| Ulster Cup | |
| Organiser: | Irish Football Association |
| Founded: | 1949 |
| Abolished: | 2003 |
| Region: | Northern Ireland |
| Most Successful Club: | Linfield (15 titles) |
The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs.
Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-off re-appearance in 2002/03. The last three editions were only open to First Division sides. From the mid-1980s to the early-1990s the competition was known as the Lombard Ulster Cup due to a sponsorship deal with the Lombard & Ulster Bank. It had previously been sponsored by Morans.
The format of the Ulster Cup varied from season to season. It often employed a league format, with each club playing each other once and the winner declared as the team with the most points; and sometimes a group basis, with the winners decided by a play-off.
The format over the years was as follows:
| Years | No. of seasons | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948–49 | 1 | group system plus final | |
| 1949–52 | 3 | group system plus top-four knockout | |
| 1952–56 | 4 | group system plus final | |
| 1956–57 | 1 | league | |
| 1957–65 | 8 | group system plus final | |
| 1965–83 | 18 | league | |
| 1983–85 | 2 | group system plus top-four knockout | |
| 1985–96 | 11 | group system plus top-eight knockout | |
| 1996–97 | 1 | knock-out | |
| 1997–99 and 2002–03 | 3 | league (First Division clubs only) |
Winners of the Ulster Cup by season.[1]
Key:
| Scores level after 90 minutes. A replay was required. | |
| Scores level after 90 minutes. Winner was decided in extra time with no penalty shootout required. | |
| pens. | Scores level after extra time. A penalty shootout was required to determine the winner. |
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years | Runners-up Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linfield | 15 | 11 | 1948–49, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1984–85, 1992–93 | 1950–51, 1953–54, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1994–95, 1995–96 | |
| Glentoran | 9 | 6 | 1950–51, 1952–53, 1966–67, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90 | 1957–58, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1974–75 | |
| Coleraine | 8 | 8 | 1965–66, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1996–97 | 1954–55, 1955–56, 1962–63, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1987–88 | |
| Crusaders | 3 | 6 | 1953–54, 1963–64, 1993–94 | 1951–52, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1978–79, 1991–92, 1996–97 | |
| 3 | 2 | 1951–52, 1960–61, 1980–81 | 1949–50, 1971–72 | ||
| Glenavon | 3 | 5 | 1954–55, 1958–59, 1962–63 | 1960–61, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1989–90, 1990–91 | |
| 2 | 2 | 1949–50, 1987–88 | 1984–85, 1988–89 | ||
| Portadown | 2 | 2 | 1990–91, 1995–96 | 1976–77, 1985–86 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1991–92, 1994–95 | 1993–94 | ||
| 1 | 3 | 1957–58 | 1952–53, 1956–57, 1972–73 | ||
| Ards | 1 | 2 | 1973–74 | 1948–49, 1992–93 |
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years | Runners-up Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1998–99 | 1997–98 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1997–98 | — | ||
| Dungannon Swifts | 1 | 0 | 2002–03 | — | |
| Ards | 0 | 1 | — | 1998–99 | |
| Ballymena United | 0 | 1 | — | 2002–03 |