The teams involved in the cup date back to 1990. Espy Rockdogs were founded in 1990 as a social footy team to play against Chasers. The team played in a charity match against the Tote Hotel in 1993 and raised $500. It first became known as the "Community Cup" in 1997 when
3RRR Program Manager James Young proposed the creation of the 3RRR and
PBS FM Megahertz to play against the Rockdogs and raise money for St Kilda's
Sacred Heart Mission. That match organised held at
Ross Gregory Oval in
St Kilda. Drawing a crowd of over 2,000 people it was successful in raising over
A$6,000. Due to the interest generated, Sacred Heart Mission assumed its organisation and a larger venue,
Junction Oval, a former
Victorian Football League stadium was chosen to accommodate the larger crowds. The 2005 event packed the Junction Oval to capacity, attracting 23,000 people. In 2006, despite the installation of
temporary fencing to accommodate more spectators, the stadium was once more packed to capacity. The 2007 event introduced an entry charge $5 for the first time, previous events were by gold coin donation. Despite the entry fee, a similarly large crowd attended. In May 2008 Sacred Heart Mission withdrew due to increased costs of running it. RRR tried to keep the event alive but there was not enough time to secure a charity partner to host the event on the planned date and much to the disappointment of the St Kilda community, the event was shelved. The Cup secured a new charity in 2009, Reclink Australia, and it was moved to
Elsternwick Park, held on 21 June. A positive online feedback poll result saw news radio stations
ABC Local Radio and
Radio National cover the match for the first time. With the new venue, the event took a hit in its attendance, drawing just 8,000, however in 2010 attendances rebounded to over 10,000. The 2011 match drew 12,000 people and raised over $120,000. In 2012, the match was held outside of Melbourne for the first time, playing a match at
Henson Park in Marrickville, Sydney. In 2015, the Community Cup launched in Adelaide (featuring the mighty Rockatoos versus the Anchors) and in Perth, while 2016 sees the game also launch in Hobart and Brisbane. In 2017, the Reclink Community Cup was held at Victoria Park in Abbotsford with Spiderbait and The Peep Tempel headlining the event. Courtney Barnett and Remi supported. This year also saw it first played in Canberra. The 2019 cup was held at Victoria Park, with
Magic Dirt headlining, to celebrate the 25th playing of the cup (excluding the missed year in 2008). Anthony Albanese was in attendance. The cup was not played in 2020. In 2021 it was played in Brisbane, Hobart and Fremantle only, no Melbourne match. In 2022 the cup returned to Victoria Park to a crowd of 12,000. In 2023, the 30 year anniversary was celebrated. In 2025 a green vinyl compilation record featuring the musical history of the cup was released including tracks from Paul Kelly, TISM, Baker Boy, Hiatus Kaiyote and Archie Roach. ==The match==