The FAI Futsal Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for futsal teams based in the Republic of Ireland. The winners qualify to represent the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Futsal Cup. The competition was introduced in 2007 and the inaugural winners were Shamrock Rovers. The 2007 tournament was referred to as the Eircom U21 Futsal League and the 2008 and 2009 tournaments were referred to as the Futsal League of Ireland or the FAI National Futsal League. Since 2010 it has generally been referred to as the Ireland Futsal Union Cup.
History Early tournaments The FAI Futsal Cup was originally awarded to the winners of the Eircom U21 Futsal League, a tournament featuring futsal teams attached to clubs playing in the League of Ireland U21 Division. The competition was officially launched at Dublin City University on 13 February 2007 with a reception attended by, among others, Packie Bonner. Eights clubs from the U21 Division, including Bohemians, Bray Wanderers, Drogheda United, Dundalk, Monaghan United, Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick's Athletic and UCD entered the inaugural tournament. These eight clubs first played in a league stage featuring a single round of games. The top four from this stage – UCD, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Bray Wanderers – then qualified for a final four tournament played at the National Basketball Arena. In the final, with a team coached by Dave Campbell and featuring Ciarán Kilduff and Dane Massey, Shamrock Rovers defeated UCD 4–2. St Patrick's Athletic won the second tournament in 2008 and Cork City, with a team featuring Kevin Long, were winners in 2009. Long was one of several future Republic of Ireland internationals who featured in the early tournaments. Others included David Meyler (Cork City), Séamus Coleman (Sligo Rovers) and James McClean (Derry City). Former Republic of Ireland international, Gary Kelly, played for Drogheda United in the 2008 tournament. Other players to feature included Gary McCabe and Jay O'Shea, both of whom played for Bray Wanderers.
Format As the number of entrants increased the format of the tournament changed. Fourteen clubs entered the 2009 competition and clubs initially played in three divisions – a Leinster Division, a Munster Division and a North-West Division. In 2010 the tournament was expanded to include clubs from the Emerald Futsal League in addition to futsal teams associated with League of Ireland clubs. Junior clubs and representative teams of junior leagues were also invited to participate, resulting in a record entry of 32 teams. The 2010 format saw four preliminary qualifying tournaments – one per province – been staged throughout the country. The 2015 tournament featured eleven clubs.
Eden era Playing under various names including, Sporting Fingal EID, EID Futsal and Eden College, Eden Futsal Club won the FAI Futsal Cup five times in a row between 2010 and 2014.
Blue Magic After finishing as runners up in 2010, 2011 and 2012, Blue Magic won the FAI Futsal Cup for the first time in 2015 and then retained the cup in 2016.
Finals Season Winner Score Runner-up Venue2007 Shamrock Rovers4–2 UCD National Basketball Arena 2008St Patrick's Athletic3–1 BohemiansNational Basketball Arena 2009Cork City 4–2 St Patrick's AthleticNational Basketball Arena2010Sporting Fingal EID4–2Blue MagicBRL Umbro Arena, Ballymun 2011EID Futsal3–2Blue MagicGormanston College 2012EID Futsal 7–4Blue MagicALSAA Sports Complex 2013Eden College 6–2Shamrock Rovers National Basketball Arena 2014Eden6–3FCG Dublin FutsalAIT International Arena 2015Blue Magic 6–5B&H United National Basketball Arena 2016Blue Magic 7–3Transylvania National Basketball Arena2017Transylvania16-2Puskas Hagi National Indoor Arena2018Fut Samba3-2Blue MagicNational Indoor Arena2019Blue Magic6-5TransylvaniaNational Indoor Arena2020Blue Magic8-0Saints and ScholarsNational Indoor Arena2021Blue MagicN/ACOVID-19National Indoor Arena2022Blue Magic12-2Pro BrazilNational Indoor Arena2023Blue Magic8-4Real TransylvaniaNational Indoor Arena2024Blue Magic8-1St. Ita'sNational Indoor Arena2025Blue Magic7-2Pro BrazilNational Indoor Arena
Notes After extra time
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