Leinster Senior Cup (association football)

The Leinster Senior Cup is an association football cup competition organized by the Leinster Football Association. It is currently contested by LFA affiliated League of Ireland clubs, Leinster Senior League Senior Division clubs and invited teams from the various LFA affiliated junior leagues. Before the introduction of the FAI Cup, it was considered the major cup competition for clubs in what is now the Republic of Ireland. It is also the oldest association football cup competition in the Republic of Ireland.

History Early years After the Leinster Football Association was founded in 1892 it began organizing its own cup competition. The Leinster Senior Cup was first played for in 1892–93. The inaugural final saw Leinster Nomads defeat Dublin University 2–1. After the inaugural win by Nomads, Bohemians and Shelbourne monopolised the cup for the next twenty-four years. For most of this era Bohemians and Shelbourne were members of the Irish Football League.

Olympia's Leinster Double After Leinster Nomads, Bohemians and Shelbourne, Olympia became the fourth team to win the Leinster Senior Cup. In 1917–18, with team that included Jack McCarthy and Fran Watters, Olympia won both the Leinster Junior Cup and Leinster Senior Cup. In doing so they also caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of Leinster football. After winning the Leinster Junior Cup, they qualified for the Leinster Senior Cup. After receiving a bye in the first round, Olympia beat St James's Gate in the semi-final. In the final they defeated Shelbourne 1–0 with a goal scored by Fran Watters. According to Peter Byrne this also resulted in a popular giant killing chat – "Remember Olympia once beat Shels".David Needham: Ireland's First Real World Cup -The Story of the 1924 Ireland Olympic Football Team (2012, The Manuscript Publisher) Olympia effectively ended the Bohemians/Shelbourne monopoly and in subsequent seasons the cup was won by Leinster Senior League clubs such as St James's Gate and Dublin United.

Non-League of Ireland successes Following the introduction of the League of Ireland in 1921–22, League of Ireland clubs have dominated the competition. However non-League of Ireland clubs, mainly from the Leinster Senior League, have enjoyed some successes. Brideville in 1924–25, Distillery in 1941–42 and St Patrick's Athletic in 1947–48 were all winners. Brideville were losing finalists in 1923–24 as were Glasnevin in 1924–25, Grangegorman in 1946–47, Transport in 1947–48, St Patrick's Athletic in 1950–51 and Longford Town in 1954–55. In the 1946–47 final Mick O'Flanagan scored six goals for Bohemians as they defeated Grangegorman 11–0. Home Farm were winners in 1964–65 after defeating Dundalk 2–1 in the final on 26 December 1964 at Dalymount Park. Home Farm, Distillery in 1941–42 and Wayside Celtic in 1998–99 are the only non-League of Ireland clubs to defeat a League of Ireland club in the final. In more recent times St Francis, Cherry Orchard and St. Patrick's C.Y.F.C. have also been finalists.

Decline and revival The 2000–01 competition suffered with fixture rows and was eventually abandoned after the quarter-final draw was made due to the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak. The cup was not played again until 2010. The competition was played yearly until the COVID-19 pandemic halted sporting contests in 2020 in Ireland. The Leinster Senior cup returned for the 2022–23 season, with Bohemians winning a record 33rd title.

Composition The Leinster Senior Cup in its current format involves three preliminary qualifying rounds, followed by a group stage phase and finally a knock-out phase.

The preliminary rounds feature a combination of junior and intermediate clubs from across the province. They are decided based on the following: the finalists from the previous season's LFA Junior Cup (2), the most recent league winner from each junior league affiliated with the Leinster FA (in the case that the league winner has already qualified through the LFA Junior Cup, the respective league is entitled to submit an alternative entrant) (6), the winners of the four Leinster Senior League Intermediate divisions (4) and the overall winner of the Leinster Senior League junior section (1)

Across three knockout rounds these thirteen sides are reduced down to five clubs, who then enter the competition's group stage. Here they join the eleven League of Ireland clubs based in Leinster (Dundalk F.C, Drogheda United, St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemian F.C., Shelbourne F.C., Shamrock Rovers, UCD AFC, Bray Wanderers, Wexford F.C., Athlone Town and Longford Town), who enter the group stages automatically. Four groups of four teams are created, before the tournament enters its quarter-final, semi-final and final stages.

