FAI Cup

FAI Cup

Founded	1922
Region	Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland
Number of teams	45 (2011)
Current champions	Sligo Rovers (4th title)
Most successful club	Shamrock Rovers (24 titles)
Website	FAI Cup
2011 FAI Cup

The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup(FAI Cup), known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry City from Northern Ireland). Organised by the FAI (Football Association of Ireland), the competition is currently sponsored by the car manufacturer, Ford. It was known as the Free State Cup from 1923 to 1936. Shamrock Rovers hold the record of most wins with 24.

The current holders are Sligo Rovers who beat Shamrock Rovers in the Aviva Stadium on November 14, 2010. The full time score ended 0-0 with Sligo Rovers winning the cup in a dramatic penalty shootout, they won the shootout by two penalties to nil.

Venues

Since the early 1920s, all but a handful of FAI Cup finals were held at Dalymount Park, Dublin. Two replays in the 1920s were held at Shelbourne Park, the 1973 replay was held in Flower Lodge in Cork and the 1984 replay was in Tolka Park. However, since 1990, due to the lack of development of Dalymount, the final has been played at a number of different venues. From 1990 until 1997 it was played at Lansdowne Road, stadium, from 1997–1999, back at Dalymount, from 1999 to 2002 at Tolka Park and from 2003 to 2006 back at Landsdowne Road. Due to the redevelopment of Lansdowne, the 2007 and 2008 finals were played at the RDS Arena. The 2009 final took place in the Tallaght Stadium. Finals from 2010 onwards will take place in the Aviva Stadium.

History

After two defeats in Cup Finals in the 1970s, Drogheda United finally reached the summit in 2005. Goals from Gavin Whelan (whose father, Paul, captained Bohemians to the 1992 cup and whose grandfather, Ronnie, won 2 cups with St. Patrick's Athletic) and captain Declan O'Brien helped "the Drogs" to a 2-0 win over Cork City.

Shelbourne , Bohemians and Derry City are the only clubs to win both the (Northern) Irish Cup and the FAI Cup, although Shelbourne and Bohemians only won it before partition, while Derry City remained in the Northern Irish league system until 1973, entering the League of Ireland in 1985.

The last ever soccer game to be played at the old Lansdowne Road was the 2006 final, contested between St. Patrick's Athletic and Derry City, who ran out eventual 4-3 winners after extra-time. The original FAI Cup was also retired after the game with a brand new version of the trophy to be used in the following seasons.

Athlone Town A.F.C. in 1924, Dundalk F.C. in 1958, Shamrock Rovers F.C. in 1968, Sligo Rovers in 2010 are the only four sides to ever win the Cup without conceding a goal. In addition to this feat Sligo Rovers were also able to keep there clean sheets in tact by not conceding in the penalty shoot-out against Shams in the 2010 final.

Since 2003, Irish domestic football has moved from the traditional European August-May season to a summer set-up, as favoured in Scandinavia. As an "interim" season was played in the second half of 2002, two FAI Cup Finals took place that year - Dundalk winning April's Cup, Derry City lifting the trophy in November.

