The 2017–18 Irish Cup (known as the Tennent's Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 138th 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 ...

, 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 19 August 2017 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 ...

in May 2018. Linfield are the defending champions, having defeated

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 ...

3–0 in the 2017 final. A new system for penalty shoot-outs will be trialled as sanctioned by the International Football Association Board to test a different sequence of taking penalties. Known as "ABBA", it mirrors the serving sequence in a tennis tie-break i.e. team A takes the first penalty, team B takes the second penalty, team B takes the third penalty, etc.

Format and schedule

All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary. 130 clubs entered this season's competition, an increase of four clubs compared with the 2016–17 total of 126 clubs. 94 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, 12 of whom received a bye into the Round 2A. ( Strabane Athletic were originally excluded, but were reinstated after the first-round draw had been made, necessitating a further draw for 'Round 2A' between Strabane and the eleven clubs that had received a first-round bye, with one tie drawn and ten further byes.). The 41 first-round winners were joined by winner and the ten byes from Round 2A and the 12 clubs of the NIFL Premier Intermediate League in the second round. After two further rounds, with the eight surviving clubs joining the 24 senior

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 ...

and NIFL Championship clubs in the fifth round. All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.

Results

First round

''Matches were played on 19 August 2017''Tennent's Irish Cup 2017/18 – First Round Draw
/ref> * 1st Bangor Old Boys 2–3 Tullyvallen * 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys 3–2 Comber Recreation * Abbey Villa 0–3

Immaculata The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely reveal ...

Ardstraw Ardstraw (from ga, Ard Sratha (hill or height of the holm or strath)) is a small village, townland and civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, three miles northwest of Newtownstewart. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 222 peopl ...

10–2 Richhill * Ballymacash Rangers 3–4 Shankill United * Ballynahinch United v Rosario YC (''Rosario YC received bye'') * Bangor Amateurs 0–3

Newtowne Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

* Barn United 3–8 Rathfriland Rangers * Bloomfield 1–3 Craigavon City * Bryansburn Rangers 3–1 St. Mary's Youth *

Coagh United Coagh United Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the Ballymena & Provincial Intermediate League. The club, founded in 1970, hails from Coagh, near Cookstown, County Tyrone. They play their home games at H ...

6–1 Ballymoney United * Crewe United 2–3 Drumaness Mills * Crumlin Star 9–1 Shorts *

Crumlin United Crumlin United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Crumlin, Dublin. Founded in 1967, the club is one of the biggest producers of football talent in Ireland. They are linked with Nottingham Forest. Their main rival is C ...

3–2

Silverwood Silverwood Theme Park is an amusement park located in the city of Athol in northern Idaho, United States, near the town of Coeur d'Alene, approximately from Spokane, Washington on US 95. Owner Gary Norton opened the park on June 20, 198 ...

Derriaghy Cricket Club Derriaghy Cricket Club is a cricket club in Derriaghy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, playing in Section 1 of the NCU Senior League The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) Senior League is the provincial cricket league within the NCU jurisdiction ...

3–1 Bourneview Young Men *

Dollingstown Dollingstown is a large village in County Down, Northern Ireland, lying between Lurgan and Magheralin. It is within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2011 Census it had a population of 2,126 people. ...

1–3

Maiden City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern ...

Dunloy Dunloy () is a village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located north of Ballymena and north-west is Ballymoney. It is located in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Finvoy, in the former Barony (Ireland), baro ...

3–1 Banbridge Rangers * Dunmurry Rec. 4–0 Dromore Amateurs * Fivemiletown United 1–4

Islandmagee Islandmagee () is a peninsula and civil parish on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Whitehead. It is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural ...

* Glebe Rangers 2–0 Bangor *

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

8–2 Chimney Corner * Killyleagh YC 5–1 Newbuildings United *

Laurelvale Laurelvale is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is beside the smaller village of Mullavilly and the two are sometimes referred to as Laurelvale-Mullavilly or Mullavilly-Laurelvale. The village is three miles south of Portadown and 1 ...

6–1 Broomhedge Maghaberry * Lower Maze 1–2 St. Patrick's Young Men * Lurgan Town 3–1 Groomsport * Magherafelt Sky Blues v Colin Valley (''Colin Valley received bye'') * Malachians v Downshire Young Men (''Downshire Young Men received bye'') * Markethill Swifts 2–1 Grove United *

Moneyslane MoneyslanePlacenames NI
(from ga, Muine Sleanna) is a small

1–4 Sirocco Works * Orangefield Old Boys 3–0 Dunmurry Young Men * Oxford United Stars 4–3

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

* Portaferry Rovers 3–1 Ballynahinch Olympic * Rathfern Rangers 4–5 Lisburn Rangers * Rosemount Rec 3–1 St. Luke's * Royal British Legion 1–2 Dromara Village * Saintfield United 2–4

Tandragee Rovers Tandragee Rovers Football Club is an intermediate-level football club playing in the Intermediate A division of the Mid-Ulster Football League in Northern Ireland. They were treble winners in 2000–01 season winning the following Bob Radcli ...

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 ...

