The 2012–13 Irish Cup was the 133rd edition of the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

's premier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

knockout cup competition. The competition began on 15 September 2012 with the first round and ended on 4 May 2013 with the final. The cup was sponsored by

JJB Sports JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, includ ...

until October 2012, when the company went into administration. The competition remained without a principal sponsor, but the final was known as the Marie Curie Irish Cup final, after the IFA awarded the naming rights for the final to the charity

Marie Curie Cancer Care Marie Curie is a registered charitable organization, charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides hospice care and support for anyone with an illness they are likely to die from, and those close to them, and campaigns for better su ...

. Linfield were the defending champions, after defeating

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

4–1 in the 2012 final to win the cup for the sixth time in seven seasons. However, in a tie that was a repeat of the previous two finals, they were knocked out in the fifth round by Crusaders, who inflicted Linfield's first defeat in the competition in four years. The eventual winners were

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

, coming from a goal behind to defeat

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

3–1 after extra time to win their first Irish Cup in nine years.

qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.

Format and schedule

119 clubs took part in this season's competition, an increase on the 116 clubs that took part the previous season. Clubs from level 4 and below on the

Northern Ireland football league system The Northern Ireland football league system is categorised into three levels: senior, intermediate and junior. Clubs attain intermediate status by fulfilling certain criteria (e.g. owning or leasing its own enclosed ground). Senior status requires ...

entered in the first round, and played against other lower league clubs in the first three rounds. Depending on the number of participants, some clubs may be given a bye into the second round. Nine clubs were given a bye this season. 28 of the 30

IFA Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Champion ...

clubs that started the season entered in the fourth round. Newry City folded after the start of the season and, of the remaining 29 clubs, PSNI did not enter on time. The IFA Championship clubs were joined in the fourth round by the lower league clubs that progressed through the first three rounds. The winners from the fourth round matches joined the clubs from the

IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

in the fifth round, and from then on it was a straight knock-out competition through to the final. Replays were only used in the fifth round, sixth round and quarter final stages, otherwise extra time and penalties were used to determine the winner if necessary.

Results

First round

The draw for the first round was held on 16 August 2012 with the matches played on 15 September 2012. Ballynahinch United, Bangor Amateurs, Crumlin United, Dunmurry Rec., Killyleagh Youth, Magherafelt Sky Blues, Mountjoy United, Newbuildings United and Saintfield United all received byes into the second round. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 15 September 2012 Source
irishfa.com
/small> ¹ Wellington Recreation were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player, their opponents were reinstated.

Second round

The draw for the second round took place on 25 September 2012. The 35 winners from the first round matches entered the competition at this round, along with the 9 clubs that received a bye. The matches were played on 20 and 27 October 2012. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 20 October 2012 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 27 October 2012 Source
irishfa.com
/small> ² Comber Recreation and Killyleagh Youth were both disqualified for fielding an ineligible player, their opponents were reinstated.

Third round

The draw for the third round took place on 1 November 2012. The 22 winners from the second round matches entered the draw for this round, with 20 of the clubs drawn to play against each other. Oxford United Stars and Rathfriland Rangers both received a bye into the fourth round because of the demise of Championship club Newry City, and the failure of fellow Championship club PSNI to enter on time. This had reduced the number of teams in the fourth round and hence it was decided to draw two byes in the third round to make up the requisite fourth-round numbers. The matches were played on 17 November 2012. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 17 November 2012 Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Fourth round

The draw for the fourth round was made on 22 November 2012. 28 of the 29 clubs from the

entered the competition at this stage (PSNI not having entered). They were joined by the 10 winners of the third round matches and the two clubs that received byes. The matches were played on 8 December 2012. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 8 December 2012 Source
irishfa.com
/small> ³ Drumaness Mills were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player, their opponents received a walkover.

Fifth round

The fifth round draw was made on 13 December 2012. The 12 clubs from the

entered the competition at this stage, along with the 20 winners from the fourth round matches. The matches were played on 12 January 2013, with the replays being played on 22 January and 4 February 2013. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 12 January 2013

Replays

, - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 22 January 2013 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 4 February 2013 Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Sixth round

The sixth round draw was made after the fifth round matches were played on 12 January. The matches were played on 9 and 26 February 2013.

Northern Amateur Football League The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: ...

club Kilmore Recreation were the lowest ranked side in the draw as the only club from outside the

left in the competition. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 9 February 2013 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 26 February 2013 Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final draw was made after the sixth round matches were played on 9 February. The matches were played on 2 March 2013, with one replay taking place on 12 March.

club Kilmore Recreation were the lowest ranked side in the draw as the only club from outside the

left in the competition. ---- ---- ----

Replay

----

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made after the quarter-final matches were played on 2 March. The matches were played on 6 April 2013. ----

Final

The final took place on 4 May 2013 at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

References

External links

Official site

nifootball.co.uk

2012–13 Irish Cup at ''Soccerway''
{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 Irish Cup Irish Cup seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...