The 2017–18 Irish Cup (known as the Tennent's Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 138th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knockout cup competition in Northern Irish football since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 19 August 2017 and concluded with the final at Windsor Park in May 2018.

Linfield are the defending champions, having defeated Coleraine 3–0 in the 2017 final.

A new system for penalty shoot-outs will be trialled as sanctioned by the International Football Association Board to test a different sequence of taking penalties. Known as "ABBA", it mirrors the serving sequence in a tennis tie-break i.e. team A takes the first penalty, team B takes the second penalty, team B takes the third penalty, etc.

Format and schedule

All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.

130 clubs entered this season's competition, an increase of four clubs compared with the 2016–17 total of 126 clubs. 94 regional league clubs from tiers 4–7 in the Northern Ireland football league system entered the competition in the first round, 12 of whom received a bye into the Round 2A. (Strabane Athletic were originally excluded, but were reinstated after the first-round draw had been made, necessitating a further draw for 'Round 2A' between Strabane and the eleven clubs that had received a first-round bye, with one tie drawn and ten further byes.). The 41 first-round winners were joined by winner and the ten byes from Round 2A and the 12 clubs of the NIFL Premier Intermediate League in the second round. After two further rounds, with the eight surviving clubs joining the 24 senior NIFL Premiership and NIFL Championship clubs in the fifth round. All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.

RoundDraw dateFirst match dateFixturesClubs
Round Draw date First match date Fixtures Clubs First round 19 August 2017 41 130 → 89 Round 2A 23 September 2017 1 89 → 88 Second round 30 September 2017 32 88 → 56 Third round 4 November 2017 16 56 → 40 Fourth round 2 December 2017 8 40 → 32 Fifth round 6 January 2018 16 32 → 16 Sixth round 3 February 2018 8 16 → 8 Quarter-finals 3 March 2018 4 8 → 4 Semi-finals 31 March 2018 2 4 → 2 Final 5 May 2018 1 2 → 1Tiers Leagues No. of Entries Entry round 1 NIFL Premiership 24 Fifth round 2 NIFL Championship 3 NIFL Premier Intermediate League 12 Second round 4 Ballymena & Provincial Football League Premier Division Mid-Ulster Football League Intermediate A Northern Amateur Football League Premier Division Northern Ireland Intermediate League 94 First round, Round 2A or Second round if byed 5 Mid-Ulster Football League Intermediate B Northern Amateur Football League Division 1A 6 Northern Amateur Football League Division 1B 7 Northern Amateur Football League Division 1C
First round19 August 201741130 → 89
Round 2A23 September 2017189 → 88
Second round30 September 20173288 → 56
Third round4 November 20171656 → 40
Fourth round2 December 2017840 → 32
Fifth round6 January 20181632 → 16
Sixth round3 February 2018816 → 8
Quarter-finals3 March 201848 → 4
Semi-finals31 March 201824 → 2
Final5 May 201812 → 1
TiersLeaguesNo. of EntriesEntry round
1NIFL Premiership24Fifth round
2NIFL Championship
3NIFL Premier Intermediate League12Second round
4Ballymena & Provincial Football League Premier Division Mid-Ulster Football League Intermediate A Northern Amateur Football League Premier Division Northern Ireland Intermediate League94First round, Round 2A or Second round if byed
5Mid-Ulster Football League Intermediate B Northern Amateur Football League Division 1A
6Northern Amateur Football League Division 1B
7Northern Amateur Football League Division 1C

Results

First round

Matches were played on 19 August 2017

Round 2A

Strabane Athletic were originally excluded from the competition, but were reinstated after the first-round draw had been made, necessitating a 'Round 2A' involving Strabane and the eleven clubs that had received first-round byes. One tie drawn was drawn and the following ten teams received further byes: Albert Foundry, Ballywalter Rec., Brantwood, Cookstown Youth, Desertmartin, Mossley, Newcastle, Strabane Athletic, UUJ and Wellington Rec.

Match played on 23 September 2017

Second round

The twelve members of the NIFL Premier Intermediate League join the competition at this stage as well as the first-round winners, and the winners and byes from Round 2A.

Matches were played on 30 September 2017

Third round

Matches were played on 4 November 2017

Fourth round

Matches were played on 2 December 2017

Fifth round

Matches were played on 6 January 2018

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Knockbreda0–2Institute
Queen's University0–1Dundela
Lurgan Celtic1–2Glentoran
Larne3–0Dergview
Carrick Rangers1–3 (a.e.t.)Glenavon
Coleraine7–0Lisburn Distillery
Crusaders2–0Maiden City
Ballinamallard United4–2Immaculata
Cliftonville4–3 (a.e.t.)Warrenpoint Town
Loughgall4–1PSNI
Ballymena United4–0Moyola Park
Newry City2–0Harland & Wolff Welders
Portadown1–2 (a.e.t.)Ballyclare Comrades
Ards4–1Crumlin Star
Linfield5–0Glebe Rangers
Dungannon Swifts4–0Limavady United

Sixth round

Matches were played on 3 February 2018

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Linfield (1)1–0Newry City (2)
Cliftonville (1)4–1Crusaders (1)
Loughgall (2)2–1Ards (1)
Ballyclare Comrades (2)0–4Glentoran (1)
Coleraine (1)4–0Institute (2)
Ballymena United (1)2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)Ballinamallard United (1)
Larne (2)6–1Dundela (3)
Glenavon (1)3–0Dungannon Swifts (1)

Quarter-finals

Matches were due to be played on 3 March 2018 but only the Glenavon/Loughgall fixture was completed on this date. The three remaining fixtures were played on 13 March 2018.

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Ballymena United (1)1–2Larne (2)
Coleraine (1)1–0Glentoran (1)
Glenavon (1)1–2Loughgall (2)
Linfield (1)0–1Cliftonville (1)

Semi-finals

Matches were played on 31 March 2018. Cliftonville played Loughgall at the Oval, and Coleraine played Larne at Ballymena Showgrounds.

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Cliftonville (1)4–1Loughgall (2)
Coleraine (1)3–1Larne (2)

Final

The final was played on 5 May 2018 at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park.

Coleraine3–1Cliftonville
McCauley 50' Burns 78' Bradley 90+4'Donnelly 55'

External links