The 2019–20 Irish Cup (known as the Sadler’s Peaky Blinder Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 140th 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 ...

, the premier knockout cup competition in

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

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 ...

since its inauguration in 1881. The competition began on 17 August 2019, and concluded with the final 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 ...

on 31 July 2020. The final was the first football match in the United Kingdom to host fans since the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

led to a pause in the season in March, with 250 fans from each team permitted at the final.

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 ...

were the defending champions, having defeated NIFL Championship side Ballinamallard United 3–0 in the 2019 final to lift the cup for the fourth time overall; their first since winning the 2009 final ten years earlier.

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

were the champions, taking their tally to 23 Irish Cup wins overall; their first for five years. They defeated Ballymena United 2–1 after extra time in the delayed final to qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League preliminary round.

Format and schedule

All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary. 125 clubs entered this season's competition – one fewer compared with the 2018–19 total of 126 clubs. Along with 35 of the 36

Northern Ireland Football League The Northern Ireland Football League (abbreviated to NIFL), formerly known as and still commonly referred to as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the leag ...

clubs ( Lurgan Celtic withdrew from the league after the start of the season), 90 regional league clubs from tiers 4–7 in the Northern Ireland football league system also entered the competition. All 101 clubs from level 3 and below entered in the first round, with 74 of them drawn into 37 first round fixtures and the remaining 27 clubs receiving a bye. The 37 first round winners were then joined by the 27 byes in the second round. After two further rounds, the eight surviving clubs join the 24 senior

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 NIFL Championship clubs in the fifth round.

Results

''The league tier of each club at the time of entering the competition is listed in parentheses.'' *''(1) = NIFL Premiership'' *''(2) = NIFL Championship'' *''(3) = NIFL Premier Intermediate League'' *''(NL) = Non-league (clubs outside the

– levels 4–7)''

First round

The draw for the first round took place on 5 July 2019. All clubs from level 3 and below entered in the first round, with 74 of them drawn into 37 first round fixtures and the remaining 27 clubs receiving a bye into the second round. The ties were played on 17 August 2019.

Second round

64 clubs entered the second round – the 37 first round winners along with the 27 byes. The matches were played on 27 and 28 September 2019. Crumlin Star and

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automatically advanced to the third round, after their opponents Trojans and Oxford United Stars both withdrew from the competition. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 27 September 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 28 September 2019

Third round

The 30 second round winners entered the third round along with the two byes. The matches were played on 2 November 2019.

Fourth round

The 16 third round winners entered the fourth round. The matches were played on 30 November 2019.

Fifth round

32 clubs entered the fifth round. The 24 clubs from the

and NIFL Championship entered the competition at this stage, and were joined by the 8 fourth round winners. The matches were played on 4 January 2020.

Sixth round

The 16 fifth round winners entered the sixth round. The matches were played on 1 February 2020.

Quarter-finals

The 8 sixth round winners entered the quarter-finals, which were played on 28 and 29 February 2020.

Semi-finals

The four quarter-final winners entered the semi-finals, which were originally scheduled to be played on 28 March 2020. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, the semi-finals were postponed until 27 July 2020.

Final

The 2 semi-final winners entered the final. The final was originally scheduled to be played in May 2020 at

. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, the final was postponed until 31 July 2020. One of the first football matches in the United Kingdom to be played in front of fans since the beginning of the pandemic, the match ended with

defeating Ballymena United 2–1 after extra-time to win the Cup for the 23rd time, with goals coming from Paul O'Neill and Robbie McDaid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 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 ...