The 2015–16

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 Tennent's Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 136th edition of the premier knock-out cup competition in

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

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 ...

since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 18 August 2015 with the first round and concluded with the final 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 ...

on 7 May 2016. The cup was sponsored by Tennent's Lager, the competition's first title sponsor since 2012.

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 ...

were the defending champions, after they lifted the cup for the second time in three seasons and for the 22nd time overall by defeating

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 ...

1–0 in the 2015 final. Their defence of the Cup ended in the sixth round after falling to a 4–1 home defeat against 2013–14 winners, Glenavon. Glenavon who were the eventual winners after beating Linfield 2-0 in the final, qualified for the

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...

first qualifying round

Format and Schedule

129 clubs entered this season's competition, an increase of four clubs compared with the 2014–15 total of 125 clubs. 82 regional league clubs from tiers 4–7 in 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 the competition in the first round, with a further seven clubs receiving byes to proceed directly into the second round as necessitated by the number of participants. These clubs contested the first three rounds, with the 12 surviving clubs joining the 28

NIFL 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 ...

clubs in the fourth round. The 12

NIFL 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 ...

clubs enter the competition in the fifth round, along with the 20 winners from the fourth round matches. All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.

Results

Note: ''The league tier of each club at the time of entering the competition is listed in parentheses.''

First round

The draw for the first round was made on 22 July 2015 with the matches played between 18 and 22 August 2015. Seven clubs 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, namely:

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...

(4), Dunmurry Recreation (5),

Groomsport Groomsport () is a village and townland two miles north east of Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the south shore of Belfast Lough and on the north coast of the Ards Peninsula. Groomsport has a population of 3,005 people accordin ...

(7), Larne Tech Old Boys (5), Oxford United Stars (4), Rathfriland Rangers (5) and

Seagoe Saint Gobhan has long been linked with the parish of Seagoe – recorded for instance as ''Teach dho-Ghobha'' – in County Armagh, Ireland. This saint - ''Gobban find mac Lugdach'' (-639), was primarily known for his abbacy of the monastery ...

(5). Note: ''All entrants at this stage were at regional level (tiers 4–7).'' , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 18 August 2015 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 20 August 2015 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 21 August 2015 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 22 August 2015 Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Second round

48 clubs competed in the second round; the 41 winners from the first round matches, along with the seven clubs that received byes. The draw took place on 25 August 2015, with the matches played on 3 October 2015. Note: ''All entrants at this stage were at regional level (tiers 4–7).'' Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Third round

The 24 winners from the second round entered this round. The draw took place on 13 October 2015, with the fixtures played on 7 November 2015. As the only tier 7 club remaining, Downshire Young Men were the lowest-ranked side to reach this stage of the competition, but were ultimately knocked out after a narrow 3–2 defeat to Crumlin United. Note: ''All entrants at this stage were at regional level (tiers 4–7).'' Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Fourth round

The fourth round draw was completed on 10 November 2015, with the matches completed between 5 December 2015 and 2 January 2016. The 28

clubs entered the competition at this stage, and were joined by the 12 third round winners. As the only tier 6 club remaining, Wellington Recreation were the lowest-ranked side to reach this stage of the competition, but they were eliminated by Harland & Wolff Welders. Note: ''Intermediate clubs entered the competition at this stage (tiers 2–3).'' , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 5 December 2015 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 8 December 2015 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 9 December 2015 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 19 December 2015 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 2 January 2016

Fifth round

The fifth round draw took place on 8 December 2015, with the matches completed on 9 and 19 January 2016. The 20 winners from the fourth round matches joined the 12

clubs to make up the final 32 clubs. As the sole remaining club from tier 5, Rathfriland Rangers were the lowest ranked side to reach the fifth round, but were eliminated by

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 ...

. Note: ''Senior clubs entered the competition at this stage (tier 1).''

Sixth Round

The sixth round draw was made on 9 January 2016, with the matches played on 6 and 15 February 2016. The 16 winners from the fifth round matches entered this round. As the only representative from outside the

Northern Ireland Football League The Northern Ireland Football League (commonly abbreviated to NIFL), known historically, and still colloquially, as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the l ...

, Crumlin Star were the lowest-ranked club to reach this stage of the competition, but they were eliminated after a narrow 1–0 defeat against Carrick Rangers.

Quarter-finals

The 8 winners of the sixth round matches entered the quarter-finals. The draw took place on 6 February 2016, with the matches played on 5 March 2016. As the only two representatives from outside the

, second tier sides

Loughgall Loughgall ( ; ) is a small village, townland (of 131 acres) and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the historic baronies of Armagh and Oneilland West. It had a population of 282 people (116 households) in the 2011 Census. ...

and

Lurgan Celtic Lurgan Celtic Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club based in Lurgan, County Armagh, that currently plays in the Mid-Ulster Football League Junior Division 3. The club was founded, 1903 & re-formed in 1970 who plays in a s ...

were the lowest-ranked clubs to reach the quarter-finals. It was Lurgan Celtic's first ever appearance in the quarter-finals. Most notably, this round of matches saw

Ronnie McFall Ronald Joseph McFall MBE (born 3 October 1947) is a former football player and former manager of NIFL Premiership sides Glentoran and Portadown. He was most notably manager of hometown club Portadown for 29 years from December 1986 until his ...

's reign as Portadown manager come to an end after 29 years. Appointed in December 1986, he was at the time the longest-serving manager in European football, and resigned after his side's shock 3–2 home defeat against Lurgan Celtic.

Semi-finals

The 4 quarter-final winners entered the semi-finals, with the matches played at

on 1 and 2 April 2016. The dates for the matches were switched after the draw, following a request from the

PSNI The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

. As the only representative from outside the

remaining, second tier side

were the lowest-ranked club to reach the semi-finals. It was their first ever appearance in the semi-finals, but they were eliminated by Linfield. ----

Final

The final was played on 7 May 2016 at

. Linfield appeared in the final for a record 62nd time, the seventh time in eleven seasons, and the first time since winning a third consecutive cup in the 2012 final. Glenavon reached the final for the second time in three seasons after winning the cup in 2013–14. It was only the fourth ever meeting between the two sides in the final, and the first since the 1992 final when Glenavon defeated Linfield 2–1 at the

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

to win the cup for the fourth time. History would repeat itself as Glenavon went on to beat Linfield 2-0 to win the cup for the seventh time and the second time in three seasons

References

External links

Official site

nifootball.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Cup 2015-16 2015-16

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, ...

2015–16 European domestic association football cups