The Steel & Sons Cup (also referred to as the Steel Cup) is an intermediate

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 ...

competition in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

run by the

North East Ulster Football Association The County Antrim & District Football Association (also known as the North East Ulster Football Association but more commonly as the Co. Antrim FA) is the largest of the four regional football associations within Northern Ireland and affiliated to ...

(also known as the County Antrim & District Football Association). The competition culminates in the final which has traditionally been played on 25 December (except when this date falls on a Sunday). The 2006 final, however, broke with tradition when it was staged on the Saturday before 25 December as this was a closed date for all other football fixtures in Northern Ireland. The final returned to its original Christmas Day slot in 2007-08. The 2012–13 tournament was declared null after Glentoran II were stripped of their title having fielded an ineligible player in an earlier round. This is the first time in the tournament's history that no winner was declared. The current holder is Bangor Football Club.

The trophy

The "Steel Cup" trophy was donated to the County Antrim FA in 1895 by Mr David Steel. Steel was principal of Steel & Sons Ltd, wholesale jewellers, silversmiths, cutlers, watch-makers and opticians, with premises on Royal Avenue,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. Since 1973 a second trophy has been awarded after the final - the Player of the Match Award. Initially sponsored by the ''Sunday News'', the first winner was Tommy Craig of Glentoran II. Since the 1993 final the award has been sponsored by the ''

Belfast News Letter The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737. The newspap ...

''.Steel & Sons Cup Final Programme 1993

Venue of final

The home for the final was rotated round the major Irish League venues in Belfast until the late 1950s when

Solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without distu ...

became the regular venue. Since the 1972-73 season Seaview, home of

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 ...

, has hosted all the final ties, with the exception of the final and replay in 1975-76 and the replay of the 1984-85 final, which were played at Solitude.

Past finals

Key:

Performance by club

Sources

External links