The 2013–14 Irish Cup was the 134th edition of the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

, the premier knockout cup competition in

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 7 September 2013 with the first round and ended on 3 May 2014 with the final. The competition ran without a principal sponsor, but for the second successive season the final was known as the Marie Curie Irish Cup final, after the IFA once again awarded the naming rights for the final to the charity

Marie Curie Cancer Care Marie Curie is a registered charitable organization, charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides hospice care and support for anyone with an illness they are likely to die from, and those close to them, and campaigns for better su ...

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

were the defending champions, following their 3–1 win over

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

after extra time in the 2012–13 final. However, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Glenavon who defeated

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club has been man ...

2–1 in the final to lift the cup for the sixth time. As a result, Glenavon qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.

Format and schedule

119 clubs entered this season's competition, the same number that had taken part the previous season. Originally there had been 122 entrants, but three clubs later withdrew from the competition before the first round matches had been played. Regional league clubs from level 4 and below on the

Northern Ireland football league system The Northern Ireland football league system is categorised into three levels: senior, intermediate and junior. Clubs attain intermediate status by fulfilling certain criteria (e.g. owning or leasing its own enclosed ground). Senior status requires ...

entered in the first round and played against other regional league clubs in the first three rounds. Nine clubs were given a bye into the second round this season, necessitated by the number of participants. One of the clubs to receive a bye later withdrew. 29 of the 30

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championsh ...

clubs entered the competition, with

Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Football & Social Club is an intermediate football and social club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland who currently play in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. The club, founded in 1970, plays its home matches at Donegal ...

being the only absentee. The 29 Championship clubs entered in the fourth round, along with the 11 lower league clubs that made it through the first three rounds. The 12

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

clubs entered in the fifth round, along with the 20 winners from the fourth round matches. Replays were only used if a tie was level after 90 minutes in the fifth round, sixth round and quarter-finals. If a tie in any of these three rounds was still level after 90 minutes of the replay, extra time was used to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary. † One match was not played (walkover)

Results

First round

The draw for the first round was made on 12 August 2013 with the matches played on 7 September 2013. Ards Rangers, Albert Foundry, Ballywalter Recreation, Barn United, Dungiven Celtic, Oxford Sunnyside,

Shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

and Strabane Athletic all received

byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body. Scoring byes Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, th ...

into the second round. Bangor Rangers,

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) ...

and Raceview were included in the original draw, but all three clubs withdrew before the first round matches were played. Bangor Rangers had received a bye, Holywood were drawn against Strabane Athletic, and Raceview were drawn against Ards Rangers. As a consequence, Ards Rangers and Strabane Athletic received byes, but Bangor Rangers' withdrawal meant that there would be an odd number of teams proceeding to the second round, necessitating a further bye at that stage. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 7 September 2013 Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Second round

The draw for the second round was made on 9 September 2013, with the matches played on 12 October 2013. The 35 winners from the first round matches entered this round, along with the 8 clubs that received a bye. As there was an odd number of clubs in this round, one club, 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys, received a bye into the third round. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 12 October 2013 Source
irishfa.com
/small> † Immaculata won the tie by walkover. Camlough Rovers forfeited the match as they were unable to field a team to fulfil the fixture. ¹ Albert Foundry were ejected from the competition for fielding an ineligible player during this match.

Third round

The third round draw was made on 22 October 2013, with the games played on 9 November 2013. The 21 winners from the second round matches entered this round, along with 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys who had received a bye in the second round. Albert Foundry were replaced with Shankill United, the team they had defeated 1–0 in the second round, after they were found to have fielded an ineligible player in that game. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 9 November 2013 Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Fourth round

The fourth round draw was made on 11 November 2013, with the games played on 7 December 2013. The 11 winners from the third round matches entered this round, along with 29 of the 30

clubs. Championship 1 side

did not enter, which meant that there had to be eleven lower league clubs in this round to make up the requisite numbers, one more than the usual amount of ten. , - , colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;", 7 December 2013 Source
irishfa.com
/small>

Fifth round

The fifth round draw took place on 16 December 2013. The matches were played on 11 January 2014, and the replays were played on 21 January 2014. The 20 winners from the fourth round matches entered this round, along with the 12

clubs. Three regional league clubs made it through the first four rounds. This was the first round of the competition in which replays were used if a match ended level after 90 minutes.

Replays

Sixth round

The sixth round draw took place on 11 January 2014 after the fifth round matches were played, with the matches played on 8 February and 1 March 2014 and the replays played on 17 February and 1 March 2014. The 16 winners from the fifth round matches entered this round. Three clubs from tier three (Championship 2) made it into this round - the lowest ranked clubs that were left in the competition.

Replays

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final draw took place on 8 February 2014 after the sixth round matches had been played, with the matches scheduled for 1 and 10 March 2014. Championship 2 club Queen's University were the lowest ranked team left in the competition - the only representatives from the third tier.

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw took place on 1 March 2014 after the quarter-final matches had been played, with the matches played on 5 April 2014. Championship 2 club Queen's University reached the semi-finals for the first time in the club's history. They were the only semi-finalist from outside the top flight, and became the first club from outside the top two divisions to reach the semi-final stage since Killyleagh YC did so in 2001–02. For the first time since the 1996–97 competition, neither of the Big Two clubs –

or Linfield – reached the semi-final stage.

Final

Both finalists were making their first Irish Cup final appearance of the 21st century, Ballymena United having last played in the showpiece when they lifted the cup in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. Glenavon reached the final for the first time since finishing as runners-up in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. It was the fourth meeting between the two clubs in the final, and the first since

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, when Ballymena United won 1–0. The final was played on 3 May 2014 at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

References

External links

Official site

nifootball.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Irish Cup Irish Cup seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...