The Gold Cup is a defunct cup competition which involved competitors from Ireland and, from 1921 onwards, just for Northern Ireland. It was initially run by the New Irish Football Association but later, and mainly, by the Irish Football Association.

The competition was first played in the 1911–12 season after seven of the eight participating clubs left the IFA (only Linfield remained) after a dispute over money and founded the New IFA. This new organisation introduced the cup as the "New Irish Cup". At the end of the season after many discussions, the dissident clubs returned to the IFA and the tournament was not held in 1912-13. However, it was revived by the IFA as the Gold Cup in 1913–14 season. In the seasons 1915–16 to 1918–19 season it was played in a league format. This involved a play-off between the two teams topping the table in the first of these seasons. The competition was last staged in 2000-01.

Last year of competition The last season that the Gold Cup was competed for was during the 2000-01 season. Glentoran were the victors after defeating Coleraine in the final. It was Glentoran's third Gold Cup victory in as many seasons.

Format The format for the Gold Cup varied throughout its history, but most commonly it was organised on a knock-out basis.

The format over the years was as follows:

YearsNo. of seasonsFormat1911–12 and 1913–153knock-out1915–19194league1919–19201knock-out1920–19233league1923–194017knock-out1940–19477league1947–197629knock-out1976–19837group system plus final1983–19852group system plus top-four knock-out1985–19861league followed by top-four knock-out1986–19915group system plus top-four knock-out1991–19998group system plus top-eight knock-out1999–20012knock-out

In 1915–16, there was a play-off between the top two teams.

Sponsorship From the late 1970s on the Gold Cup was sponsored by Hennessy, TNT (1984/85-1994/95), Sun Life (1995/96-1996/97) and Nationwide (1997/98-2000/01).

List of Gold Cup finals

Key: Scores level after 90 minutes. A replay was required.Scores level after extra time. A replay was required.Scores level after 90 minutes. Winner was decided in extra time with no penalty shootout required.pens.Scores level after extra time. A penalty shootout was required to determine the winner.

SeasonWinner(number of titles)ScoreRunner-upVenueAttendance1911–12Belfast Celtic (1)2–0GlentoranGrosvenor Park, Belfast9,5001913–14Distillery (1)0–0ShelbourneShelbourne Park, DublinReplay3–2Grosvenor Park, Belfast1914–15Shelbourne (1)1–0LinfieldSolitude, Belfast18,0001915–16Linfield (1)League formatDistillery——1916–17Glentoran (1)Linfield1917–18Linfield (2)Glentoran1918–19Linfield (3)Glentoran1919–20 Distillery (2)3–1GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast1920–21 Linfield (4)League formatGlenavon——1921–22 Linfield (5)Cliftonville1922–23 Cliftonville (1)Linfield1923–24 Linfield (6)1–0DistilleryThe Oval, Belfast1924–25 Distillery (3) 2–0Queen's IslandCeltic Park, Belfast1925–26 Belfast Celtic (2)3–0CliftonvilleWindsor Park, Belfast15,0001926–27 Linfield (7)1–0GlenavonCeltic Park, Belfast 1927–28 Linfield (8)3–2Belfast CelticGrosvenor Park, Belfast1928–29 Linfield (9)3–1ArdsThe Oval, Belfast1929–30 Distillery (4)3–0BangorWindsor Park, Belfast1930–31 Linfield (10)6–1Belfast CelticGrosvenor Park, Belfast1931–32 Coleraine (1)3–0BallymenaSolitude, Belfast10,0001932–33 Cliftonville (2)2–1LinfieldCeltic Park, Belfast1933–34 Portadown (1)1–0GlentoranSolitude, Belfast1934–35 Belfast Celtic (3)4–0LinfieldGrosvenor Park, Belfast8,0001935–36 Linfield (11)3–0DistilleryCeltic Park, Belfast1936–37 Linfield (12)7–2Derry CityThe Oval, Belfast1937–38 Portadown (2)2–0Belfast CelticGrosvenor Park, Belfast12,0001938–39 Belfast Celtic (4)2–1GlenavonThe Oval, Belfast1939–40 Belfast Celtic (5)1–0LinfieldGrosvenor Park, Belfast10,0001947–48 Belfast Celtic (6)2–0DistillerySolitude, Belfast1948–49 Linfield (13)5–0GlenavonSolitude, Belfast1949–50 Linfield (14)3–2PortadownThe Oval, Belfast1950–51Linfield (15)5–1GlentoranSolitude, Belfast1951–52 Glentoran (2)2–1GlenavonWindsor Park, Belfast15,0001952–53 Portadown (3)2–1LinfieldSeaview, Belfast1953–54 Ards (1)2–1DistillerySeaview, Belfast6,0001954–55 Glenavon (1)3–2LinfieldThe Oval, Belfast1955–56Linfield (16)3–0PortadownGrosvenor Park, Belfast1956–57 Glenavon (2)3–1Derry CityThe Oval, Belfast1957–58 Linfield (17)1–0GlenavonGrosvenor Park, Belfast1958–59 Coleraine (2)1–0GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast1959–60 Linfield (18)3–2PortadownSolitude, Belfast1960–61 Glentoran (3)4–2LinfieldSolitude, Belfast1961–62 Linfield (19)4–0GlentoranGrosvenor Park, Belfast1962–63 Glentoran (4)3–1Derry CityWindsor Park, Belfast1963–64Linfield (20)2–2GlentoranWindsor Park, BelfastReplay3–2Windsor Park, Belfast1964–65Derry City (1)5–2CrusadersWindsor Park, Belfast1965–66Linfield (21)6–0PortadownThe Oval, Belfast1966–67Glentoran (5)5–2CrusadersWindsor Park, Belfast1967–68Linfield (22)3–2ArdsThe Oval, Belfast1968–69Linfield (23)0–0GlentoranWindsor Park, BelfastReplay2–1The Oval, Belfast20,0001969–70Coleraine (3)1–0GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast1970–71Linfield (24)2–1GlentoranThe Oval, Belfast15,0001971–72Portadown (4)0–0ArdsMourneview Park, Lurgan5,000Replay2 – 1 Mourneview Park, Lurgan3,5001972–73Linfield (25)2–0PortadownCastlereagh Park, Newtownards1973–74Ards (2)4–1BangorThe Oval, Belfast1974–75 Ballymena United (1)3–2GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast2,0001975–76 Coleraine (5)2–1Ballymena UnitedShowgrounds, Ballymena6,0001976–77 Glentoran (6)5–1LinfieldWindsor Park, Belfast10,0001977–78 Glentoran (7)3–1GlenavonWindsor Park, Belfast1978–79 Portadown (5)2 – 1 CliftonvilleWindsor Park, Belfast6,0001979–80 Linfield (26)2–1Ballymena UnitedWindsor Park, Belfast1980–81 Cliftonville (3)3–1LinfieldWindsor Park, Belfast10,0001981–82 Linfield (27)1 – 1 (5 – 4 pens.)Ballymena UnitedThe Oval, Belfast1982–83 Glentoran (8) 2–0LinfieldThe Oval, Belfast1983–84 Linfield (28)3–1GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast1984–85 Linfield (29)1–0GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast1985–86 Crusaders (1)3–1LinfieldThe Oval, Belfast1986–87 Glentoran (9)3–2LinfieldThe Oval, Belfast1987–88 Linfield (30)3–0Newry TownThe Oval, Belfast5,0001988–89 Linfield (31)1–0PortadownThe Oval, Belfast1989–90Linfield (32)0 – 0 PortadownThe Oval, BelfastReplay2–0The Oval, Belfast1990–91 Glenavon (3)2–1PortadownWindsor Park, Belfast8,0001991–92 Glentoran (10)1–0CliftonvilleWindsor Park, Belfast10,0001992–93 Portadown (6)1–0CliftonvilleWindsor Park, Belfast7,0001993–94 Distillery (5)3 – 2 BangorWindsor Park, Belfast7501994–95 Glentoran (11)1 – 1 (3 – 0 pens.)CrusadersWindsor Park, Belfast2,0001995–96 Crusaders (2)1–0LinfieldThe Oval, Belfast1996–97 Linfield (33)1–0GlenavonThe Oval, Belfast3,2531997–98 Glenavon (4)4–2ColeraineWindsor Park, Belfast2,0361998–99 Glentoran (12)3–1PortadownWindsor Park, Belfast2,6701999–00 Glentoran (13)4–2LinfieldWindsor Park, Belfast6,0002000–01 Glentoran (14)4–3ColeraineWindsor Park, Belfast3,000

