The 1996–97 Irish League Cup (known as the

Wilkinson Sword Wilkinson Sword is a formerly British brand for Safety razor, razors and other personal care products sold in Europe, owned by the US company Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in Co ...

League Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th 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 Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

'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 ...

knock-out cup competition. It concluded on 15 October 1996 with the final.

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

were the defending champions after their first League Cup win last season; a 2–1 victory over

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

in the previous final. This season they went out in the semi-finals to

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

. Crusaders were victorious in the final this time, lifting the cup for the first time with a 1–0 victory over Glentoran.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Irish League Cup 1996–97 in Northern Ireland association football 1996–97 domestic association football cups 1996–97 1996 in Northern Ireland sport