Gold Cup (Northern Ireland)

Gold Cup

Organising body	Irish Football Association
Founded	1911
Abolished	2001
Region	Northern Ireland (1921–2001) Ireland (1911–1921)
Most successful club(s)	Linfield (33 titles)

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

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.

Format

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.

Sponsorship

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).

List of Gold Cup finals

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.

Performance by club

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

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".

Season	Winner (number of titles)	Score	Runner-up
1940–41	Belfast Celtic (1)	League format	Glentoran
1941–42	Glentoran (1)		Distillery
1942–43	Linfield (1)		Belfast Celtic
1943–44	Belfast Celtic (2)		Distillery
1944–45	Linfield (2)		Distillery
1945–46	Belfast Celtic (3)		Linfield
1946–47	Belfast Celtic (4)		Linfield

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years	Runners-up Years
Belfast Celtic	4	1	1940–41, 1943–44, 1945–46, 1946–47	1942–43
Linfield	2	2	1942–43, 1944–45	1945–46, 1946–47
Glentoran	1	1	1941–42	1940–41
Distillery	0	3	—	1941–42, 1943–44, 1944–45

External links

• Gold Cup Archive at the Irish Football Club Project
• Irish League Archive - Gold Cup