The 1985–86 Irish Cup was the 106th edition of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier

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 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 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 ...

2–1 in the final. In doing so, they became the first club in 18 years to win the trophy in consecutive seasons. Crusaders 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. * Januar ...

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 Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the ...

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 and Crusaders both received

byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body. Scoring byes Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, th ...

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