Ulster Cup

The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs. 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:

Years No. of seasons Format
1948–1951 and 1952–56 7 group system plus final
1956–1957 1 league
1957–1965 8 group system plus final
1965–1983 18 league
1983–1996 16 group system plus final
1996–1997 1 knock-out
1997–1999 and 2002–03 3 league (First Division clubs only)

Winners

Winners of the Ulster Cup by season[1]

Summary of Winners

Team Wins Notes
Linfield 15
Glentoran 9
Coleraine 8
Crusaders 3
Glenavon 3
Distillery 2
Ballymena United 2 (plus 1 Festival of Britain Cup)
Larne 2
Bangor 2
Portadown 2
Ards 1
Ballyclare Comrades 1
Dungannon Swifts 1

See also

References

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