The cup was first played during the 1885–86 season, and was initially known as the Suffolk Football Association Challenge Cup. During the 1899–1900 season the competition was renamed Suffolk County Senior Cup when a Junior Cup was also introduced. In 1907 the Suffolk Football Association split, with one affiliating to the Football Association and the other to the Amateur Football Association, with both new organisations running a competition called the Suffolk Senior Cup. The AFA-affiliated organisation continued to use the original trophy, and the FA-affiliated one using a new trophy. The two reunited in 1914 when the AFA affiliated to the Football Association.
