The2004–05 Irish Cup was the 125th edition of theIrish Cup,Northern Ireland's premierfootball knock-out cup competition. It concluded on 7 May 2005 with the final.[1]
Glentoran were the defending champions, winning their 20th Irish Cup last season after a 1–0 win overColeraine in the 2004 final. This season the Glens reached the semi-final stage, but were defeated byPortadown, who then went on to lift the cup for the third time with a 5–1 victory overLarne in the final.
It was the highest scoring final in 36 years, since the 1969 final replay whenArds defeatedDistillery 4–2. It was also the first time in 43 years that the final had been won by a four-goal margin, whenLinfield defeated Portadown 4–0 in 1962. This was Larne's fifth appearance in the final without ever winning; a record in the competition that still stands. They had previously been runners-up in the 1928, 1935,1987 and1989 finals.Derry Celtic (1898 and 1904) andLimavady (1885 and 1886) are the only other clubs to have reached the final more than once, but never won.[2][3]
