It was inaugurated in 1881 by the city's mayor, Richard Chamberlain,[1] and Aston Villa were the first winners of the competition in the 1881–82 season, defeating Walsall Swifts 4–1.
[3] Other than during the First World War, the competition took place every year until 1939 with the exception of the 1925–26 season, when it was abandoned due to the General Strike.
The competition was discontinued after the Second World War, other than on two occasions in the 1960s when the youth teams of Aston Villa and Birmingham City competed for the trophy.
[1] The main bowl of the trophy featured two engraved drawings, one of an 1880s football match, complete with top-hatted umpire, and one of "the poor and sick succoured by the heavenly spirit".
[1] Aston Villa were the most successful team in the competition's history, winning it on thirty occasions outright and sharing the trophy five times.