| Organiser(s) | Leinster Football Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930 |
| Region | Leinster |
| Most championships | Shamrock Rovers (21) |
TheLFA President's Cup was an association footballcup competition featuringLeague of Ireland clubs affiliated to theLeinster Football Association. It was played for between1930 and2002. It was ade facto nationalsuper cup and on twenty four occasions featured the League of Ireland champions against theFAI Cup winners. TheFootball Association of Ireland also organised similar competitions, such as theTop Four Cup and theFAI Super Cup, both of which co-existed with the LFA President's Cup. Since2014 the FAI has organised their own similarly named super cup, thePresident's Cup.
The LFA President's Cup was originally introduced as fundraiser to help cover the costs of theLFA's new headquarters atParnell Square. The top four placed LFA affiliated clubs from the1929–30 League of Ireland season took part in two semi-finals.Shelbourne defeatedBrideville 1–0 atHarold's Cross Stadium in the first game on Sunday, 4 May 1930. Three days later the1929–30 FAI Cup winnersShamrock Rovers defeated the league champions,Bohemians 2–0 atDalymount Park. In the inaugural final on 23 May, Rovers and Shelbourne drew 1–1 atShelbourne Park. For some reason the final was never replayed. In the 1930–31 finalDundalk beat Rovers 7–3. This became the competitions highest scoring final. Rovers won the cup for the first time outright in 1932–33. They would go on to become the competition's most successful club, winning it twenty-one times. They were also runners-up on a further ten occasions. The 1941–42 competition took nearly an entire year to compete despite a single tie format been used. Shamrock Rovers andDrumcondra drew in August 1941, drew in the replay in April 1942 before Rovers, inBob Fullam's first competitive match in charge, won the second replay in August 1942.[1]
The most common format used throughout LFA President's Cup history saw the top placed LFA affiliated club from theLeague of Ireland play-off against the LFA affiliated club that had progressed the furthest in theFAI Cup. This match was usually a one-off fixture played before the following season. However the earliest competitions in 1930s featured as many as ten clubs and were played at the end of the season. There was no competition held between 1933 and 1938 and when it returned in 1939–40 it adopted the two club single match format. This format continued throughout the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. Between 1964 and 1965 and 1972–73, with the exception a single tie final in 1968–69, it reverted to a knockout tournament featuring up to eight clubs. In 1973–74 the LFA broke with tradition when they arranged an all-Munster final for the first and only time.Waterford, who had been League of Ireland champions for six out of the eight previous seasons, playedCork Hibernians, the winners of the two previous FAI Cup finals.Alfie Hale scored both goals, including one penalty, as Waterford won 2–0 atFlower Lodge on 29 August 1973. From 1973 to 1974 onwards the LFA President's Cup continued with the two club single match format, except between 1980 and 1981 and 1983–84 when the finals were played over two legs.[1][2]
When the LFA President's Cup was first established in1929–30every previousLeague of Ireland winner had come from Leinster and only two teams from outside Leinster –Alton United andFordsons – had won theFAI Cup.This Leinster dominance would continue and the League of Ireland's traditional top four clubs –Shamrock Rovers,Shelbourne,Bohemians andDundalk – all came from the province. As a result the LFA President's Cup developed into ade facto nationalsuper cup. On twenty four occasions the final featured the League of Ireland champions against the FAI Cup winners. Between 1954 and 1955 and 1959–60 they met in six consecutive finals. Of the 64 finals played only nine did not feature either the League of Ireland champion or the FAI Cup winner.[1]
League of Ireland champions vFAI Cup winners. League champions inbold
More than two teams competed in the cup
| Club | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Shamrock Rovers | 21 | 1929–30, 1932–33, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1948–49, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88(Note 1) |
| Bohemians | 13 | 1965–66, 1967–68, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02 |
| Dundalk | 9 | 1930–31, 1951–52, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1988–89, 1989–90 |
| Shelbourne | 8 | 1929–30, 1939–40, 1947–48, 1960–61, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2002–03(Note 1)(Note 2) |
| Drumcondra | 7 | 1946–47, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1966–67(Note 2) |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 6 | 1952–53, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1971–72, 1990–91, 1996–97 |
| Athlone Town | 1 | 1983–84 |
| Waterford | 1 | 1973–74 |