1–12 Larne Tech Old Boys *

Seapatrick Seapatrick () is a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies partly across the three historic baronies of Iveagh Upper, Upper Half, Iveagh Lower, Lower Half and Iveagh Lower, Upper Half. Civil parish of Seapatrick The civil parish cen ...

1–4 Ballynure Old Boys *

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

2–3 Dungiven Celtic * Valley Rangers 5–0 Oxford Sunnyside * Windmill Stars 2–1 St. James' Swifts

Round 2A

Strabane Athletic were originally excluded from the competition, but were reinstated after the first-round draw had been made, necessitating a 'Round 2A' involving Strabane and the eleven clubs that had received first-round byes. One tie drawn was drawn and the following ten teams received further byes: Albert Foundry, Ballywalter Rec.,

Brantwood Brantwood is a historic house museum in Cumbria, England, overlooking Coniston Water. It has been the home of a number of prominent people. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to Jo ...

, Cookstown Youth, Desertmartin,

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire ...

, Newcastle, Strabane Athletic, UUJ and Wellington Rec. ''Match played on 23 September 2017'' * Ards Rangers 9–0 Iveagh United

Second round

The twelve members of the NIFL Premier Intermediate League join the competition at this stage as well as the first-round winners, and the winners and byes from Round 2A. ''Matches were played on 30 September 2017'' * 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys 1–2 UUJ *

Annagh United Annagh United Football Club (The name 'Annagh' ) is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, founded in 1963, hails from Portadown and plays its home matches at the BMG Arena. The club home co ...

4–2 Markethill Swifts *

2–6

Dundela Dundela Football Club, nicknamed "The Duns" is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club from Belfast, currently playing in the NIFL Championship, and plays its home matches at Wilgar Park. The club's colours are green and white. The hom ...

* Armagh City 2–0

* Ballywalter Recreation 6–3 Ballynure Old Boys * Bryansburn Rangers 3–4 Albert Foundry * Colin Valley 1–4 Valley Rangers * Cookstown Youth 6–7 Craigavon City * Crumlin Star 5–0 Oxford United Stars *

2–0

Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Football Club is an intermediate football club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland who currently play in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. The club, founded in 1970, plays its home matches at Donegal Celtic Park. Club co ...

1–2 Shankill United * Downshire Young Men 1–10

Moyola Park Moyola Park is a country estate near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is currently the home of Lady Moyola, widow of Lord Moyola, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The estate is and is home to Moyola Park G ...

* Dromara Village 0–1 Banbridge Town * Drumaness Mills 0–2

1–2 Portstewart * Dunmurry Rec. 0–7 Tobermore United * Glebe Rangers 3–0 Rosemount Recreation *

2–1 Larne Tech Old Boys *

1–2 Ards Rangers * Killyleagh YC 2–0 Sirocco Works *

5–2 Tullyvallen *

7–1 Lurgan Town * Newcastle 3–1 Strabane Athletic * Newington 0–3

Lisburn Distillery Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club who are based in Ballyskeagh, County Down. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, the third tier of t ...

4–2 Desertmartin * Portaferry Rovers 2–0

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

7–2 Dungiven Celtic * Rathfriland Rangers 4–1 Orangefield Old Boys * Rosario YC 4–0

* Sport & Leisure Swifts 2–0 Windmill Stars * St Patrick's YM 3–2 Wellington Recreation *

3–2 Lisburn Rangers

Third round

''Matches were played on 4 November 2017'' * Armagh City 1–2 Crumlin Star * Ballywalter Recreation 3–2 Ards Rangers * Banbridge Town 1–2

* Craigavon City 1–4 Albert Foundry *

2–0 Valley Rangers * Glebe Rangers v UUJ (''Glebe Rangers received a bye'')Twitter.com @gleberangersfc, 2 November 2017 *

2–3 Shankill United *

3–1

(aet) * Killyleagh YC 3–1 Tobermore United *

0–5

* Newcastle 3–0 Rathfriland Rangers *

0–2

* Portstewart 2–1 Portaferry Rovers * Sport & Leisure Swifts 0–2

* St Patrick's Young Men 2–5

1–2

(aet)

Fourth round

''Matches were played on 2 December 2017'' *

2–4

5–0 Newcastle * Glebe Rangers 2–1

3–1 Albert Foundry *

2–0 Ballywalter Recreation * Portstewart 1–1

(''Maiden City won 3–1 on pens'') *

3–1 Killyleagh YC * Shankill United 0–4 Crumlin Star

Fifth round

''Matches were played on 6 January 2018''

Sixth round

''Matches were played on 3 February 2018''

Quarter-finals

''Matches were due to be played on 3 March 2018 but only the Glenavon/Loughgall fixture was completed on this date. The three remaining fixtures were played on 13 March 2018.''

Semi-finals

''Matches were played on 31 March 2018. Cliftonville played Loughgall at

the Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, and Coleraine played Larne at Ballymena Showgrounds.''

Final

The final was played on 5 May 2018 at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park.

References

External links

Official site

nifootball.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Irish Cup 2017–18 2017–18 in Northern Ireland association football 2017–18 European domestic association football cups 2017 in Northern Ireland sport 2018 in Northern Ireland sport