The Ulster Cup is an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs.

In 2026 the Northern Ireland Football League brought the trophy back, awarding it to the winners of the UEFA Europa Conference League Play-Off. Linfield were the first club to win the trophy in this new iteration.

History 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.

Format 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:

YearsNo. of seasonsFormat1948–491group system plus final1949–523group system plus top-four knockout1952–564group system plus final1956–571league1957–658group system plus final1965–8318league1983–852group system plus top-four knockout1985–9611group system plus top-eight knockout1996–971knock-out1997–99 and 2002–033league (First Division clubs only)

Finals results Winners of the Ulster Cup by season."Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1999/2000" Ed. Dr. Malcolm Brodie MBE

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.

SeasonWinner(number of titles)ScoreRunner-upVenue1948–49 Linfield (1)3 – 0ArdsSolitude, Belfast1949–50 Larne (1)2 – 1Ballymena UnitedGrosvenor Park, Belfast1950–51 Glentoran (1)2 – 1LinfieldGrosvenor Park, Belfast1951–52Ballymena United (1)3 – 0CrusadersSolitude, Belfast1952–53 Glentoran (2)3 – 0DistillerySolitude, Belfast1953–54 Crusaders (1)2 – 1LinfieldSolitude, Belfast1954–55 Glenavon (1)3 – 1ColeraineWindsor Park, Belfast1955–56 Linfield (2)5 – 1ColeraineThe Oval, Belfast1956–57 Linfield (3)League formatDistillery—1957–58Distillery (1)1 – 1GlentoranSolitude, BelfastReplay4 – 1Windsor Park, Belfast1958–59 Glenavon (2)2 – 0CrusadersWindsor Park, Belfast1959–60Linfield (4)1 – 1CrusadersSolitude, BelfastReplay4 – 1Windsor Park, Belfast1960–61 Ballymena United (2)3 – 1GlenavonGrosvenor Park, Belfast1961–62 Linfield (5)2 – 0GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast1962–63 Glenavon (3)1 – 0ColeraineWindsor Park, Belfast1963–64Crusaders (2)2 – 2GlenavonWindsor Park, BelfastReplay1 – 0Windsor Park, Belfast1964–65Linfield (6)1 – 0GlentoranWindsor Park, Belfast1965–66Coleraine (1)League formatLinfield—1966–67Glentoran (3) Glenavon1967–68Linfield (7)Glentoran 1968–69Coleraine (2)Linfield1969–70Coleraine (3)Glentoran1970–71Linfield (8)Coleraine1971–72Linfield (9)Ballymena United1972–73Coleraine (4)Distillery1973–74Ards (1)Linfield1974–75 Linfield (10)Glentoran1975–76 Coleraine (5)Linfield1976–77 Glentoran (4)Portadown1977–78 Linfield (11)Coleraine1978–79 Linfield (12)Crusaders1979–80 Linfield (13)Cliftonville1980–81 Ballymena United (3)Linfield1981–82 Glentoran (5)Coleraine1982–83 Glentoran (6)Linfield1983–84 Glentoran (7)5 – 2 ColeraineWindsor Park, Belfast1984–85 Linfield (14)2 – 2 (3 – 2 pens.)LarneThe Oval, Belfast 1985–86 Coleraine (6)5 – 0 PortadownWindsor Park, Belfast1986–87 Coleraine (7)1 – 0LinfieldThe Oval, Belfast1987–88 Larne (2)2 – 1ColeraineThe Oval, Belfast1988–89 Glentoran (8)5 – 2LarneWindsor Park, Belfast 1989–90 Glentoran (9)3 – 1GlenavonWindsor Park, Belfast1990–91Portadown (1)1 – 1GlenavonThe Oval, BelfastReplay1 – 1 (3 – 2 pens.)1991–92 Bangor (1)3 – 1CrusadersThe Oval, Belfast1992–93 Linfield (15)2 – 0ArdsThe Oval, Belfast1993–94 Crusaders (3)1 – 0BangorWindsor Park, Belfast1994–95 Bangor (2)2 – 1LinfieldThe Oval, Belfast1995–96Portadown (2)2 – 2 (5 – 3 pens.)LinfieldWindsor Park, Belfast1996–97 Coleraine (8)1 – 1 (4 – 3 pens.)CrusadersWindsor Park, Belfast1997–98 Ballyclare Comrades (1)League formatDistillery—1998–99Distillery (2)Ards2002–03Dungannon Swifts (1)Ballymena United2025-26Linfield (16)3 - 1Dungannon SwiftsWindsor Park, Belfast

Performance by club Senior Club Winners Runners-up Winning years Runners-up years Linfield 16 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, 2025-26 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 Larne 2 2 1949–50, 1987–88 1984–85, 1988–89 Portadown 2 2 1990–91, 1995–96 1976–77, 1985–86 Bangor 2 1 1991–92, 1994–95 1993–94 Distillery 1 3 1957–58 1952–53, 1956–57, 1972–73 Ards 1 2 1973–74 1948–49, 1992–93

First Division only Club Winners Runners-up Winning years Runners-up years Distillery 1 1 1998–99 1997–98 Ballyclare Comrades 1 0 1997–98 — Dungannon Swifts 1 0 2002–03 2025-26 Ards 0 1 — 1998–99 Ballymena United 0 1 — 2002–03

Notes

References

External links Ulster Cup Archive at the Irish Football Club Project Irish League Archive – Ulster Cup