Football tournament
The Gold Cup is a defunct cup competition which involved competitors from Ireland and, from 1921 onwards, just for Northern Ireland . It was initially run by the New Irish Football Association but later, and mainly, by the Irish Football Association .
The competition was first played in the 1911–12 season after seven of the eight participating clubs left the IFA (only Linfield remained) after a dispute over money and founded the New IFA. This new organisation introduced the cup as the "New Irish Cup ". At the end of the season after many discussions, the dissident clubs returned to the IFA and the tournament was not held in 1912-13. However, it was revived by the IFA as the Gold Cup in 1913–14 season . In the seasons 1915–16 to 1918–19 season it was played in a league format. This involved a play-off between the two teams topping the table in the first of these seasons. The competition was last staged in 2000-01 .
Last year of competition [ edit ] The last season that the Gold Cup was competed for was during the 2000-01 season . Glentoran were the victors after defeating Coleraine in the final. It was Glentoran's third Gold Cup victory in as many seasons.
The format for the Gold Cup varied throughout its history, but most commonly it was organised on a knock-out basis.
The format over the years was as follows:
Years No. of seasons Format 1911–12 and 1913–15 3 knock-out 1915–1919 4 league 1919–1920 1 knock-out 1920–1923 3 league 1923–1940 17 knock-out 1940–1947 7 league 1947–1976 29 knock-out 1976–1983 7 group system plus final 1983–1985 2 group system plus top-four knock-out 1985–1986 1 league followed by top-four knock-out 1986–1991 5 group system plus top-four knock-out 1991–1999 8 group system plus top-eight knock-out 1999–2001 2 knock-out
In 1915–16, there was a play-off between the top two teams.
From the late 1970s on the Gold Cup was sponsored by Hennessy , TNT (1984/85-1994/95), Sun Life (1995/96-1996/97) and Nationwide (1997/98-2000/01).[1]
List of Gold Cup finals [ edit ] Key:
Scores level after 90 minutes. A replay was required. (a.e.t. ) Scores level after extra time . A replay was required. (a.e.t. ) Scores level after 90 minutes. Winner was decided in extra time with no penalty shootout required. pens. Scores level after extra time. A penalty shootout was required to determine the winner.
Season Winner (number of titles) Score Runner-up Venue Attendance 1911–12 Belfast Celtic (1) 2–0 Glentoran Grosvenor Park , Belfast 9,500 1913–14 Distillery (1) 0–0 Shelbourne Shelbourne Park , Dublin Replay 3–2 Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1914–15 Shelbourne (1) 1–0 Linfield Solitude , Belfast 18,000 1915–16 Linfield (1) League format Distillery — — 1916–17 Glentoran (1) Linfield 1917–18 Linfield (2) Glentoran 1918–19 Linfield (3) Glentoran 1919–20 Distillery (2) 3–1 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 1920–21 Linfield (4) League format Glenavon — — 1921–22 Linfield (5) Cliftonville 1922–23 Cliftonville (1) Linfield 1923–24 Linfield (6) 1–0 Distillery The Oval , Belfast 1924–25 Distillery (3) 2–0 Queen's Island Celtic Park , Belfast 1925–26 Belfast Celtic (2) 3–0 Cliftonville Windsor Park , Belfast 15,000 1926–27 Linfield (7) 1–0 Glenavon Celtic Park , Belfast 1927–28 Linfield (8) 3–2 Belfast Celtic Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1928–29 Linfield (9) 3–1 Ards The Oval , Belfast 1929–30 