FIRST run in 1938, the William Hill All England Cup, the final of which takes place at Newcastle tonight, has an historic place in the GBGB Calendar – the ‘North East Derby’ one of the great events in greyhound racing.

It has been contested for by top-class greyhounds and trainers the length and breadth of the UK, a fact underlined with its first winner being Ballyjoker, trained out of Surrey in the south by Sidney Orton, and last year’s champion Droopys Expert being trained by Angela Harrison, based in Alnwick, Northumberland.

A race courted by Classic winners, the four-runner 1946 All England Cup final will forever be one of the most cherished in the sport in that, in surely a unique situation, the winners of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish Derbys lined up against each other – English Derby winner Monday’s News crowned champion then.

Other Derby winners to have struck gold in the ‘North East Derby’ are Endless Gossip for legendary Wembley trainer Leslie Reynolds and, in the modern era, the Ken Linzell-trained Slippy Blue who preceded his ultimate triumph at Wimbledon in 1990 with success in the 1989 All England Cup, paraded by Linzell’s then assistant and now leading trainer in his own right, Paul Young.

Not run during the Second World War, and then again in 1947 and 1948, the All England Cup also had two barren years in the 1970s and was staged at Sunderland in 1995. Other than that, it has been an ever-present at Brough Park, now Newcastle, in the Byker area of the city – and remains one of the most prestigious prizes to win in the sport.

Numerically, Charlie Lister OBE has been the most successful trainer of All England Cup winners, following on from his mentor Joe Booth’s two successes – in 1958 with Simmer Down Pal and with Long Spell in 1982. Lister won six All England Cup titles, kicking off with Endon Tiger (1997), before Derbay Flyer (1999), Toblermorey Boy (2000), Bell Devotion (2005), Geordie Parker (2006) and Oscar Whisky (2016).

Sheffield trainers have a great history in the competition with a number of successes which kicked off with Derby-winning trainer Jim Hookway’s Quare Flash winning in 1960. The man who would later train litter brothers Tric Trac and Spectre II to finish one-two in the 1976 Derby returned to Brough Park to win in 1962 with West Bermuda and 1979 with Burniston Jet.

Ted Brennan was another Sheffield trainer to win in successive years – Home Grown and Pools Punter winning in 1967/68 – while Peter Beaumont scored in 1987 with Killouragh Chris. Elaine Parker later struck with Wright Signal in 2007, before Barrie Draper’s Boherna Best won back-to-back titles in 2008/09 to be the only greyhound to successfully defend his All England Cup title in the event’s 80-year history.

However, trainers from the North East have cherished their attempts at the All England Cup – with great success, too. Brough Park legend Norman Oliver of Shady Begonia fame struck with Fly Dazzler in 1973, likewise Bill Raggett’s Show Man in 1975, while Kelly Macari won back-to-back victories with Mill Pinpoint (2010) and Mill Bling Bling (2011).

Of course, one of the major stories tonight is Harry Williams. The veteran handler came out of retirement to win the William Hill Classic at Sunderland wth Allowdale Bruno in July, and the same dog now lines up in an All England Cup looking to win Harry a fourth win in his favourite race after Pond Hurricane (1988), New Level (1992) and Mags Gamble (2012).

Droopys Verve, the Derby runner-up, aims to keep the title with Angela Harrison after Droopys Expert’s win last year, and Angela and Carol Weatherall (Holdem Zidane) look to add their names to a roll of honour which includes a host of female trainers dating back to Noreen Collin’s Paracelsus in 1965, dual Derby-winning trainer Barbara Tompkins with Houghton Rip in 1976 and Jane Glass’s Lavally Oak in 1986.

Jane, whose businessman father Jim was a former owner of the Brough Park track in the early 1980s, trained out of Edinburgh track Powderhall so, tonight, Scottish trainers Pat Flaherty (Greenwell Jet), Billy Thomson (Falcon Bay) and Gary Carmichael (Gazilly Shay) themselves aim to continue a long tradition of Scottish success in the event.

The first Scottish-trained winner of the competition came in the second running the All England when Carntyne-based Patrick McKinney sent out dual Scottish Derby champion Ballycurreen Soldier to win in 1939. Pat Flaherty, trainer of finalist Greenwell Jet tonight, trained 1996 winner Greenwell Eagle. Winners from north of the border followed, but where will be 2018 William Hill All England trophy be heading this year?