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The Irish Cup is currently sponsored by JJB Sports . It was previously sponsored by Nationwide Building Society and Bass Ireland Ltd . FORMAT The competition is open to all clubs in Northern Ireland enjoying “intermediate” or “senior” status. Clubs obtain such status by meeting minimum criteria laid down by the Irish Football Association in respect of facilities, etc. Each club, for example, must have its own enclosed ground. “Senior” clubs are exempt until the fifth round, which consists of 32 clubs and is played in January. The competition begins in August or September with two preliminary rounds and the first four “proper” rounds are played from October to December. In 2006-07, a total of 114 clubs entered the competition. Those clubs currently enjoying senior status are the sixteen Irish Premier League clubs, plus Ards , Ballyclare Comrades , Bangor , Carrick Rangers , Loughgall , Tobermore United of the IFA Intermediate First Division and Ballynure Old Boys of the Ballymena & Provincial Intermediate League (23 in total). The competition format is that of a Knock-out . Teams are drawn against each other randomly. The team who is drawn first from each tie is the home team, except in the case (from the fifth round onwards) of an intermediate team drawn first against a senior team, when the tie is played at the ground of the senior team. Prior to the fifth round, if the match finishes in a draw, Extra Time is played and (if necessary) Penalties are used to decide the winner. From the fifth round until the seventh round (the quarter-finals), if the match finishes in a draw, there is no extra time and a Replay is played at the ground of the second-drawn team (except in the case of a tie between a senior team and an intermediate team, in which case the replay will always be at the senior team’s ground). In the replay, if the scores are still level at full time, extra time is played and (if necessary) penalties. At the semi-final stage, the two ties are played at neutral venues, with a draw resulting in Extra Time and Penalties as necessary. The final is now traditionally on the first Saturday in May, and is played to a finish, with extra time and penalties as necessary. Since 1996, the final has always been played at Windsor Park , Belfast . Different formats and rules have been used in the past in respect of eligibility to enter the competition, the number of teams and rounds, replays, extra time, penalties, etc., but since its inception in 1881, the competition has always been a randomly-drawn knock-out competition, and has always been, and continues to be, considered the most important such competition in Northern Ireland (and, prior to 1921, Ireland ), second only to the Irish Premier League . The Cup Final is the climax of the domestic season in Northern Ireland and usually attracts the biggest attendance of any club match. The winners of the Irish Cup qualify to represent Northern Ireland in the following season’s UEFA Cup , except when they have also won the Premier League championship (and thus qualified for the Champions League ), in which case the losing finalists are entered into the UEFA Cup . Similarly, the winners (or runners-up if the winners have already qualified via the Premier League ) also qualify for the next season’s all-Ireland Setanta Cup . HISTORY AND TRIVIA The Irish Cup started in the 1880-81 season. The draw for the first round took place on 10th January, 1881. The trophy was first awarded to Moyola Park (from Co. Londonderry ) when they beat Cliftonville (from Belfast ) 1-0 in the final at Cliftonville, Belfast on 9th April, 1881. Linfield have won the Cup the most times (38) and reached the most finals (58). Since the inception of the beat Larne 1-0; in 1955, Dundela beat Glenavon 3-0; and in 1976, Carrick Rangers beat Linfield 2-1. From 1881 to 1921, when the Irish Cup was an all-Ireland competition, southern clubs (from what would become the defeating Shelbourne in 1908, and Shelbourne defeating Bohemians in 1911 (both ties required replays). In the second competition in 1881-82, Queen's Island became the first Belfast team to win the Cup and the Cup didn't leave Belfast again for another 24 years when Shelbourne became the first team from Dublin to win it in 1905-06. Of the 127 competitions played since 1880-81, Belfast teams have won the Cup 94 times. The most successful team from outside Belfast has been Ballymena United , who have won the Cup six times. The first final to be played outside Belfast was in 1901, when Cliftonville defeated Freebooters at Jones's Road , Dublin . The first final between two teams from outside Belfast was in 1908, when Bohemians beat Shelbourne . In 1921, Glenavon became the first team from Co. Armagh to reach the final, but no team from Armagh won the Cup until Glenavon in 1957. Co. Down 's first Cup finalists and winners were Ards in 1927; and Co. Antrim 's were Ballymena United in 1929. In 2007, Dungannon Swifts became the first team from Co. Tyrone to reach the final. In the early years, in 1890, the Black Watch in 1892 and the Sherwood Foresters in 1897. The Gordon Highlanders was the only Army team to win the Cup. The longest gap between Irish Cup wins was 70 years between Cliftonville ’s wins in 1909 and 1979. The longest gap between Irish Cup finals was 55 years between Bangor ’s appearances in the 1938 and 1993 finals. Larne have been to the most finals (five) without ever winning. The highest score recorded in a Cup final was 10-1, when Linfield defeated Bohemians in 1895. Over the years, 15 replays have been required, the first in 1890 after Cliftonville and the Gordon Highlanders drew 2-2. On five occasions, a second replay was required, and the last time this occurred was 1993 when Bangor defeated Ards 1-0 after two 1-1 draws. It was decided after this that there should only be one replay in which penalties would be used to determine the winner if necessary, and eventually the rules for the final were changed to remove replays altogether, with penalties being used if necessary after extra time in the first match. The first final to be won on penalties was in 2007, when Linfield beat Dungannon Swifts 3-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw after extra time. On three occasions the final was not played. In 1912, three of the four semi-finalists ( Cliftonville , Glentoran and Shelbourne ) resigned from the Irish Football Association , leaving Linfield as the only remaining team in the competition, who were awarded the Cup. In 1920, Shelbourne , who had beaten Glenavon in one semi-final, were awarded the Cup without playing the final, when the two other semi-finalists, Belfast Celtic and Glentoran , were both disqualified. ( Celtic were disqualified after their supporters at fired shots into the Glentoran supporters; and Glentoran were disqualified for fielding an unlisted player.) In 1999, Portadown were awarded the Cup when the other finalists, Cliftonville , were disqualified after it came to light that they had fielded an ineligible player during the earlier rounds. A total of 21 different teams have won the Irish Cup, and 32 different teams have reached the final. The most common final has been won on eight occasions and Glentoran on six. On four occasions the same two teams have reached the final in consecutive years: in 1885 and 1886, Distillery and Alexander ; in 1913 and 1914, Glentoran and Linfield ; in 1930 and 1931, Ballymena United and Linfield ; and in 2003 and 2004, Coleraine and Glentoran . (1884-1886) and Linfield (1891-1893) have each won the Cup three times in a row. from 1881 to 1883; Distillery from 1884 to 1886; Ballymena United form 1929 to 1931; and Linfield from 1944 to 1946. in 1881 and 1882; Alexander in 1885 and 1886; Shelbourne in 1907 and 1908; Glenavon in 1921 and 1922; Ballymena United in 1930 and 1931; and Glentoran in 1942 and 1943. In 2001, the final was broadcast live on television for the first time, and has been on every occasion since. Shelbourne , Bohemians and Derry City are the only clubs to win both the Irish Cup and the FAI Cup . FINALS RESULTS Performance By Club EXTERNAL LINKS |
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