Distillery (4) 3–0 Bangor Windsor Park , Belfast 1930–31 Linfield (10) 6–1 Belfast Celtic Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1931–32 Coleraine (1) 3–0 Ballymena Solitude , Belfast 10,000 1932–33 Cliftonville (2) 2–1 Linfield Celtic Park , Belfast 1933–34 Portadown (1) 1–0 Glentoran Solitude , Belfast 1934–35 Belfast Celtic (3) 4–0 Linfield Grosvenor Park , Belfast 8,000 1935–36 Linfield (11) 3–0 Distillery Celtic Park , Belfast 1936–37 Linfield (12) 7–2 Derry City The Oval , Belfast 1937–38 Portadown (2) 2–0 Belfast Celtic Grosvenor Park , Belfast 12,000 1938–39 Belfast Celtic (4) 2–1 Glenavon The Oval , Belfast 1939–40 Belfast Celtic (5) 1–0 Linfield Grosvenor Park , Belfast 10,000 1947–48 Belfast Celtic (6) 2–0 Distillery Solitude , Belfast 1948–49 Linfield (13) 5–0 Glenavon Solitude , Belfast 1949–50 Linfield (14) 3–2 Portadown The Oval , Belfast 1950–51 Linfield (15) 5–1 Glentoran Solitude , Belfast 1951–52 Glentoran (2) 2–1 Glenavon Windsor Park , Belfast 15,000 1952–53 Portadown (3) 2–1 Linfield Seaview , Belfast 1953–54 Ards (1) 2–1 Distillery Seaview , Belfast 6,000 1954–55 Glenavon (1) 3–2 Linfield The Oval , Belfast 1955–56 Linfield (16) 3–0 Portadown Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1956–57 Glenavon (2) 3–1 Derry City The Oval , Belfast 1957–58 Linfield (17) 1–0 Glenavon Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1958–59 Coleraine (2) 1–0 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 1959–60 Linfield (18) 3–2 Portadown Solitude , Belfast 1960–61 Glentoran (3) 4–2 Linfield Solitude , Belfast 1961–62 Linfield (19) 4–0 Glentoran Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1962–63 Glentoran (4) 3–1 Derry City Windsor Park , Belfast 1963–64 Linfield (20) 2–2 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast Replay 3–2 Windsor Park , Belfast 1964–65 Derry City (1) 5–2 Crusaders Windsor Park , Belfast 1965–66 Linfield (21) 6–0 Portadown The Oval , Belfast 1966–67 Glentoran (5) 5–2 Crusaders Windsor Park , Belfast 1967–68 Linfield (22) 3–2 Ards The Oval , Belfast 1968–69 Linfield (23) 0–0 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast Replay 2–1 The Oval , Belfast 20,000 1969–70 Coleraine (3) 1–0 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 1970–71 Linfield (24) 2–1 Glentoran The Oval , Belfast 15,000 1971–72 Portadown (4) 0–0 Ards Mourneview Park , Lurgan 5,000 Replay 2 – 1 (a.e.t. ) Mourneview Park , Lurgan 3,500 1972–73 Linfield (25) 2–0 Portadown Castlereagh Park , Newtownards 1973–74 Ards (2) 4–1 Bangor The Oval , Belfast 1974–75 Ballymena United (1) 3–2 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 2,000 1975–76 Coleraine (5) 2–1 Ballymena United Showgrounds , Ballymena 6,000 1976–77 Glentoran (6) 5–1 Linfield Windsor Park , Belfast 10,000 1977–78 Glentoran (7) 3–1 Glenavon Windsor Park , Belfast 1978–79 Portadown (5) 2 – 1 (a.e.t. ) Cliftonville Windsor Park , Belfast 6,000 1979–80 Linfield (26) 2–1 Ballymena United Windsor Park , Belfast 1980–81 Cliftonville (3) 3–1 Linfield Windsor Park , Belfast 10,000 1981–82 Linfield (27) 1 – 1 (a.e.t. ) (5 – 4 pens. ) Ballymena United The Oval , Belfast 1982–83 Glentoran (8) 2–0 Linfield The Oval , Belfast 1983–84 Linfield (28) 3–1 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 1984–85 Linfield (29) 1–0 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 1985–86 Crusaders (1) 3–1 Linfield The Oval , Belfast 