Texaco Cup

The Texaco Cup was an association football competition involving clubs from England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland that had not qualified for European competitions.

Irish and Northern Irish clubs withdrew from the competition after 1971–72 due to political pressure, and in 1973–74 and 1974–75 competed in a separate Texaco (All-Ireland) Cup. The tournament was sponsored by American petroleum giant Texaco to the tune of £100,000, and was instituted to help promote their recent purchase of the Regent filling station chain.

The cup became the Anglo-Scottish Cup from 1975–76 after the withdrawal of Texaco's sponsorship.

Format

In the first two seasons sixteen clubs (six from England, six from Scotland and four from Ireland) entered, and following the withdrawal of the Irish teams this changed to nine English and seven Scottish sides. For the final season of the competition, 16 English clubs (including a number of Second Division sides, and the Third and Fourth Division champions) played in groups before being joined in the knockout stages by four Scottish sides.