The 1985–86 Irish Cup was the 106th edition of the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

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 premier football knock-out cup competition. It concluded on 3 May 1986 with the final. Glentoran were the defending champions after winning their 11th Irish Cup last season, defeating archrivals Linfield 1–0 in the 1985 final replay, after the first game ended 1–1. They successfully defended the cup by beating Coleraine 2–1 in the final. In doing so, they became the first club in 18 years to win the trophy in consecutive seasons.

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 ...

were the last club to achieve it, winning the 1967 and

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

finals. This season also saw second replays abolished in rounds, though they would still be used to decide the final if necessary. The first tie to be affected by the change was the first round tie between Dungannon Swifts and Tobermore United. Dungannon Swifts won the tie 6–5 on penalties when the replay ended 0–0 after extra time. The old rules would have required a second replay to be played at a neutral venue after the first replay was drawn.

Results

First round

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

and

both received byes into the second round.

Replays

Second round

Replays

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1985-86 Irish Cup 1985-86 1985–86 domestic association football cups 1985–86 in Northern Ireland association football 1985 in Northern Ireland sport 1986 in Northern Ireland sport