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A trophy had been donated for the winners, by "the ladies of Melrose", and the cup now bears the name "The Ladies Cup". It was a small silver chalice, a uniquely pretty prize. When Andrew Harriman lifted the Melrose Cup in 1993, the trophy had been modelled on the original cup, but this time it was larger and made of gold.
Melrose were victorious in the first competition, defeating local rivals Gala in a contentious game, which saw the match tied after 15 minutes. It was agreed that a further period of 15 minutes would be played but when Melrose scored after 10 minutes, they walked of claiming their prize without even attempting to kick the goal. Despite Gala protests the referee decided that Melrose had won and thus created yet another grievance on which local rivalries thrive.
The "Sports" had been a considerable success and the border Advertiser reported that:
"By the time this event, the chief one of the day, commenced an enormous crowd of spectators had assembled, special trains having been run from Galashiels and Hawick and about 1,600 tickets had been taken at Melrose during the day. From the former place alone there were 862 persons booked of whom 509 came by special train and the other 353 by ordinary train."
To the committees of nearby rivals, it was obvious that such a popular event could be the source if substantial revenues and the shortened version soon spread throughout other Border sides.
Galashiels Football Club ran their own tournament from 1884, with Hawick following suit in 1885. It was to be almost ten years before Jedforest started the Jedburgh Sports in 1894. The final fixture in the Borders Spring circuit, the Langholm Sevens, started in 1908.
The Sevens circuit is still an established part of Borders life and along with the 5 spring games, there are 3 pre-season tournaments at Selkirk (1919), Kelso (1920) and finally Earlston/Peebles (1923). These tournaments now combine for the "King of the Sevens" Borders series, which holds considerable bragging rights in local terms. The premier tournament remains, the Melrose Sports. Capable of attracting some of the greatest names in rugby, it is still played on the second Saturday in April.
