Irish Cup
The Irish Cup ( German: Irish Cup ) is the football cup competition in Northern Ireland, organized by the Northern Irish Football Association IFA. From 1881 to the partition of Ireland in 1921, he was the cup competition for all the teams of the island at that time undivided as part of the United Kingdom. He is on the cup competitions from England, Scotland and Wales is the fourth oldest in the world.
Current title holder record champions Linfield FC.
Competition
The cup competition is open to all clubs in Northern Ireland that have been classified as a senior clubs or as intermediates clubs after the Kritereien the IFA. One of these criteria is, for example, that the club should have their own stadium. Presently ( 2007) there are a total of 23 senior clubs: the sixteen clubs with teams in the Irish Premier League, there are six from the Intermediate First Division as well as a club from the Ballymena & Provincial Intermediate League. This will only apply from the fifth round with 32 teams in the competition one. There are also nine teams that could prevail in the first four rounds. The ties will be drawn and discharged in the knockout system. The final will be played traditionally on the first Saturday in May since 1996 throughout the Windsor Park in Belfast the final stadium.
The winner of the Irish Cup qualifies for participation in the UEFA Cup; if the cup winner is also a master, beaten finalists in the UEFA Cup takes. Also, take the winning team or, if this is qualified by the league, the loser of the final match at the all-Ireland Setanta Sports Cup part.
History and stories
The first Irish Cup was played in the season 1880/81. The draw for the first round was on 10 January 1881. First Cup winner was the team of Moyola Park ( from County Londonderry), defeated in Cliftonville, Belfast, the home club 1-0 in the final on April 9, 1881. Record trophy winner is the FC Linfield with 42 victories in 62 final appearances.
Since the introduction of the Irish Football League 1890/91 have - apart from the World War II years in which rested the matches of the league - almost universally teams from the league won the cup; the three exceptions in which the maverick won the Cup, were in 1928, when Willowfield won against Larne; 1955, won as Dundela against Glenavon; and 1976, when the Carrick Rangers the final against Linfield decided for themselves.
While was the Irish Cup 1881-1921 the cup competition for the entire undivided Ireland, but the football was in the north before the separation widespread and popular than in the south, where more Gaelic football or rugby were played. Out of 41 possible winning competitions clubs from the south at this time only four: the Dublin club Shelbourne was three times Cup winner (1906, 1911 and 1920 ) and Bohemians Dublin won the 1908 Cup final were first Südklub in 1895 the Bohemians; . other finalists from the south were the Sherwood Foresters (1897, this was the team of a regiment of the British Army, which was stationed in County Kildare ) and 1901, the Freebooters of Dublin. 1908 and 1911, respectively Bohemians and Shelbourne were compared in pure South finals.
Since then, in the second competition 1881/82 with Queen's Iceland the first club from Belfast won the cup, the cup in 127 years has gone to one of Northern Ireland's capital clubs 94 times. The most successful club in the competition, which does not come from Belfast, Ballymena United with six cup victories.
In the early years of the competition teams stationed in Ireland regiments of the British Army took part. Three of these teams came into the finals: 1890 the Gordon Highlanders, 1892 the Black Watch and in 1897 the Sherwood Foresters. The Gordon Highlanders were the only military team that could win the cup.
Three times the final was not held. 1912 covered three of the four semi-finalists (Cliftonville, Glentoran and Shelbourne ) temporarily out of Irish Football Association back, which Linfield was awarded as the only residual Club Cup. 1920 Shelbourne won without a fight after they had won their semi-final and the other two semi-finalists, Belfast Celtic and Glentoran had been disqualified ( Celtic supporters had shots fired at Glentoran fans; Glentoran had an ineligible player used ). 1999 Portadown won the trophy awarded without a fight after the other finalist Cliftonville had been disqualified in a previous round due to the use of an ineligible player.
In 2001, the Irish Cup final for the first time ( and every year since ) broadcast live on television.
The Shelbourne FC, Bohemians Dublin and Derry City are the only clubs who have won both the Irish Cup and the FAI Cup was founded in 1921 Association of the Republic of Ireland.