For the first time in 106 years, the U.S. Open Cup will not crown a new champion, it was formally announced on Monday. The only national soccer champion that had been awarded for a longer continuous period of time is Northern Ireland’s Irish Cup, which crowned a 2019-20 champion on July 31 and dates itself to 1881.
The 2020 tournament had been scheduled to start on March 24, a little less than two weeks after most sports across the globe were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Soccer had apparently held out some hope that the tournament would be able to continue in some fashion but that became a near logistical impossibility as the pandemic stretched into its sixth month.