The Uruguay Cup (Catalan: Copa Uruguai, Spanish: Copa Uruguay) was an annual football tournament organised by the Balearic Islands Football Federation between 1956 and 1968. It was disputed by the strongest football teams of the Balearic Islands.

History The idea for the tournament was born thanks to the donation of a trophy by the honorary consul of Uruguay in Palma to the Balearic Islands Football Federation. The organising body decided to create a tournament of which the gifted trophy would be the prize and established that the trophy could be earned when a team won three successive editions or five editions in total of the tournament, which would be called the Copa Uruguai. In total, 12 editions were disputed before the trophy was won by CD Atlético Baleares.

Throughout the years, the tournament was organised in different ways: a single-match knock-out stage (first season), a group phase followed by a knock-out stage (from 1957 to 1960), a single group (from 1961 to 1964), and a group phase followed by a final (1965 to 1968). In the first editions, all participating teams were from Mallorca; by the 1962–63 season, a team from Ibiza participated, SD Ibiza; and by the 1964–65 season, teams from Menorca also participated. This meant that the competition acquired a Balearic character.

Finally, CD Atlético Baleares won the trophy after winning four editions, of which the three last ones successively. This meant that the club obtained the physical trophy and that the competition ended.

In 2024, CD Atlético Baleares announced the recovery of the Uruguay Cup, but instead of maintaining its original format, it was introduced as a friendly pre-season match.

Editions EditionSeason Champion Runner-up I edition 1956–57 CE Felanitx CE Espanya II edition 1957–58 CE Manacor UE Alaró III edition 1958–59 CD Atlético Baleares CE Felanitx IV edition 1959–60 CF Sóller UD Poblense V edition 1960–61 CE Felanitx UE Alaró VI edition 1961–62 UE Alaró CE Felanitx VII edition 1962–63 SD Ibiza CE Manacor VIII edition 1963–64 CD Soledad CD Atlético Baleares IX edition 1964–65 UD Mahón CD Atlético Baleares X edition 1965–66 CD Atlético Baleares CE Menorca XI edition 1966–67 CD Atlético Baleares Atlètic de Ciutadella XII edition 1967–68 CD Atlético Baleares UD Mahón

List of winners

With 4 trophies: CD Atlético Baleares (1959, 1966, 1967, 1968) With 2 trophies: CE Felanitx (1957, 1961) With 1 trophy: UE Alaró (1962), CE Manacor (1958), UD Mahón (1965), CF Sóller (1960), SD Ibiza (1963), and CD Soledad (1964)

References

Bibliography