The Leinster Senior Cup is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

cup competition A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

organized by the

Leinster Football Association The Leinster Football Association (LFA) is the governing body for association football in the Irish province of Leinster. It is responsible for organizing the Leinster Senior Cup and the Leinster Senior League as well as numerous other league ...

. It is currently contested by LFA affiliated

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

clubs, Leinster Senior League Senior Division clubs and invited teams from the various LFA affiliated junior leagues. Before the introduction of the FAI Cup, it was considered the major cup competition for clubs in what is now the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. It is also the oldest association football cup competition in the Republic of Ireland.

History

Early years

After the

was founded in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

it began organizing its own cup competition. The Leinster Senior Cup was first played for in 1892–93. The inaugural final saw Leinster Nomads defeat

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

2–1. After the inaugural win by Nomads, Bohemians and Shelbourne monopolised the cup for the next twenty-four years. For most of this era Bohemians and Shelbourne were members of the

Irish Football League Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Olympia's Leinster Double

After Leinster Nomads, Bohemians and Shelbourne, Olympia became the fourth team to win the Leinster Senior Cup. In 1917–18, with team that included Jack McCarthy and Fran Watters, Olympia won both the Leinster Junior Cup and Leinster Senior Cup. In doing so they also caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of Leinster football. After winning the Leinster Junior Cup, they qualified for the Leinster Senior Cup. After receiving a bye in the first round, Olympia beat St James's Gate in the semi-final. In the final they defeated Shelbourne 1–0 with a goal scored by Fran Watters. According to Peter Byrne this also resulted in a popular giant killing chat – "Remember Olympia once beat Shels". Olympia effectively ended the Bohemians/Shelbourne monopoly and in subsequent seasons the cup was won by Leinster Senior League clubs such as St James's Gate and Dublin United.

Non-League of Ireland successes

Following the introduction of the

in 1921–22, League of Ireland clubs have dominated the competition. However non-League of Ireland clubs, mainly from the Leinster Senior League, have enjoyed some successes. Brideville in 1924–25, Distillery in 1941–42 and St Patrick's Athletic in 1947–48 were all winners. Brideville were losing finalists in 1923–24 as were Glasnevin in 1924–25,

Grangegorman Grangegorman () is an inner suburb on the northside of Dublin city, Ireland. The area is administered by Dublin City Council. It was best known for decades as the location of St Brendan's Hospital, which was the main psychiatric hospital se ...

in 1946–47,

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

in 1947–48, St Patrick's Athletic in 1950–51 and

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

in 1954–55. In the 1946–47 final

Mick O'Flanagan Mick O'Flanagan (29 September 1922 – 13 September 2015) was an Irish former sportsman who represented his country at both soccer and rugby union. As a soccer player, O'Flanagan played for, among others, Home Farm, Bohemians and Belfast Ce ...

scored six goals for Bohemians as they defeated Grangegorman 11–0. Home Farm were winners in 1964–65 after defeating

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

2–1 in the final on 26 December 1964 at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

. Home Farm, Distillery in 1941–42 and Wayside Celtic in 1998–99 are the only non-League of Ireland clubs to defeat a League of Ireland club in the final. In more recent times St Francis, Cherry Orchard and St. Patrick's C.Y.F.C. have also been finalists.

Decline and revival

The 2000–01 competition suffered with fixture rows and was eventually abandoned after the quarter-final draw was made due to the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak. The cup was not played again until 2010. The competition was played yearly until the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

History

Early years

Olympia's Leinster Double

Non-League of Ireland successes

Decline and revival

List of Leinster Senior Cup finals

Performance by club

References

Further reading