The first final was played in 1896 in the grounds of Galway Grammar School on College Road and featured two local clubs. Galway Town proved too strong for the students from Queen's College Galway on a 9-0 scoreline. The students made up for that defeat the following year when they defeated the Lancashire Fusiliers on the same scoreline.

All in all, the students under the club's various names (Queen's College, UCG and NUIG) have won the cup 34 times, as have Corinthians.

Ballina played in our first final in 1930 and were defeated 3-0 by UCG. We were back in the final again the following year and on that occasion Loughrea were victorious on a 6-3 scoreline.

We won our first Cup in 1951 and followed up with our second win in 1979. On Thursday, we hope to make it a trio of victories in the famous old competition.