The 1988–89 Irish League Cup (known as the Roadferry Freight League Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 3rd edition of the
Irish League Cup
The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (BetMcLean League Cup for sponsorship purposes), also known colloquially as the Irish League Cup, is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the Nort ...
,
Northern Ireland's secondary
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
knockout cup competition. It concluded on 30 November 1988 with the final.
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...
unsuccessfully defended its
1988 title in the second round losing to
Portadown. Portadown unsuccessfully defended its pursuit of the cup in the semifinals losing to
Glentoran. Glentoran unsuccessfully defended its pursuit of the cup in the final losing to arch-rivals
Linfield, 2–1.
The final was notable for the Glentoran goalkeeper Alan Paterson, scoring what turned out to be the winning goal. This was the first time that a
goalkeeper had ever scored in a
British football final.
Glentoran Football Club – The Pride of East Belfast – Legends
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First round
Second round
Quarter-finals
(played at Windsor Park)
Semi-finals
Final
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1988-89 Irish League Cup
1988–89 in Northern Ireland association football
1988–89 domestic association football cups
1988-89
1988 in Northern Ireland sport