The 2024

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

, known as the

Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...

FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 104th edition of the Republic of Ireland's primary national cup competition. It featured teams from the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

and the First Division, as well as teams from the regional leagues of the

Republic of Ireland football league system The Republic of Ireland football league system is a series of association football leagues in Ireland. Traditionally, leagues have been classified as either senior, intermediate or junior. These classifications are effectively national, provinci ...

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

defeated Derry City in the final, winning their first FAI Cup since

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. As winners, Drogheda United qualified for the second qualifying round of the

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. St Patrick's Athletic were defending champions, but were eliminated by Derry City in the second round. The competition format for this season was altered slightly, with no qualifying rounds. The preliminary round, traditionally held before the first round, was merged with the first round of the competition. This year the first round featured 20 clubs, comprising the last 16 teams from the 2023-24 FAI Intermediate Cup and the final four clubs from the 2023-24 FAI Junior Cup. Following the completion of the first round, League of Ireland clubs entered the competition in the second round.

Teams

The 2024 FAI Cup is a knockout competition with 40 teams taking part. The competitors consist of the 20 teams from the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

and 20 teams from the regional leagues of the

First round

The draw for the first round ties was made on 17 April and was made by former FAI Cup winner Stephen McGuiness and FAI President Paul Cooke. All ties were played the week ending 19 May. Teams receiving byes into the second round were: Carrigaline United, Ringmahon Rangers, Leeds and Kilbarrack United.

Second round

The draw for the second round took place on 6 June. Ties were played on the week ending 21 July.

Third round

The draw for the third round of the FAI Cup took place on 23 July. Ties were played on the weekend of 18 August.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 20 August 2024. The draw was made by

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

manager

Heimir Hallgrímsson Heimir Hallgrímsson (born 10 June 1967) is an Icelandic professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of the Republic of Ireland men's national team. Early life Heimir was born on 10 June 1967, and grew up in a ...

. Ties were played on the weekend of 15 September.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was made on 14 September live on RTE2 following a televised game. Ties were played on the weekend of 6 October.

Final

The final was held on 10 November 2024 at the

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References

{{2024–25 in European football (UEFA) 2024 FAI Cup FAI Cup seasons

2024 in Republic of Ireland association football cups