ONE OF the world's oldest football trophies has left Glasgow to be displayed at FIFA's World Football Museum in Zurich.

The Durand Cup, the world's oldest non-UK football tournament, was originally organised in 1888 to stop soldiers serving in India from becoming unfit.

Now open to clubs in India, the original trophy currently resides in The Royal Highland Fusiliers' (RHF) museum in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.

It will go on show in the foyer of the FIFA Museum in Switzerland as an important artefact from India, to mark the country hosting the Under 17s World Cup for the first time.

Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary in charge of India, organised the tournament after he decided British troops serving in India were becoming lazy and fat.

The first winners were the Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF), after they beat The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) 2-1. The HLI were awarded the first trophy to keep, however, after their fifth triumph in 1895, and it was brought back to Glasgow.

The RSF and HLI amalgamated in 1959 to form The RHF, and the trophy has been kept in an "India Case" in the regiment's museum for 58 years.

It is being transported to Zurich after a request by FIFA, the governing body of world football. It will be displayed in the foyer for a month before being returned to Scotland on November 8.

Dr Joyce Steele, Curator of the RHF Museum, said today/yesterday [THURS]: "Sir Mortimer Durand looked at the troops and decided they were getting fat and lazy, so he decided to organise this tournament to get them fit.

"He got it going in 1888, and it is still going today.

"The Highland Light Infantry won it five times by 1895, so we have the original trophy. It is one of our prized artefacts.

"The historian for the FIFA World Football Museum knew about this and rang me up to ask if they could borrow it, so we said yes, obviously. We are delighted that more people will be able to see it, and learn about its history."

The Durand Football Tournament or Durand Cup was named after its founder, Sir Mortimer Durand, a diplomat and Foreign Secretary in India from 1884 to 1894.

The competition was originally open to The Army in India: the British Army, the regular Indian Army and other Indian military units.

It is now among the leading prizes in Indian football although several military teams still compete, including an Army XI which won as recently as 2005 -- defeating Sporting Clube de Goa on penalties.

Prior to 1900, it was won by Scottish regiments on 11 out of 12 occasions -- The HLI winning it five times, Black Watch three times, King's Own Scottish Borderers twice and the RSF once. The Somerset Light Infantry beat the Black Watch 6-1 in 1896.

The most successful teams are currently East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, with 16 wins each. The Black Watch and HLI both won it five times.

The highest winning margin remains the HLI's 8-1 victory over the Simla rifles (2nd Punjab Volunteer Rifle Corps) in 1889.

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