Ulster Cup

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title: "Ulster Cup" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["defunct-association-football-cup-competitions-in-northern-ireland", "1949-establishments-in-northern-ireland", "2003-disestablishments-in-northern-ireland", "recurring-sporting-events-disestablished-in-1949", "recurring-sporting-events-disestablished-in-2003"] topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Cup" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

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Field	Value
name	Ulster Cup
organiser	Irish Football Association
founded	1949
abolished	2003
region	Northern Ireland
most successful club	Linfield (15 titles)
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The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs.

History

Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-off re-appearance in 2002/03. The last three editions were only open to First Division sides. From the mid-1980s to the early-1990s the competition was known as the Lombard Ulster Cup due to a sponsorship deal with the Lombard & Ulster Bank. It had previously been sponsored by Morans.

Format

The format of the Ulster Cup varied from season to season. It often employed a league format, with each club playing each other once and the winner declared as the team with the most points; and sometimes a group basis, with the winners decided by a play-off.

The format over the years was as follows:

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Years	No. of seasons	Format
1948–49	1	group system plus final
1949–52	3	group system plus top-four knockout
1952–56	4	group system plus final
1956–57	1	league
1957–65	8	group system plus final
1965–83	18	league
1983–85	2	group system plus top-four knockout
1985–96	11	group system plus top-eight knockout
1996–97	1	knock-out
1997–99 and 2002–03	3	league (First Division clubs only)
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Finals results

Winners of the Ulster Cup by season.

Key:

::data[format=table] | Season | Winner (number of titles) | Score | Runner-up | Venue | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1948–49 | Linfield (1) | 3 – 0 | Ards | Solitude, Belfast | | 1949–50 | Larne (1) | 2 – 1 | Ballymena United | Grosvenor Park, Belfast | | 1950–51 | Glentoran (1) | 2 – 1 | Linfield | Grosvenor Park, Belfast | | 1951–52 | Ballymena United (1) | 3 – 0 | Crusaders | Solitude, Belfast | | 1952–53 | Glentoran (2) | 3 – 0 | Distillery | Solitude, Belfast | | 1953–54 | Crusaders (1) | 2 – 1 | Linfield | Solitude, Belfast | | 1954–55 | Glenavon (1) | 3 – 1 | Coleraine | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1955–56 | Linfield (2) | 5 – 1 | Coleraine | The Oval, Belfast | | 1956–57 | Linfield (3) | League format | Distillery | — | | 1957–58 | Distillery (1) | 1 – 1 | Glentoran | Solitude, Belfast | | Replay | 4 – 1 | Windsor Park, Belfast | | | | 1958–59 | Glenavon (2) | 2 – 0 | Crusaders | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1959–60 | Linfield (4) | 1 – 1 | Crusaders | Solitude, Belfast | | Replay | 4 – 1 | Windsor Park, Belfast | | | | 1960–61 | Ballymena United (2) | 3 – 1 | Glenavon | Grosvenor Park, Belfast | | 1961–62 | Linfield (5) | 2 – 0 | Glentoran | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1962–63 | Glenavon (3) | 1 – 0 | Coleraine | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1963–64 | Crusaders (2) | 2 – 2 | Glenavon | Windsor Park, Belfast | | Replay | 1 – 0 | Windsor Park, Belfast | | | | 1964–65 | Linfield (6) | 1 – 0 | Glentoran | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1965–66 | Coleraine (1) | League format | Linfield | — | | 1966–67 | Glentoran (3) | Glenavon | | | | 1967–68 | Linfield (7) | Glentoran | | | | 1968–69 | Coleraine (2) | Linfield | | | | 1969–70 | Coleraine (3) | Glentoran | | | | 1970–71 | Linfield (8) | Coleraine | | | | 1971–72 | Linfield (9) | Ballymena United | | | | 1972–73 | Coleraine (4) | Distillery | | | | 1973–74 | Ards (1) | Linfield | | | | 1974–75 | Linfield (10) | Glentoran | | | | 1975–76 | Coleraine (5) | Linfield | | | | 1976–77 | Glentoran (4) | Portadown | | | | 1977–78 | Linfield (11) | Coleraine | | | | 1978–79 | Linfield (12) | Crusaders | | | | 1979–80 | Linfield (13) | Cliftonville | | | | 1980–81 | Ballymena United (3) | Linfield | | | | 1981–82 | Glentoran (5) | Coleraine | | | | 1982–83 | Glentoran (6) | Linfield | | | | 1983–84 | Glentoran (7) | **5 – 2 ** | Coleraine | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1984–85 | Linfield (14) | 2 – 2 (3 – 2 pens.) | Larne | The Oval, Belfast | | 1985–86 | Coleraine (6) | **5 – 0 ** | Portadown | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1986–87 | Coleraine (7) | 1 – 0 | Linfield | The Oval, Belfast | | 1987–88 | Larne (2) | 2 – 1 | Coleraine | The Oval, Belfast | | 1988–89 | Glentoran (8) | 5 – 2 | Larne | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1989–90 | Glentoran (9) | 3 – 1 | Glenavon | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1990–91 | Portadown (1) | 1 – 1 | Glenavon | The Oval, Belfast | | Replay | 1 – 1 (3 – 2 pens.) | | | | | 1991–92 | Bangor (1) | 3 – 1 | Crusaders | The Oval, Belfast | | 1992–93 | Linfield (15) | 2 – 0 | Ards | The Oval, Belfast | | 1993–94 | Crusaders (3) | 1 – 0 | Bangor | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1994–95 | Bangor (2) | 2 – 1 | Linfield | The Oval, Belfast | | 1995–96 | Portadown (2) | 2 – 2 (5 – 3 pens.) | Linfield | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1996–97 | Coleraine (8) | 1 – 1 (4 – 3 pens.) | Crusaders | Windsor Park, Belfast | | 1997–98 | Ballyclare Comrades (1) | League format | Distillery | — | | 1998–99 | Distillery (2) | Ards | | | | 2002–03 | Dungannon Swifts (1) | Ballymena United | | | ::

Performance by club

Senior

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Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning years	Runners-up years
Linfield	15	11	1948–49, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1984–85, 1992–93	1950–51, 1953–54, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1994–95, 1995–96
Glentoran	9	6	1950–51, 1952–53, 1966–67, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90	1957–58, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1974–75
Coleraine	8	8	1965–66, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1996–97	1954–55, 1955–56, 1962–63, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1987–88
Crusaders	3	6	1953–54, 1963–64, 1993–94	1951–52, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1978–79, 1991–92, 1996–97
Ballymena United	3	2	1951–52, 1960–61, 1980–81	1949–50, 1971–72
Glenavon	3	5	1954–55, 1958–59, 1962–63	1960–61, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1989–90, 1990–91
Larne	2	2	1949–50, 1987–88	1984–85, 1988–89
Portadown	2	2	1990–91, 1995–96	1976–77, 1985–86
Bangor	2	1	1991–92, 1994–95	1993–94
Distillery	1	3	1957–58	1952–53, 1956–57, 1972–73
Ards	1	2	1973–74	1948–49, 1992–93
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First Division only

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Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning years	Runners-up years
Distillery	1	1	1998–99	1997–98
Ballyclare Comrades	1	0	1997–98	—
Dungannon Swifts	1	0	2002–03	—
Ards	0	1	—	1998–99
Ballymena United	0	1	—	2002–03
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Notes

References

"Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1999/2000" Ed. Dr. Malcolm Brodie MBE

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