FAI Cup Final results

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance
1922	St. James's Gate	1-1	Shamrock Rovers	Dalymount Park	15,000
1922 replay	St. James's Gate	1-0	Shamrock Rovers	Dalymount Park	10,000
1923	Alton United	1-0	Shelbourne	Dalymount Park	14,000
1924	Athlone Town	1-0	Fordsons	Dalymount Park	18,000
1925	Shamrock Rovers	2-1	Shelbourne	Dalymount Park	23,000
1926	Fordsons	3-2	Shamrock Rovers	Dalymount Park	25,000
1927	Drumcondra	1-1	Brideville	Dalymount Park	25,000
1927 replay	Drumcondra	1-0	Brideville	Shelbourne Park	10,000
1928	Bohemians	2-1	Drumcondra	Dalymount Park	25,000
1929	Shamrock Rovers	0-0	Bohemians	Dalymount Park	22,000
1929 replay	Shamrock Rovers	3-0	Bohemians	Shelbourne Park	15,000
1930	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Brideville	Dalymount Park	17,000
1931	Shamrock Rovers	1-1	Dundalk	Dalymount Park	20,000
1931 replay	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Dundalk	Dalymount Park	10,000
1932	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Dolphin	Dalymount Park	32,000
1933	Shamrock Rovers	3-3	Dolphin	Dalymount Park	22,000
1933 replay	Shamrock Rovers	3-0	Dolphin	Dalymount Park	18,000
1934	Cork	2-1	St. James's Gate	Dalymount Park	21,000
1935	Bohemians	4-3	Dundalk	Dalymount Park	22,000
1936	Shamrock Rovers	2-1	Cork	Dalymount Park	30,946
1937	Waterford	2-1	St. James's Gate	Dalymount Park	24,000
1938	St. James's Gate	2-1	Dundalk	Dalymount Park
1939	Shelbourne	1-1	Sligo Rovers	Dalymount Park
1939 replay	Shelbourne	1-0	Sligo Rovers	Dalymount Park
1940	Shamrock Rovers	3-0	Sligo Rovers	Dalymount Park	38,509
1941	Cork United	2-2	Waterford
1941 replay	Cork United	3-1	Waterford
1942	Dundalk	3-1	Cork United	Dalymount Park	34000
1943	Drumcondra	2-1	Cork United
1944	Shamrock Rovers	3-2	Shelbourne	Dalymount Park	34,000
1945	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Bohemians	Dalymount Park	41,238
1946	Drumcondra	2-1	Shamrock Rovers	Dalymount Park	34,248
1947	Cork United	2-2	Bohemians
1947 replay	Cork United	2-1	Bohemians
1948	Shamrock Rovers	2-1	Drumcondra	Dalymount Park	33,812
1949	Dundalk	3-0	Shelbourne
1950	Transport	2-2	Cork Athletic
1950 1st replay	Transport	2-2	Cork Athletic
1950 2nd replay	Transport	3-1	Cork Athletic
1951	Cork Athletic	1-1	Shelbourne
1951 replay	Cork Athletic	1-0	Shelbourne
1952	Dundalk	1-1	Cork Athletic
1952 replay	Dundalk	3-0	Cork Athletic
1953	Cork Athletic	2-2	Evergreen United
1953 replay	Cork Athletic	2-1	Evergreen United
1954	Drumcondra	1-0	St. Patrick's Athletic
1955	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Drumcondra	Dalymount Park	33,041
1956	Shamrock Rovers	3-2	Cork Athletic		35,017
1957	Drumcondra	2-0	Shamrock Rovers	Dalymount Park	30,000
1958	Dundalk	1-0	Shamrock Rovers	Dalymount Park	27,000
1959	St. Patrick's Athletic	2-2	Waterford
1959 replay	St. Patrick's Athletic	2-1	Waterford
1960	Shelbourne	2-0	Cork Hibernians
1961	St. Patrick's Athletic	2-1	Drumcondra
1962	Shamrock Rovers	4-1	Shelbourne	Dalymount Park	32,000
1963	Shelbourne	2-0	Cork Hibernians
1964	Shamrock Rovers	1-1	Cork Celtic	Dalymount Park	35,500
1964 replay	Shamrock Rovers	2-1	Cork Celtic	Dalymount Park	23,600
1965	Shamrock Rovers	1-1	Limerick	Dalymount Park	22,000
1965 replay	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Limerick	Dalymount Park
1966	Shamrock Rovers	2-0	Limerick	Dalymount Park	26,898
1967	Shamrock Rovers	3-2	St. Patrick's Athletic	Dalymount Park	12,000
1968	Shamrock Rovers	3-0	Waterford	Dalymount Park	39,128
1969	Shamrock Rovers	1-1	Cork Celtic	Dalymount Park	28,000
1969 replay	Shamrock Rovers	4-1	Cork Celtic	Dalymount Park	18,000
1970	Bohemians	0-0	Sligo Rovers
1970 1st replay	Bohemians	0-0	Sligo Rovers
1970 2nd replay	Bohemians	2-1	Sligo Rovers
1971	Limerick	0-0	Drogheda
1971 replay	Limerick	3-0	Drogheda
1972	Cork Hibernians	3-0	Waterford
1973	Cork Hibernians	0-0	Shelbourne
1973 replay	Cork Hibernians	1-0	Shelbourne	Flower Lodge
1974	Finn Harps	3-1	St. Patrick's Athletic
1975	Home Farm	1-0	Shelbourne
1976	Bohemians	1-0	Drogheda United
1977	Dundalk	2-0	Limerick
1978	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Sligo Rovers	Dalymount Park	12,500
1979	Dundalk	2-0	Waterford
1980	Waterford	1-0	St. Patrick's Athletic	Dalymount Park	18,000
1981	Dundalk	2-0	Sligo Rovers
1982	Limerick United	1-0	Bohemians
1983	Sligo Rovers	2-1	Bohemians	[Dalymount Park]
1984	UCD	0-0	Shamrock Rovers		8,000
1984 replay	UCD	2-1	Shamrock Rovers	Tolka Park	6,500
1985	Shamrock Rovers	1-0	Galway United		7,000
1986	Shamrock Rovers	2-0	Waterford United		11,500
1987	Shamrock Rovers	3-0	Dundalk		8,569
1988	Dundalk	1-0	Derry City	Dalymount Park
1989	Derry City	0-0	Cork City	Dalymount Park
1989 replay	Derry City	1-0	Cork City	Dalymount Park
1990	Bray Wanderers	3-0	St. Francis	Lansdowne Road
1991	Galway United	1-0	Shamrock Rovers	Lansdowne Road	15,257
1992	Bohemians	1-0	Cork City	Lansdowne Road
1993	Shelbourne	1-0	Dundalk	Lansdowne Road
1994	Sligo Rovers	1-0	Derry City	Lansdowne Road
1995	Derry City	2-1	Shelbourne	Lansdowne Road
1996	Shelbourne	1-1	St. Patrick's Athletic	Lansdowne Road
1996 replay	Shelbourne	2-1	St. Patrick's Athletic	Dalymount Park
1997	Shelbourne	2-0	Derry City	Dalymount Park
1998	Cork City	0-0	Shelbourne	Dalymount Park
1998 replay	Cork City	1-0	Shelbourne	Dalymount Park
1999	Bray Wanderers	0-0	Finn Harps	Tolka Park
1999 1st replay	Bray Wanderers	2-2	Finn Harps	Tolka Park
1999 2nd replay	Bray Wanderers	2-1	Finn Harps	Tolka Park
2000	Shelbourne	0-0	Bohemians	Tolka Park
2000 replay	Shelbourne	1-0	Bohemians	Dalymount Park
2001	Bohemians	1-0	Longford Town	Tolka Park	10,100
2002	Dundalk	2-1	Bohemians	Tolka Park	10,100
2002 (Interim Season)	Derry City	1-0	Shamrock Rovers	Tolka Park	10,100
2003	Longford Town	2-0	St. Patrick's Athletic	Lansdowne Road	12,000
2004	Longford Town	2-1	Waterford United	Lansdowne Road	9,676
2005	Drogheda United	2-0	Cork City	Lansdowne Road	24,521
2006	Derry City	4-3 (aet)	St. Patrick's Athletic	Lansdowne Road	16,022
2007	Cork City	1-0	Longford Town	RDS	10,000
2008	Bohemians	2-2 (aet) Penalties: 4-2	Derry City	RDS	15,281
2009	Sporting Fingal	2-1	Sligo Rovers	Tallaght Stadium	8,105
2010	Sligo Rovers	0-0 (aet) Penalties: 2-0	Shamrock Rovers	Aviva Stadium	36,101
2011	Sligo Rovers	1-1 (aet) Penalties: 4-1	Shelbourne	Aviva Stadium	21,662