Performance by club Club Winners Runners-up Winning years Runners-up years Linfield 33 14 1915–16, 1917–18, 1918–19, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1996–97 1914–15, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1939–40, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1960–61, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1995–96, 1999–00 Glentoran 14 15 1916–17, 1951–52, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1966–67, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01 1911–12, 1917–18, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1933–34, 1950–51, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1983–84, 1984–85 Portadown 6 9 1933–34, 1937–38, 1952–53, 1971–72, 1978–79, 1992–93 1949–50, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1998–99 Belfast Celtic 6 3 1911–12, 1925–26, 1934–35, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1947–48 1927–28, 1930–31, 1937–38 Distillery 5 6 1913–14, 1919–20, 1924–25, 1929–30, 1993–94 1915–16, 1916–17, 1923–24, 1935–36, 1947–48, 1953–54 Glenavon 4 9 1954–55, 1956–57, 1990–91, 1997–98 1920–21, 1922–23, 1926–27, 1938–39, 1948–49, 1951–52, 1957–58, 1977–78, 1996–97 Coleraine 4 2 1931–32, 1958–59, 1969–70, 1975–76 1997–98, 2000–01 Cliftonville 3 5 1922–23, 1932–33, 1980–81 1921–22, 1925–26, 1978–79, 1991–92, 1992–93 Ards 2 3 1953–54, 1973–74 1928–29, 1967–68, 1971–72 Crusaders 2 3 1985–86, 1995–96 1964–65, 1966–67, 1994–95 Derry City 1 3 1964–65 1936–37, 1956–57, 1962–63 Ballymena United 1 3 1974–75 1975–76, 1979–80, 1981–82 Shelbourne 1 1 1914–15 1913–14 Bangor 0 3 — 1929–30, 1973–74, 1993–94 Queen's Island 0 1 — 1924–25 Ballymena 0 1 — 1931–32 Newry Town 0 1 — 1987–88

Substitute Gold Cup Between the 1940/41 and 1946/47 seasons the Gold Cup was competed for by the Northern Regional League Clubs and known as the "Substitute Gold Cup".

SeasonWinner(number of titles)ScoreRunner-up1940–41Belfast Celtic (1)League formatGlentoran1941–42Glentoran (1)Distillery1942–43 Linfield (1)Belfast Celtic1943–44Belfast Celtic (2)Distillery1944–45Linfield (2)Distillery1945–46Belfast Celtic (3)Linfield1946–47Belfast Celtic (4)Linfield

Performance by club Club Winners Runners-up Winning years Runners-up years Belfast Celtic 4 1 1940–41, 1943–44, 1945–46, 1946–47 1942–43 Linfield 2 2 1942–43, 1944–45 1945–46, 1946–47 Glentoran 1 1 1941–42 1940–41 Distillery 0 3 — 1941–42, 1943–44, 1944–45

References

External links Gold Cup Archive at the Irish Football Club Project Irish League Archive - Gold Cup