The tournament began late in the 1977–78 season, before skipping a year and returning for the 1979–80 season. It ran again, for the last time, at the beginning of the 1980–81 season and was sponsored by a footwear company. The format for the first competition involved four teams from each country taking part in a knock-out first round, then semi-finals and a final. All ties were decided by a single match and the tournament was won by Shamrock Rovers.[3][4] For the second and third seasons eight teams from each country took part. Again it was a knock-out with a first round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The final was over two legs but the preceding matches were all single ties. These two editions were won by Athlone Town[5][6][7][8] and Linfield[9][10][11] respectively.