List of Leinster Senior Cup finals Season Winner Score Runners-up Venue1892–93Leinster Nomads2–1Dublin University1893–94Bohemians3–0After 2–2 drawDublin University1894–95Bohemians3–1After 1–1 drawDublin University1895–96Bohemians3–1Athlone Town Ranelagh Grounds, Athlone1896–97Bohemians3–2DundalkNot the current Dundalk club.1897–98Bohemians3–1Shelbourne1898–99Bohemians2–1Richmond Rovers (Dublin)1899–1900Shelbourne1–0Freebooters1900–01Shelbourne2–1Bohemians1901–02Bohemians1–0Tritonville1902–03Bohemiansw/oShelbourne1903–04Shelbourne3–2Bohemians1904–05Bohemians1–0Shelbourne1905–06Shelbourne3–1Royal Irish Rifles1906–07Bohemians4–0After 0–0 drawReginald (Dublin)1907–08Shelbourne3–1Royal Berkshire Regiment1908–09Shelbourne3–1Lancashire Fusiliers1909–10Bohemians3–0Inniskilling Fusiliers1910–11Bohemians1–0Shelbourne1911–12Bohemians3–0Manchester Regiment1912–13Shelbourne4–0Bohemians1913–14Shelbourne2–0After two 0–0 drawsSt James's Gate1914–15Bohemians6–0Clarence (Dublin)1915–16Bohemians3–2After 0–0 drawShelbourne1916–17Shelbourne2–0St James's Gate1917–18Olympia1–0Shelbourne1918–19Shelbourne3–0St James's Gate1919–20St James's Gate2–1After 0–0 and 1–1 drawsBohemians 1920–21Dublin United 1–0St James's Gate1921–22St James's Gate1–0Jacobs1922–23Shamrock Rovers3–1Bohemians 1923–24Shelbourne 2–1Brideville 1924–25Brideville1–0Glasnevin (Glasnevin)1925–26Bohemians 2–1After 2–2 drawShelbourne 1926–27Shamrock Rovers 2–1After 2–2 drawBohemians 1927–28Bohemians 3–1After 0–0 drawShelbourne 1928–29Shamrock Rovers1–0After 0–0 drawDundalk1929–30Shamrock Rovers2–1Shelbourne1930–31Shelbourne1–0Dolphin1931–32Dolphin3–0Shelbourne 1932–33Shamrock Rovers2–1Dolphin1933–34Drumcondra3–2Shamrock Rovers1934–35St James's Gate2–1Dundalk1935–36Drumcondra2–0Dundalk1936–37St James's Gate2–1Dundalk1937–38Shamrock Rovers2–0Brideville1938–39Drumcondra2–1Dundalk1939–40Bohemians 2–0Shamrock Rovers1940–41St James's Gate4–2Bohemians 1941–42Distillery (Dublin)4–1Bray Unknowns 1942–43Drumcondra4–2St James's Gate1943–44Drumcondra3–2Shamrock Rovers1944–45Drumcondra2–1Shelbourne 1945–46Shelbourne 4–0Shamrock Rovers1946–47Bohemians 11–0Grangegorman 1947–48St Patrick's Athletic3–2Transport1948–49Shelbourne 5–2Shamrock Rovers1949–50Drumcondra4–1Shelbourne 1950–51Dundalk2–1St Patrick's Athletic1951–52Transport3–0Shelbourne 1952–53Shamrock Rovers2–0After 1–1 drawBohemians 1953–54Drumcondra3–1St Patrick's Athletic1954–55Shamrock Rovers2–1Longford TownDalymount Park1955–56Shamrock Rovers3–1St Patrick's Athletic1956–57Shamrock Rovers2–0Drumcondra1957–58Shamrock Rovers1–0After 1–1 drawDrumcondra1958–59Drumcondra5–2Dundalk1959–60Drumcondra1–0Transport1960–61Dundalk1–0Drumcondra1961–62Drumcondra1–0Dundalk1962–63Shelbourne 2–1Shamrock Rovers1963–64Shamrock Rovers3–0St Patrick's Athletic1964–65Home Farm2–1Dundalk1965–66Bohemians 