| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Teams | 130 |
| Defending champions | Linfield |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Coleraine (6th win) |
| Runners-up | Cliftonville |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 125 |
| Goals scored | 577 (4.62 per match) |
The2017–18 Irish Cup (known as theTennent's Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 138th edition of theIrish Cup, the premier knockout cup competition inNorthern Irishfootball since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 19 August 2017 and concluded with the final atWindsor Park in May 2018.
Linfield are the defending champions, having defeatedColeraine 3–0 in the 2017 final.
A new system forpenalty shoot-outs will be trialled as sanctioned by theInternational Football Association Board to test a different sequence of taking penalties. Known as "ABBA", it mirrors the serving sequence in atennis tie-break i.e. team A takes the first penalty, team B takes the second penalty, team B takes the third penalty, etc.[1][2]
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 the2016–17 total of 126 clubs. 94 regional league clubs from tiers 4–7 in theNorthern 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.[3][4]). The 41 first-round winners were joined by winner and the ten byes from Round 2A and the 12 clubs of theNIFL Premier Intermediate League in the second round. After two further rounds, with the eight surviving clubs joining the 24 seniorNIFL Premiership andNIFL 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.
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Matches were played on 19 August 2017[5]
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 andWellington Rec.[5]
Match played on 23 September 2017
The twelve members of theNIFL 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
Matches were played on 4 November 2017
Matches were played on 2 December 2017
Matches were played on 6 January 2018
Matches were played on 3 February 2018
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Linfield (1) | 1–0 | Newry City (2) |
| Cliftonville (1) | 4–1 | Crusaders (1) |
| Loughgall (2) | 2–1 | Ards (1) |
| Ballyclare Comrades (2) | 0–4 | Glentoran (1) |
| Coleraine (1) | 4–0 | Institute (2) |
| Ballymena United (1) | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3p) | Ballinamallard United (1) |
| Larne (2) | 6–1 | Dundela (3) |
| Glenavon (1) | 3–0 | Dungannon Swifts (1) |
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 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Ballymena United (1) | 1–2 | Larne (2) |
| Coleraine (1) | 1–0 | Glentoran (1) |
| Glenavon (1) | 1–2 | Loughgall (2) |
| Linfield (1) | 0–1 | Cliftonville (1) |
Matches were played on 31 March 2018. Cliftonville played Loughgall atthe Oval, and Coleraine played Larne at Ballymena Showgrounds.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Cliftonville (1) | 4–1 | Loughgall (2) |
| Coleraine (1) | 3–1 | Larne (2) |
The final was played on 5 May 2018 at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park.
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