Texaco Cup

{{Short description|Association football competition}}

{{For|the Trinidadian cricket competition referred to as the Texaco Cup|Beaumont Cup}}

{{Infobox recurring event

| name = Texaco Cup

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| genre = Sporting event

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| frequency = Annual

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| country = {{ENG}}
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| first = {{Start date|1970|df=y}}

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| last = {{Start date|1975|df=y}}

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File:Texaco Cup Programme 1974-75.jpg semi-final between Newcastle United and Birmingham City]]

The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottish-football-historical-archive.co.uk/texaco-cup.html|title=Texaco Cup|website=Scottish Football Historical Archive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004115023/http://www.scottish-football-historical-archive.co.uk/texaco-cup.html|archive-date=4 October 2017|url-status=live|access-date= 2 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablest/texaco.html|title=Texaco Cup & Anglo-Scottish Cup 1971–81|last=James Ross| date=20 December 2007|website=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921045939/http://www.rsssf.com/tablest/texaco.html|archive-date=21 September 2017|url-status=live|access-date= 2 January 2019}}

It was one of the first football competitions to receive sponsorship, taking the name of American petroleum company Texaco for £100,000, and was instituted to help promote Texaco's recent purchase of the Regent filling station chain.{{cite web|title=Best of British oils|url=http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3272/29/|publisher=When Saturday Comes|access-date=17 September 2010|author=Jim Heath|date=July 2001|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219074858/http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3272/29/ |archivedate=2011-02-19 |url-status=dead}} Irish and Northern Irish clubs withdrew from the competition after 1971–72 due to political pressure,[http://sfha.sqweebs.com/texacocup.htm Withdrawal of Irish clubs] {{dead link|date=August 2013}} competing in a separate Texaco (All-Ireland) Cup in 1973–74 and 1974–75.{{Cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/alliercuphist.html |title=All-Ireland Cross-Border Cup Competitions, (C) Copyright Sean DeLoughry, Julian Canny and RSSSF 2003/08 |access-date=2023-02-02 |archive-date=2022-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031015506/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/alliercuphist.html |url-status=live }}

Crowds in the competition fell after the first few seasons,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2009/jun/26/joy-of-six-extinct-football-competitions|title=The Joy of Six: Extinct football competitions|last=Scott Murray |date=26 June 2009|work=The Guardian|access-date= 2 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303073456/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2009/jun/26/joy-of-six-extinct-football-competitions|archive-date=3 March 2017|url-status=live}} and it became the Anglo-Scottish Cup from 1975 to 1976 after Texaco's sponsorship ended.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottish-football-historical-archive.co.uk/anglo-scottish-cup.html|title=Anglo-Scottish Cup: Intro|website=Scottish Football Historical Archive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004115058/http://www.scottish-football-historical-archive.co.uk/anglo-scottish-cup.html|archive-date=4 October 2017|url-status=live|access-date= 2 January 2019 }}