Football Club (N.Y.) at the Lennox Oval in New York City, the trophy was officially adopted as the U.S. Open Cup trophy prior to the Brooklyn Field Club's inaugural championship in 1914 in Pawtucket, R.I.

Past Champions