The 2011–12 Irish Cup (known as the JJB Sports Irish Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 132nd edition of the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

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 ...

's premier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

knock-out cup competition.. The competition began on 17 September 2011 with the first round and ended on 5 May 2012 with the final. Linfield were the defending champions, after a 2–1 victory over

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

in last season's final. The two clubs met again in this season's final, and Linfield successfully defended the cup to win it for the sixth time in seven seasons after defeating Crusaders 4–1. Crusaders qualified for the first qualifying round of the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Are ...

as Linfield had already qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

by winning the 2011–12 IFA Premiership.

Results

First round

The draw for the first round was held on 1 September 2011. Ards Rangers, Broomhedge, Lower Maze, Newington Youth Club, Rathfriland Rangers and

Sirocco Works Sirocco Works, officially Sirocco Engineering Works, was an engineering firm based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The site is located beside Short Strand, adjacent to Bridge End and River Lagan. It was founded by Samuel Cleland Davidson in 1881 unde ...

all received a bye into the Second Round. Matches were played on 17 and 24 September 2011. Source
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Second round

The games were played on 22 October 2011. Source
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Third round

The games were played on 19 November 2011. Source
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Fourth round

All 30 clubs from

IFA Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Champion ...

1 and 2 entered the competition at this stage, as well as the 10 lower league clubs that had progressed through the previous rounds. The games were played on 10 and 17 December 2011. Source
irishfa.com
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Fifth round

The draw for the Fifth Round was made on 14 December 2011. All 12 clubs from the

IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

entered at this stage, along with the 20 winners from the fourth round matches. The games were played on 14 January 2012. Replays were played on 24 January 2012. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", Replays Source
irishfa.com
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Sixth round

The games were played on 11 February 2012. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", Replays Source
irishfa.com
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Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 3 March 2012, with the replay played on 12 March 2012. ---- ---- ---- ^†'' Ballymena United were later ejected from the competition for fielding an ineligible player in this match. Newry City were consequently reinstated.'' ''Ballymena United appealed the decision, but the appeal was rejected.'' ----

Replay

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 3 March 2012. Both ties were due to be played on 31 March 2012. However, Ballymena United's appeal over their disqualification delayed Linfield's semi-final match until 14 April 2012. Newry City were confirmed as their opponents when Ballymena's appeal was rejected. ----

Final

The final took place on 5 May 2012 at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

References

External links

Official site

nifootball.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Irish Cup Irish Cup seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...