 The matches, played over the month of August 1888 with the final on 6 September, were staged at the University of Glasgow recreation grounds at Gilmorehill (today occupied by various departments of the institution such as the Kelvin Building of Physics and the Graham Kerr Building of Zoology), close to the exhibition's main site at Kelvingrove.Although the Scottish Football League had yet to be formed, the Exhibition Cup could be considered something of a second-tier tournament, as none of the entrants had been a winner or finalist in the Scottish Cup in its first 15 years of existence.However the tournament has some historical significance for Celtic, as it was the first final the club played, having only formed a few months earlier, and their first ever defeat.