The 2013–14 Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the WASP Solutions League Cup in the final for sponsorship purposes) was the 28th edition of the

Northern Ireland Football League Cup The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the BetMcLean Cup for sponsorship purposes, and commonly known as the Irish League Cup) is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the N ...

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 secondary

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 ...

knockout cup competition, and the first season under the control of the Northern Ireland Football League. It was contested by the 12 members of the

NIFL 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 ...

and the 30 members of the

NIFL 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 Championsh ...

. The competition began on 13 August 2013 and ended on 25 January 2014 with the final. The competition was without a principal sponsor up until the final, as Irn Bru ended their sponsorship following the conclusion of the 2012–13 competition. WASP Solutions became the Cup's new sponsor in January 2014.

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

were the defending champions after defeating

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 ...

4–0 in the 2012–13 final to become the sixth different winner of the cup in six seasons. Newington made their debut in the competition this season, following their promotion to the NIFL Championship for the first time in the club's history. In a repeat of the previous season,

and

met in the final once again, which was played at

Solitude Solitude, also known as social withdrawal, 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 wo ...

for the first time.

retained the trophy to lift it for the third time by winning 3–2 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time. They became the first club to retain the trophy since Linfield won three consecutive cups in 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000.

Format

The competition was played in a straight knockout format and was open to all members of the

and both divisions of the

. The top 16 ranked clubs from last season received byes into the second round, which included the 12 members of the

2012–13 IFA Premiership The 2012–13 IFA Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th season of the IFA Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, and the 112th season of Northern Ireland Football Lea ...

and the top four ranked clubs from the 2012–13 IFA Championship 1. Of the remaining 26 Championship clubs, 20 entered the competition in the first round, with the other 6 given byes to the second round. The 6 clubs to receive byes were randomly drawn. Replays were not used in the competition - all matches used extra time and penalties to determine the winner if necessary.

First round

The draw for the first round was made on 26 July 2013. The games were played on 13 August 2013. The first round draw was made randomly and included 20 of the 30 clubs from the NIFL Championship. The top 16 ranked clubs from last season received byes into the second round, which included the 12 members of the

and the top four ranked clubs from the 2012–13 IFA Championship 1, along with six other randomly chosen Championship clubs, namely: Ballymoney United, Bangor, Chimney Corner, Glebe Rangers, Newington and

PSNI The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it w ...

. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 13 August 2013

Second round

The second round draw was made on 12 August 2013, with the games played on 26 August 2013. The top 16 ranked clubs from last season entered the competition at this stage, along with the six other Championship clubs that received byes and the 10 winners from the first round. The second round draw was seeded, so that the top 16 clubs from last season avoided each other. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 26 August 2013

Third round

The third round draw was made on 17 August 2013, with the games played on 8 and 15 October 2013.

Lurgan Celtic Lurgan Celtic Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club based in Lurgan, County Armagh, that currently plays in the Mid-Ulster Football League Junior Division 1. The club was founded 1903 and reformed in 1970, and plays in a s ...

were the lowest ranked club to reach this round, as the only representative from Championship 2. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 8 October 2013 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 15 October 2013

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final draw was made on 9 October 2013, with the matches played on 12 November 2013. Bangor were the lowest ranked club to reach this round, as the only club from outside the NIFL Premiership. --------------------------- --------------------------- ---------------------------

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 16 November 2013, with the matches played on 17 December 2013. ---------------------------

Final

The final was played on 25 January 2014 at

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

External links

NIFL Premiership official site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Northern Ireland Football League Cup Irish League Cup seasons League Cup