Performance By Club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
Shamrock Rovers	24	9	1925, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1955, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1978, 1985, 1986, 1987
Dundalk	9	5	1942, 1949, 1952, 1958, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1988, 2002
Shelbourne	7	11	1939, 1960, 1963, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000
Bohemians	7	7	1928, 1935, 1970, 1976, 1992, 2001, 2008
Drumcondra	5	4	1927, 1943, 1946, 1954, 1957
Sligo Rovers	4	6	1983, 1994, 2010, 2011
Cork Athletic	4	5	1941, 1947, 1951, 1953
Derry City	4	4	1989, 1995, 2002, 2006
Waterford United	2	7	1937, 1980
St. Patrick's Athletic	2	7	1959, 1961
Limerick	2	3	1971, 1982
Cork City	2	3	1998, 2007
Cork Hibernians	2	2	1972, 1973
Longford Town	2	2	2003, 2004
St. James's Gate	2	2	1922, 1938
Bray Wanderers	2	-	1990, 1999
Drogheda United	1	2	2005
Cork	1	1	1934
Finn Harps	1	1	1974
Fordsons	1	1	1926
Galway United	1	1	1991
Alton United	1	-	1923
Athlone Town	1	-	1924
Home Farm	1	-	1975
Sporting Fingal	1	-	2009
Transport	1	-	1950
UCD AFC	1	-	1984
Brideville	-	2	-
Cork Celtic	-	2	-
Dolphin	-	2	-
Evergreen United	-	1	-
St. Francis	-	1	-

Notes

• ^ Includes Cork United
• ^ Includes Waterford
• ^ Includes Limerick United
• ^ Includes Drogheda
• ^ Since 1985 when Derry joined league

Resources

• Ireland - List of Cup Finals
• Ireland - FA of Ireland Cup 1921/22-1993/94
• Ford named as new FAI Cup sponsors until 2010