Football tournament
The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs.
Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-off re-appearance in 2002/03. The last three editions were only open to First Division sides. From the mid-1980s to the early-1990s the competition was known as the Lombard Ulster Cup due to a sponsorship deal with the Lombard & Ulster Bank . It had previously been sponsored by Morans.
The format of the Ulster Cup varied from season to season. It often employed a league format, with each club playing each other once and the winner declared as the team with the most points; and sometimes a group basis, with the winners decided by a play-off.
The format over the years was as follows:
Years No. of seasons Format 1948–49 1 group system plus final 1949–52 3 group system plus top-four knockout 1952–56 4 group system plus final 1956–57 1 league 1957–65 8 group system plus final 1965–83 18 league 1983–85 2 group system plus top-four knockout 1985–96 11 group system plus top-eight knockout 1996–97 1 knock-out 1997–99 and 2002–03 3 league (First Division clubs only)
Winners of the Ulster Cup by season.[1]
Key:
Scores level after 90 minutes. 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 1948–49 Linfield (1) 3 – 0 Ards Solitude , Belfast 1949–50 Larne (1) 2 – 1 Ballymena United Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1950–51 Glentoran (1) 2 – 1 Linfield Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1951–52 [a] Ballymena United (1) 3 – 0 Crusaders Solitude , Belfast 1952–53 Glentoran (2) 3 – 0 Distillery Solitude , Belfast 1953–54 Crusaders (1) 2 – 1 Linfield Solitude , Belfast 1954–55 Glenavon (1) 3 – 1 Coleraine Windsor Park , Belfast 1955–56 Linfield (2) 5 – 1 Coleraine The Oval , Belfast 1956–57 Linfield (3) League format Distillery — 1957–58 Distillery (1) 1 – 1 Glentoran Solitude , Belfast Replay 4 – 1 Windsor Park , Belfast 1958–59 Glenavon (2) 2 – 0 Crusaders Windsor Park , Belfast 1959–60 Linfield (4) 1 – 1 Crusaders Solitude , Belfast Replay 4 – 1 Windsor Park , Belfast 1960–61 Ballymena United (2) 3 – 1 Glenavon Grosvenor Park , Belfast 1961–62 Linfield (5) 2 – 0 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 1962–63 Glenavon (3) 1 – 0 Coleraine Windsor Park , Belfast 1963–64 Crusaders (2) 2 – 2 Glenavon Windsor Park , Belfast Replay 1 – 0 Windsor Park , Belfast 1964–65 Linfield (6) 1 – 0 Glentoran Windsor Park , Belfast 1965–66 Coleraine (1) League format Linfield — 1966–67 Glentoran (3) Glenavon 1967–68 Linfield (7) Glentoran 1968–69 Coleraine (2) Linfield 1969–70 Coleraine (3) Glentoran 1970–71 Linfield (8) Coleraine 1971–72 Linfield (9) Ballymena United 1972–73 Coleraine (4) Distillery 1973–74 Ards (1) Linfield 1974–75 Linfield (10) Glentoran 1975–76 Coleraine (5) Linfield 1976–77 Glentoran (4) Portadown 1977–78 Linfield (11) Coleraine 1978–79 Linfield (12) Crusaders 1979–80 Linfield (13) Cliftonville 1980–81 Ballymena United (3) Linfield 1981–82 Glentoran (5) Coleraine 1982–83 Glentoran (6) Linfield 1983–84 Glentoran (7) 5 – 2 (a.e.t. ) Coleraine Windsor Park , Belfast 1984–85 Linfield (14) 2 – 2 (a.e.t. ) (3 – 2 pens. ) Larne The Oval , Belfast 1985–86 Coleraine (6) 5 – 0 (a.e.t. ) Portadown Windsor Park , Belfast 1986–87 Coleraine (7) 1 – 0 Linfield The Oval , Belfast 1987–88 Larne (2) 2 – 1 Coleraine The Oval , Belfast 1988–89 Glentoran (8) 5 – 2 Larne Windsor Park , Belfast 1989–90 Glentoran (9) 3 – 1 Glenavon Windsor Park , Belfast 1990–91 Portadown (1) 1 – 1 Glenavon The Oval , Belfast Replay 1 – 1 (a.e.t. ) (3 – 2 pens. ) 1991–92 Bangor (1) 3 – 1 Crusaders The Oval , Belfast 1992–93 Linfield (15) 2 – 0 Ards The Oval , Belfast 1993–94 Crusaders (3) 1 – 0 Bangor Windsor Park , Belfast 1994–95 Bangor (2) 2 – 1 Linfield The Oval , Belfast 1995–96 Portadown (2) 2 – 2 (a.e.t. ) (5 – 3 pens. ) Linfield Windsor Park , Belfast 1996–97 Coleraine (8) 1 – 1 (a.e.t. ) (4 – 3 pens. ) Crusaders Windsor Park , Belfast 1997–98 [b] Ballyclare Comrades (1) League format Distillery — 1998–99 [b] Distillery (2) Ards 2002–03 [b] Dungannon Swifts (1) Ballymena United
Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years Runners-up Years Linfield 15 11 1948–49 , 1955–56 , 1956–57 , 1959–60 , 1961–62 , 1964–65 , 1967–68 , 1970–71 , 1971–72 , 1974–75 , 1977–78 , 1978–79 , 1979–80 , 1984–85 , 1992–93 1950–51 , 1953–54 , 1965–66 , 1968–69 , 1973–74 , 1975–76 , 1980–81 , 1982–83 , 1986–87 , 1994–95 , 1995–96 Glentoran 9 6 1950–51 , 1952–53 , 1966–67 , 1976–77 , 1981–82 , 1982–83 , 1983–84 , 1988–89 , 1989–90 1957–58 , 1961–62 , 1964–65 , 1967–68 , 1969–70 , 1974–75 Coleraine 8 8 1965–66 , 1968–69 , 1969–70 , 1972–73 , 1975–76 , 1985–86 , 1986–87 , 1996–97 1954–55 , 1955–56 , 1962–63 , 1970–71 , 1977–78 , 1981–82 , 1983–84 , 1987–88 Crusaders 3 6 1953–54 , 1963–64 , 1993–94 1951–52 , 1958–59 , 1959–60 , 1978–79 , 1991–92 , 1996–97 Ballymena United 3 2 1951–52 , 1960–61 , 1980–81 1949–50 , 1971–72 Glenavon 3 5 1954–55 , 1958–59 , 1962–63 1960–61 , 1963–64 , 1966–67 , 1989–90 , 1990–91 Larne 2 2 1949–50 , 1987–88 1984–85 , 1988–89 Portadown 2 2 1990–91 , 1995–96 1976–77 , 1985–86 Bangor 2 1 1991–92 , 1994–95 1993–94 Distillery 1 3 1957–58 1952–53 , 1956–57 , 1972–73 Ards 1 2 1973–74 1948–49 , 1992–93
First Division only [ edit ]
^ The tournament was renamed the Festival of Britain Cup for 1951–52. ^ a b c The last three editions were open to First Division sides only ^ "Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1999/2000" Ed. Dr. Malcolm Brodie MBE
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