The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish

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 ...

tournament which was introduced when the

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 ...

started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began and was seen as the third most important trophy in Irish football, after the league and

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

. The winners of the Shield gained entry to the following season's

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup ( ...

until 1971–72. It was played in a variety of formats; from complete round robin series to group stages followed by knock out games to complete knock out tournaments. It was replaced by the

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

in 1973, though returned for one season in 1983–84. The LOI Shield should not be confused with the

League of Ireland First Division Shield The League of Ireland First Division Shield was an association football competition featuring teams from the League of Ireland First Division. The inaugural winners were Derry City. It was also the first competition Derry City won after they jo ...

, a competition that ran in the 1980s and 1990s and, as the name suggests, was confined to First Division clubs.

List of winners

Performance by club

External links

LOI Shield history on rsssf.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:League Of Ireland Shield Defunct association football competitions in the Republic of Ireland Defunct association football cup competitions in the Republic of Ireland

Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...

List of winners

Performance by club

See also

External links