League of Ireland Cup

This article is about the tournament in the Republic of Ireland. For the equivalent tournament in Northern Ireland, see Irish League Cup.
League of Ireland Cup
Organising body Football Association of Ireland
League of Ireland
Founded 1973
Region  Ireland
Number of teams 24 (2015)
Current champions St Patrick's Athletic (4th title)
Most successful club(s) Derry City (10 titles)
2016 League of Ireland Cup

The League of Ireland Cup (Irish: Corn Sraithe na hÉireann) is a football competition open to all League of Ireland clubs and sometimes invited clubs from the lower levels of the Republic of Ireland football league system. Occasionally, the sides invited have included junior league representative selections.

The format has changed from year to year. For the most part it has been used a precursor to the league season, with 6 groups of 4 teams (geographically based), with the winners and two best runners up going on to the last eight (which started the knockout phase). The knockout stage would be played midweek through the season. In the late 1990s the cup went into a straight knockout format and recently has reverted to again starting with a group phase, this time with 8 groups of 3 with only the winners progressing. In 2006, the competition was once again contested on a straight knock-out basis, with a convoluted regionalised seeding system determining pairings and byes in the early rounds. The winners of the cup receive a €25,000 prize(2013).

The League Cup Final has also changed format many times. They have been played on neutral grounds, with two-legged games and currently (and historically most times) a draw is made to see which finalist gets home advantage.

The competition began in 1973, replacing the earlier League of Ireland Shield. Starting with the 2005 competition, the winner of this competition receives a place in the Setanta Cup.

From 2009, the League of Ireland Cup will be sponsored by Electronic Arts and branded for sponsorship reasons as the EA Sports Cup.[1]

List of League Cup Finals

Key to the list of finals
dagger Score on aggregate after 2 legs
Match was won on a penalty shootout
Season Winner Score Runner-up Venue Attendance
1973/74 Waterford 2 – 1 Finn Harps
1974/75 Bohemians 3 – 2 dagger Finn Harps
1975/76 Limerick 4 – 1 dagger Sligo Rovers
1976/77 Shamrock Rovers 1 – 0 Sligo Rovers
1977/78 Dundalk 4 – 4 dagger Cork Alberts
1978/79 Bohemians 2 – 0 Shamrock Rovers
1979/80 Athlone Town 4 – 2 St. Patrick's Athletic
1980/81 Dundalk 0 – 0 Galway Rovers
1981/82 Athlone Town 1 – 0 Shamrock Rovers
1982/83 Athlone Town 2 – 1 Dundalk
1983/84 Drogheda United 3 – 1 Athlone Town
1984/85 Waterford United 2 – 1 Finn Harps
1985/86 Galway United 2 – 0 Dundalk
1986/87 Dundalk 1 – 0 Shamrock Rovers
1987/88 Cork City 1 – 0 Shamrock Rovers
1988/89 Derry City 4 – 0 Dundalk
1989/90 Dundalk 1 – 1 Derry City
1990/91 Derry City 2 – 0 Limerick
1991/92 Derry City 1 – 0 Bohemians
1992/93 Limerick City 2 – 0 St. Patrick's Athletic
1993/94 Derry City 1 – 0 dagger Shelbourne
1994/95 Cork City 2 – 1 dagger Dundalk
1995/96 Shelbourne 2 – 2 dagger Sligo Rovers
1996/97 Galway United 4 – 2 dagger Cork City
1997/98 Sligo Rovers 1 – 0 dagger Shelbourne
1998/99 Cork City 2 – 1 dagger Shamrock Rovers
1999/00 Derry City 5 – 2 dagger Athlone Town
2000/01 St. Patrick's Athletic 5 – 3 dagger UCD
2001/02 Limerick F.C. 2 – 2 dagger Derry City
2002/03 No Competition due to change in seasons
2003 St. Patrick's Athletic 1 – 0 Longford Town Richmond Park, Dublin
2004 Longford Town 2 – 1 Bohemians Flancare Park, Longford
2005 Derry City 2 – 1 UCD Belfield Park 2,150
2006 Derry City 0 – 0 Shelbourne Brandywell Stadium, Derry
2007 Derry City 1 – 0 Bohemians Brandywell Stadium, Derry 7,700
2008 Derry City 6 – 1 Wexford Youths Ferrycarrig Park, Crossabeg 3,500
2009 Bohemians 3 – 1 Waterford United Waterford Regional Sports Centre, Waterford 4,000
2010 Sligo Rovers 1 – 0 Monaghan United Showgrounds, Sligo 3,000
2011 Derry City 1 – 0 Cork City Turner's Cross, Cork 4,164
2012 Drogheda United 3 – 1 Shamrock Rovers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin 3,120
2013 Shamrock Rovers 2 – 0 Drogheda United Tallaght Stadium, Dublin 3,820
2014 Dundalk 3 – 2 Shamrock Rovers Oriel Park, Dundalk 3,500
2015 St Patrick's Athletic 0 – 0 Galway United Eamonn Deacy Park, Galway 3,662
2016 St Patrick's Athletic 4 - 1 Limerick Markets Field, Limerick 4,362

Performance By Club

Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years Years runners up
Derry City 10 2 1988/89, 1990/91, 1991/92, 1993/94, 1999/00, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 1989/90, 2001/02
Dundalk 5 4 1977/78, 1980/81, 1986/87, 1989/90, 2014 1982/83, 1985/86, 1988/89, 1994/95
St. Patrick's Athletic 4 2 2000/01, 2003, 2015, 2016 1979/80, 1992/93
Bohemians 3 3 1974/75, 1978/79, 2009 1991/92, 2005, 2007
Athlone Town Town 3 2 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83 1983/84, 1999/2000
Cork City 3 2 1987/88, 1994/95, 1998/99 1996/97, 2011
Limerick 1 3 2 1975/76, 1992/93, 2001/02 1990/91, 2016
Shamrock Rovers 2 7 1976/77, 2013 1978/79, 1981/82, 1986/87, 1987/88, 1998/99, 2012, 2014
Sligo Rovers 2 3 1997/98, 2010 1975/76, 1976/77, 1995/96
Galway United 2 2 2 1985/86, 1996/97 1980/81, 2015
Waterford United 3 2 1 1973/74, 1984/85 2009
Drogheda United 2 1 1983/84, 2012 2013
Shelbourne 1 3 1995/96 1993/94, 1997/98, 2006
Longford Town 1 1 2004 2003
Finn Harps - 3 - 1973/74, 1974/75, 1984/85 -
UCD - 2 - 2000/01, 2005
Wexford Youths - 1 - 2008
Cork Alberts - 1 - 1977/78
Monaghan United - 1 - 2010

Sponsors

Bass League Cup: 1975/1976 – 1978/79

Opel League Cup: 1986/87 – 1989/90

Bord Gáis League Cup: 1990/91/ – 1995/96

Harp Lager League Cup: 1996/97 – 1998/99

Eircom League Cup: 1999/00 – 2008

EA Sports Cup: 2009 –

Television coverage

The Final has been broadcast since 2005 live on Setanta Sports.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "EA SPORTS confirmed as new title sponsor of League of Ireland Cup". FAI. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.