The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition contested annually by teams from the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

(as well as Derry City from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

). Organised by the FAI (

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

), the competition is currently sponsored by ''

Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...

''. It was known as the Free State Cup from 1923 to 1936.

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

hold the record of most wins with 25. The current holders are

Drogheda United F.C. Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

who won their 2nd title on 10 November 2024, defeating

Derry City F.C. Derry City Football Club are a professional football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and are its only member from Northern I ...

2-0 at

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

Venues

Since the early 1920s until the 1980s, all but a handful of FAI Cup finals were held at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

, Dublin. Two replays in the 1920s were held at

Shelbourne Park Shelbourne Park is a greyhound racing stadium in the south Dublin inner city suburb of Ringsend. Greyhound Racing Opening The plans to open a greyhound track in Dublin were drawn up by Paddy O’Donoghue, Jerry Collins, Patsy McAlinden and J ...

, the 1973 replay was held in

Flower Lodge Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, mo ...

in Cork and the 1984 replay was in

Tolka Park Tolka Park () is an Ireland, Irish association football ground located in the Northside Dublin, north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, Dublin, Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Irelan ...

. However, since 1990, due to the lack of development of Dalymount, the final has been played at a number of different venues. From 1990 until 1997 it was played at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

stadium, from 1997 to 1999 back at Dalymount, from 1999 to 2002 at

and from 2003 to 2006 back at Lansdowne Road. Due to the redevelopment of Lansdowne, the 2007 and 2008 finals were played at the

RDS Arena RDS Arena is a multi-purpose sports stadium, owned by the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) and located in the Dublin suburb of Ballsbridge, Ireland. The arena was developed to host equestrian events, primarily the annual Dublin Horse Show, which wa ...

. The 2009 final took place in

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

. Finals from 2010 onwards take place at the

History

Shelbourne,

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

and Derry City are the only clubs to have won both the (Northern) Irish Cup and the FAI Cup, although Shelbourne and Bohemians only won it before partition, while Derry City remained in the Northern Irish league system until 1973, entering the League of Ireland in 1985.

Alton United Alton United F.C. is a defunct Irish football club who were based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and played in the Falls District League. During their time in the Falls District League, Alton United played their home matches in the Falls Road are ...

based in Belfast and Derry City are the only sides from outside the Republic of Ireland to win the competition.

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

in 1924,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

in 1958,

in 1968 and Sligo Rovers in 2010 are the only sides ever to win the Cup without conceding a goal. ShelsHibs

Since 2003, Irish domestic football has moved from the traditional European August–May season to a summer set-up, as favoured in Scandinavia. As an "interim" season was played in the second half of 2002, two FAI Cup Finals took place that year –

winning in April, and Derry City lifting the trophy in November. Following the 1985 expansion of the League of Ireland to two Divisions,

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

were the first First Division team to win the Cup, defeating non-League St. Francis in 1990. Bray were also the first team to win the Cup in a season that saw them relegated, in 1999. Dundalk were relegated in 2002 while winning the first of that year's trophies. After two defeats in Cup Finals in the 1970s,

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

finally reached the summit in 2005. Goals from Gavin Whelan (whose father, Paul, captained

to the 1992 cup and whose grandfather,

Ronnie Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by FreakBob Gaudio and Bob Crewe * "Ronnie" (Metallica song), a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an associ ...

, won two cups with

St. Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played ...

) and captain Declan O'Brien helped "the Drogs" to a 2–0 win over

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

. The last soccer game to be played at the old

was the 2006 final, contested between St. Patrick's Athletic and Derry City, who ran out eventual 4–3 winners after extra-time. The original FAI Cup was also retired after the game with a brand new version of the trophy to be used in the following seasons. The largest ever win in the competition occurred on 29 November 2020 when

beat

11–0 at the semi-final stage. The largest ever attendance at an FAI Cup game was 43,881 people, as

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

defeated

3–1 in the 2023 FAI Cup Final at the

Eligibility

44 clubs compete in the FAI Cup – 20

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

teams and 24 non-league teams. All clubs in the League of Ireland are automatically eligible. Clubs from

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

(levels 3–12 on the Republic of Ireland league system) are also eligible provided they qualify from either the

FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup (), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate association football clubs from the ...

FAI Junior Cup The FAI Junior Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for junior association football clubs from the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Brideville. The competition's most successful club is Fairvie ...

competitions in the current season. All participating clubs must also have a stadium suitable for the competition. The total number of entries in the FAI Cup has changed as

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

has gradually been expanded and reorganised over time. In the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

season, 39 clubs entered the competition. It is very rare for top clubs to miss the competition, although it can happen in exceptional circumstances. For the 2024 season, 40 clubs competed in the competition. The format was also altered slightly, with the preliminary rounds being merged into the first round and the League of Ireland teams entering the competition in the second round. The number of clubs increased ahead of the 2025 season, with all 8 quarter-finalists from the FAI Junior Cup now eligible, increasing the total number of entries to 44 clubs. Northern Irish sides that play in Republic of Ireland leagues are eligible. There is only one club currently competing: Derry City.

Eligibility for the FAI Cup

Source:

Qualification for subsequent competitions

European football

The FAI Cup winners qualify for the following season's

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

. This European place applies even if the team is

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

or is not in the Republic of Ireland top flight. In the past, if the FAI Cup winning team also qualified for the following season's Champions League or Conference League through their league or European performance, then the losing FAI Cup finalists were given the European berth of the FAI Cup winners. Now the FAI Cup berth is then given to the highest-place team in the league who has not yet qualified. FAI Cup winners enter the

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

at the Second qualifying round. Each club that qualifies for the UEFA Conference League gets prize money worth up to 10 million pounds.

Presidents Cup

The FAI Cup winners also qualify for the following season's single-match

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's ...

, the traditional season opener played against the previous season's Premier Division champions (or the Premier Divisions runners-up if the FAI Cup winners also won the league – the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

FAI Cup Finals

Performances

Performance by club

Notes: * 1 Includes Limerick United * 2 Includes Drogheda F.C. * 3 Includes Evergreen United

References

External links

Ireland – List of Cup FinalsFAI announce 1st digital sponsor with the extra.ie FAI cup"'You can't lose, you'll make the league look bad'"

RTÉ Sport RTÉ Sport is a department of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. The department provides sporting coverage through a number of platforms including RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Player, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ h ...

, 13 May 2020. *https://worldsportsweekly.com/fai-cup-previous-winners * https://www.otbsports.com/soccer/the-nearly-neverending-epic-when-bray-wanderers-last-won-a-major-trophy-257383 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fai Cup 1 1