3–2Shelbourne 1966–67Bohemians 1–0Dundalk1967–68Shelbourne 4–0Drumcondra1968–69Shamrock Rovers3–0Bohemians 1969–70Athlone Town 4–0Shelbourne 1970–71Dundalk5–2Shamrock Rovers1971–72Shelbourne 3–1Bohemians 1972–73Bohemians 3–1Shamrock Rovers1973–74Dundalk1–0After 0–0 drawBohemians 1974–75Bohemians 1–0After 1–1 drawShamrock Rovers1975–76Bohemians 4–3Athlone Town 1976–77Dundalk1–0Bohemians 1977–78Dundalk1–0Bohemians 1978–79Bohemians 2–1Shamrock Rovers1979–80Bohemians 2–0Athlone Town 1980–81UCD2–1St Patrick's Athletic1981–82Shamrock Rovers2–1Dundalk1982–83St Patrick's Athletic 3–2Drogheda UnitedTolka Park1983–84Bohemians 1–0UCD1984–85Shamrock Rovers2–1UCD1985–86Bohemians 1–0Drogheda United1986–87St Patrick's Athletic1–0Bohemians 1987–88Athlone Town1–0St Patrick's Athletic1988–89Bohemians 1–0After 1–1 drawBray Wanderers 1989–90St Patrick's Athletic2–0Bray Wanderers 1990–91St Patrick's Athletic1–0After 1–1 drawBohemians 1991–92Athlone Town 4–2After 0–0 drawSt Francis 1992–93Bohemians 1–0Shamrock Rovers1993–94Shelbourne 1–0Dundalk1994–95UCD2–1Dundalk1995–96UCD0–0UCD won 5–4 on penaltiesAthlone Town1996–97Shamrock Rovers1–0Shelbourne 1997–98Bohemians 1–0Cherry Orchard 1998–99Wayside Celtic 2–1Athlone Town1999–2000St Patrick's Athletic2–1Shamrock Rovers2000–01 Competition abandonedNo competition between 2001 and 20092010Shelbourne4–0Bray Wanderers Carlisle Grounds 2010–11St Patrick's Athletic2–0BohemiansDalymount Park 2011–12Shamrock Rovers1–0St. Patrick's C.Y.F.C.Tallaght Stadium2012–13Shamrock Rovers1–0St Patrick's AthleticRichmond Park 2013–14St Patrick's Athletic2–1Longford TownCity Calling Stadium 2014–15Dundalk3–1Shamrock RoversOriel Park 2015–16Bohemians4–0Wexford YouthsDalymount ParkNewstalk2016–17Shelbourne4–2 (a.e.t.)DundalkOriel ParkExtraTime.ie2017–18Shelbourne1–1 (a.e.t.)Shelbourne won 6–5 on penaltiesSt Patrick's AthleticTolka Parkthe42.ie2018–19St Patrick's Athletic4–0Athlone TownRichmond Park2019–20Competition abandonedCompetition abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic from 2020-20222022–23Bohemians5–0Usher CelticDalymount Park2023–24St Patrick's Athletic2–1St Mochta'sRichmond Park2024–25Dundalk2–1St Patrick's AthleticRichmond Park2025–26Bray Wanderers2–1St Patrick's AthleticCarlisle Grounds

Notes

Performance by club Club Winners Runners-upBohemians 33 16Shelbourne 21 15Shamrock Rovers 19 12Drumcondra 11 4St Patrick's Athletic 10 10Dundalk 9 13St. James' Gate 5 5Athlone Town 3 5UCD 3 2Bray Wanderers 1 3Brideville 1 1Wayside Celtic 1 0Drogheda United 0 2DundalkNot the current Dundalk club. 0 1Longford Town 0 1Wexford Youths 0 1Usher Celtic 0 1St Mochta's 0 1

Notes

Performance by city/town City/town Winners Runners-upDublin10466Dundalk914Athlone35Bray13Drogheda02Longford01Wexford01

References

Further reading