A brief history of the Carlton Cup (Source: Johanna de Vos)

For those who have not heard the story yet: In about 1904, on a shelf, amongst the liquor bottles in a bar in Pretoria, stood a trophy as decoration. The bar was frequented by rugby players. This trophy baffled them. One day the players started asking questions.

However the bar attendant did not know its origin – where it came from or what it was doing there. The players then asked if they could have it as a trophy to play for.

The owner, Lezard, agreed – and the trophy was named after the bar “CARLTON”, and thus it was baptized as the Carlton Cup.

In 1938 Northern Transvaal Rugby broke away from Transvaal Rugby Union and became a rugby entity on its own. Since then the Carlton Cup Club Competition has been played in Pretoria.

The University of Pretoria’s Rugby Club and the Police Rugby Club have been the most frequent Carlton Cup winners. Before the 2015 final, played on Saturday 22 August 2015, Police had won the cup 32 times (27 wins, 5 draws) since 1939 and UP-Tuks had won the cup 24 times (21 wins, 3 draws) since 1960.

UP-Tuks increased their number of titles to 25 after they retained the cup after an emphatic 42-15 win over Police in the 2015 final at Loftus Versfeld.

Carlton Cup Winners 1938 – 2015

1938   Garnisoen

1939   Polisie

1940   Pretoria

1941   Polisie 

1942   Garnisoen

1943   Polisie

1944   Polisie

1945   Polisie

1946   Polisie

1947   Polisie

1948   Polisie & Pretoria   

1949   Polisie & Harlequin

1950   Polisie

1951   Harlequin 

1952   Harlequin

1953   Polisie

1954   Pretoria

1955   Polisie

1956   Polisie

1957   Polisie

1958   Pretoria

1959   Polisie

1960   Weermag & UP-Tuks                                       

1961   Polisie

1962   Polisie

1963   UP-Tuks

1964   Oostelike & Weermag 

1965   Oostelike  

1966   UP-Tuks

1967   Polisie

1968   Polisie

1969   UP-Tuks

1970   Pretoria

1971   UP-Tuks

1972   UP-Tuks

1973   Polisie & Pretoria

1974   Polisie

1975   UP-Tuks

1976   UP-Tuks

1977   UP-Tuks

1978   UP-Tuks

1979   UP-Tuks & Polisie                                                      

1980   Polisie                                                                          

1981   Weermag                                                                    

1982   UP-Tuks                                                                           

1983   UP-Tuks                                                                             

1984   UP-Tuks                                                                            

1985   UP-Tuks                                                                            

1986   Weermag                                                                     

1987   UP-Tuks & Polisie                                                             

1988   UP-Tuks                                                                            

1989   Pretoria                                                                         

1990   Pretoria                                                                        

1991   Polisie                                                                          

1992   NKP                                                                              

1993   Korrektiewe Dienste                                                    

1994   Polisie                                                                          

1995   Polisie                                                                           

1996   Polisie                                                                          

1997   Polisie Junie Carlton                                                    

1998   Pretoria (Geen finaal. Meeste liga-punte) Junie Carlton

1999   Centurion Julie Carlton                                               

2000   Technikon                                                                    

2001   Korrektiewe Dienste                                                      

2002   UP-Tuks                                                                             

2003   Technikon wen by verstek teen UP-Tuks.  

2004   TUT                                                                               

2005   TUT (Geen finaal. Meeste liga-punte)

2006    Polisie                                                                          

2007    UP-Tuks                                                                            

2008    UP-Tuks                                                                           

2009    Polisie                                                                          

2010    UP-Tuks                                                                              

2011    UP-Tuks

2012    Polisie

2013    UP-Tuks 

2014    UP-Tuks                                                                

2015    UP-Tuks