The 2011–12

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 ...

(known as the JJB Sports Irish Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the cup's 132nd edition since its introduction. The competition began on 17 September 2011 with the first round and ended on 5 May 2012 with the final. Linfield were the defending champions, after a 2–1 victory over Crusaders in last season's final. The two clubs met again in this season's final, and Linfield successfully defended the cup to win it for the sixth time in seven seasons after defeating Crusaders 4–1. Crusaders qualified for the first qualifying round of the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Aren ...

as Linfield had already qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

by winning the

2011–12 IFA Premiership The 2011–12 IFA Premiership (known as the Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the IFA Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, and the 111th season of Irish league football overall. ...

Results

First round

The draw for the first round was held on 1 September 2011. Ards Rangers,

Broomhedge Broomhedge is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, near Lisburn, approximately 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Belfast. It lies within the Lisburn City Council area, and the Maghaberry electoral ward. Demographics In the 2001 ...

, Lower Maze, Newington Youth Club, Rathfriland Rangers and Sirocco Works all received a bye into the Second Round. Matches were played on 17 and 24 September 2011. Source
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Second round

The games were played on 22 October 2011. Source
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Third round

The games were played on 19 November 2011. Source
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Fourth round

All 30 clubs from

IFA Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championshi ...

1 and 2 entered the competition at this stage, as well as the 10 lower league clubs that had progressed through the previous rounds. The games were played on 10 and 17 December 2011. Source
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Fifth round

The draw for the Fifth Round was made on 14 December 2011. All 12 clubs from the

IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

entered at this stage, along with the 20 winners from the fourth round matches. The games were played on 14 January 2012. Replays were played on 24 January 2012. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", Replays Source
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Sixth Round

The games were played on 11 February 2012. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", Replays Source
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Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 3 March 2012, with the replay played on 12 March 2012. ---- ---- ---- ^†''

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...

were later ejected from the competition for fielding an ineligible player in this match.

Newry City Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

were consequently reinstated.'' ''Ballymena United appealed the decision, but the appeal was rejected.'' ----

Replay

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 3 March 2012. Both ties were due to be played on 31 March 2012. However, Ballymena United's appeal over their disqualification delayed Linfield's semi-final match until 14 April 2012. Newry City were confirmed as their opponents when Ballymena's appeal was rejected. ----

Final

The final took place on 5 May 2012 at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

References

External links

Official site

nifootball.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Cup 2011-12 2011-12

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

2011–12 domestic association football cups