The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football 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 ...
. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the
North East Ulster Football Association (also known as the
County Antrim & District Football Association) (membership of which extends geographically beyond
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
itself), often plus intermediate teams who qualify via the
Steel & Sons Cup
The Steel & Sons Cup (also referred to as the Steel Cup) is an intermediate football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North East Ulster Football Association (also known as the County Antrim & District Football Association).
The compe ...
, depending on the numbers required. For the 2010–11 and 2011-12 seasons, only the winners took part.
The current Shield champions are
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...
, who beat
Linfield 1–0 in the 2021–22 final, winning the trophy for a second successive year.
During the later 1980s and early 1990s, the North East Ulster F.A. invited senior clubs from outside its jurisdiction to participate. Hence the Shield has been won by
Newry Town (later Newry City) and
Glenavon, neither of which are members of the North East Ulster F.A.
The Shield has been regularly sponsored since the late 1980s. The 2014–15 competition was sponsored by Toals Bookmakers.
Finals
Performance by club
Centenary Chalice
To mark the centenary of the County Antrim F.A., a Centenary Chalice was played for in 1987–88.
Glentoran won it, defeating
Ballymena United 4–2 in the final.
[Brodie, M. (ed.), ''Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook'' 1988-89]
References
{{Association football cup competitions in Ireland
Association football in County Antrim
Association football cup competitions in Northern Ireland