City Cup (Northern Ireland)


The City Cup was a football cup competition which involved teams from Northern Ireland. The tournament ran from 1894 and ceased to exist in 1976. The physical trophy the teams played for was called the Dunville Cup and this trophy is now presented to the winners of the Northern Ireland Football League Cup, which began in 1987.

History

A cup tournament consisting solely of Belfast clubs had been mooted as early as 1892, although it was not until two years later that the competition was organised. While the City Cup began as a competition for Belfast clubs only, from 1905 to 1911 Dublin-based club Shelbourne also participated. In the 1911–12 season, all eight Irish League clubs participated. In the 1912–13 season, when the League expanded to ten clubs, only seven participated.
During 1915 to 1919, the City Cup was known as the Belfast City Cup and reverted to being a Belfast-only competition and is not recognised as an "official" competition for this period but as a wartime competition; during 1940 to 1947, it was not played at all.

Format

The format for the City Cup varied throughout its history, but most commonly it was organised on a league basis, by which each participating club played each other and the team with the most points won the cup.
The format over the years was as follows:
YearsNo. of seasonsFormat
1894–1915, 1919–40, 1947–6964league
1969–701group system plus final
1970–711league
1971–765group system plus final

List of winners and runner-ups

League format

SeasonWinnerRunner-up
1894–95Linfield Cliftonville
1895–96Linfield Distillery
1896–97Glentoran Cliftonville
1897–98Linfield Belfast Celtic
1898–99Glentoran Linfield
1899–1900Linfield Distillery
1900–01Linfield Cliftonville
1901–02Linfield Glentoran
1902–03Linfield Belfast Celtic
1903–04Linfield Distillery
1904–05Distillery Glentoran
1905–06Belfast Celtic Cliftonville
1906–07Belfast Celtic Cliftonville
1907–08Linfield Glentoran
1908–09Shelbourne Glentoran
1909–10Linfield Distillery
1910–11Glentoran Belfast Celtic
1911–12Glentoran Distillery
1912–13Distillery Glenavon
1913–14Glentoran Linfield
1914–15Glentoran Linfield
1919–20Linfield Belfast Celtic
1920–21Glenavon Glentoran
1921–22Linfield Glentoran
1922–23Queen’s Island Distillery
1923–24Queen’s Island Glentoran
1924–25Queen’s Island Glentoran
1925–26Belfast Celtic Queen’s Island
1926–27Linfield Belfast Celtic
1927–28Belfast Celtic Linfield
1928–29Linfield Ballymena
1929–30Belfast Celtic Glentoran
1930–31Belfast Celtic Linfield
1931–32Glentoran Belfast Celtic
1932–33Belfast Celtic Linfield
1933–34Distillery Belfast Celtic
1934–35Derry City Linfield
1935–36Linfield Portadown
1936–37Derry City Linfield
1937–38Linfield Derry City
1938–39Portadown Linfield
1939–40Belfast Celtic Derry City
1947–48Belfast Celtic Glentoran
1948–49Belfast Celtic Linfield
1949–50Linfield Derry City
1950–51Glentoran Linfield
1951–52Linfield Glentoran
1952–53Glentoran Linfield
1953–54Coleraine Glentoran
1954–55Glenavon Distillery
1955–56Glenavon Coleraine
1956–57Glentoran Distillery
1957–58Linfield Glentoran
1958–59Linfield Glenavon
1959–60Distillery Glenavon
1960–61Glenavon Ballymena United
1961–62Linfield Portadown
1962–63Distillery Linfield
1963–64Linfield Glentoran
1964–65Glentoran Derry City
1965–66Glenavon Crusaders
1966–67Glentoran Linfield
1967–68Linfield Crusaders
1968–69Coleraine Derry City
1970–71Bangor Distillery

Finals

Key:
pens.Scores level after extra time. A penalty shootout was required to determine the winner.

SeasonWinnerScoreRunner-upVenueAttendance
1969–70Glentoran 2–1BangorWindsor Park, Belfast
1971–72Ballymena United 1–0ArdsThe Oval, Belfast
1972–73Glentoran 2–0ColeraineBallymena Showgrounds, Ballymena
1973–74Linfield 2 – 2 ColeraineBallymena Showgrounds, Ballymena
1974–75Glentoran 3–1LinfieldWindsor Park, Belfast
1975–76Bangor 0 – 0 ColeraineSeaview, Belfast

Belfast City Cup

Due to World War I, from the 1915–16 to 1918–19 seasons the City Cup was competed for by Ulster-based clubs only and was known as the "Belfast City Cup".
Key:
Title was shared after test match finished in a draw

SeasonWinner ScoreRunner-up
1915–16Glentoran League formatBelfast United
1916–17Glentoran League formatLinfield
1917–18Linfield League formatGlentoran
1918–19Belfast Celtic
Glentoran 		League format—