1986–87 Glentoran (9) 3–2 Linfield The Oval , Belfast 1987–88 Linfield (30) 3–0 Newry Town The Oval , Belfast 5,000 1988–89 Linfield (31) 1–0 Portadown The Oval , Belfast 1989–90 Linfield (32) 0 – 0 (a.e.t. ) Portadown The Oval , Belfast Replay 2–0 The Oval , Belfast 1990–91 Glenavon (3) 2–1 Portadown Windsor Park , Belfast 8,000 1991–92 Glentoran (10) 1–0 Cliftonville Windsor Park , Belfast 10,000 1992–93 Portadown (6) 1–0 Cliftonville Windsor Park , Belfast 7,000 1993–94 Distillery (5) 3 – 2 (a.e.t. ) Bangor Windsor Park , Belfast 750 1994–95 Glentoran (11) 1 – 1 (a.e.t. ) (3 – 0 pens. ) Crusaders Windsor Park , Belfast 2,000 1995–96 Crusaders (2) 1–0 Linfield The Oval , Belfast 1996–97 Linfield (33) 1–0 Glenavon The Oval , Belfast 3,253 1997–98 Glenavon (4) 4–2 Coleraine Windsor Park , Belfast 2,036 1998–99 Glentoran (12) 3–1 Portadown Windsor Park , Belfast 2,670 1999–00 Glentoran (13) 4–2 Linfield Windsor Park , Belfast 6,000 2000–01 Glentoran (14) 4–3 Coleraine Windsor Park , Belfast 3,000
Performance by club [ edit ] Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years Runners-up Years Linfield 33 14 1915–16 , 1917–18 , 1918–19 , 1920–21 , 1921–22 , 1923–24 , 1926–27 , 1927–28 , 1928–29 , 1930–31 , 1935–36 , 1936–37 , 1948–49 , 1949–50 , 1950–51 , 1955–56 , 1957–58 , 1959–60 , 1961–62 , 1963–64 , 1965–66 , 1967–68 , 1968–69 , 1970–71 , 1972–73 , 1979–80 , 1981–82 , 1983–84 , 1984–85 , 1987–88 , 1988–89 , 1989–90 , 1996–97 1914–15 , 1932–33 , 1934–35 , 1939–40 , 1952–53 , 1954–55 , 1960–61 , 1976–77 , 1980–81 , 1982–83 , 1985–86 , 1986–87 , 1995–96 , 1999–00 Glentoran 14 15 1916–17 , 1951–52 , 1960–61 , 1962–63 , 1966–67 , 1976–77 , 1977–78 , 1982–83 , 1986–87 , 1991–92 , 1994–95 , 1998–99 , 1999–00 , 2000–01 1911–12 , 1917–18 , 1918–19 , 1919–20 , 1933–34 , 1950–51 , 1958–59 , 1961–62 , 1963–64 , 1968–69 , 1969–70 , 1970–71 , 1974–75 , 1983–84 , 1984–85 Portadown 6 9 1933–34 , 1937–38 , 1952–53 , 1971–72 , 1978–79 , 1992–93 1949–50 , 1955–56 , 1959–60 , 1965–66 , 1972–73 , 1988–89 , 1989–90 , 1990–91 , 1998–99 Belfast Celtic 6 3 1911–12 , 1925–26 , 1934–35 , 1938–39 , 1939–40 , 1947–48 1927–28 , 1930–31 , 1937–38 Distillery 5 6 1913–14 , 1919–20 , 1924–25 , 1929–30 , 1993–94 1915–16 , 1916–17 , 1923–24 , 1935–36 , 1947–48 , 1953–54 Glenavon 4 9 1954–55 , 1956–57 , 1990–91 , 1997–98 1920–21 , 1922–23 , 1926–27 , 1938–39 , 1948–49 , 1951–52 , 1957–58 , 1977–78 , 1996–97 Coleraine 4 2 1931–32 , 1958–59 , 1969–70 , 1975–76 1997–98, 2000–01 Cliftonville 3 5 1922–23 , 1932–33 , 1980–81 1921–22 , 1925–26 , 1978–79 , 1991–92 , 1992–93 Ards 2 3 1953–54 , 1973–74 1928–29 , 1967–68 , 1971–72 Crusaders 2 3 1985–86 , 1995–96 1964–65 , 1966–67 , 1994–95 Derry City 1 3 1964–65 1936–37 , 1956–57 , 1962–63 Ballymena United 1 3 1974–75 1975–76 , 1979–80 , 1981–82 Shelbourne 1 1 1914–15 1913–14 Bangor 0 3 — 1929–30 , 1973–74 , 1993–94 Queen's Island 0 1 — 1924–25 Ballymena 0 1 — 1931–32 Newry Town 0 1 — 1987–88
Substitute Gold Cup [ edit ] Between the 1940/41 and 1946/47 seasons the Gold Cup was competed for by the Northern Regional League Clubs and known as the "Substitute Gold Cup".
Performance by club [ edit ] References [ edit ] External links [ edit ]
National teams Leagues
Domestic cups
Defunct leagues Defunct cups Awards
Association football cup competitions in Ireland
All-Ireland
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
International Friendly Trophies