When Orkney footballers ruled the North Atlantic
By Sigurd Towrie
(from The Orcadian dated 11 May 2000)

A football trophy won by Orkney at the end of a record-breaking five-year competition was presented to the Orkney Museum at the weekend to form the centre of a display telling the story of the tournament.

The North Atlantic Cup, won outright by Orkney in 1973, was presented to the museum by Mrs Elizabeth Donaldson, widow of the late Jim Donaldson, Carter’s Park, Kirkwall, who was president of the Orkney Football Association at the time.

In 1968 the football associations of Orkney, Shetland and Faeroe began a competition that would take five years to complete and which saw each island group take part in two home and two away games against each other. After the 12 games the team with the highest number of points would win the trophy.

The competition began with the Orkney team flying to the Faeroe Islands where they won 2-0. After five years of gains and losses Orkney met Faeroe again in the deciding match and emerged the winners 2-1. Their victory meant that Orkney became the outright holders of the North Atlantic Cup.

Johnny Johnston, one of the original players, who has just stood down as Orkney Amateur Football Association president, explained: “It was the first time an Orkney team had ever gone abroad to play a game and it was a completely different experience for them.

“They didn’t play on grass which was new and then there were the tremendous crowds. The Faeroese treated the games against Orkney and Shetland as international matches.

“We regarded them more as something like inter-county games, although that didn’t mean we didn’t try as hard. We went there to do our best and to try and win.”

And win they did.

“Jim Donaldson was in charge of the Orkney Football Association at the time and he acted as the trophy’s custodian,” explained Johnny. “Looking back that was a good decision because it means the cup is still in perfect condition.

“It’s in the museum now and people who want to see it can just go along and view it along with the display. It’s a fitting way to finish it off,” he added.

Museums officer Bryce Wilson said: “We are delighted to be custodians of the North Atlantic Cup. Football is a very popular sport throughout Orkney and the cup will remain on display to highlight the standard achieved.”