City Cup (Northern Ireland)
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The City Cup is a now-defunct cup competition which involved competitors from Northern Ireland. It was run by the Irish Football Association. It had previously been known as the Dunville Cup and ceased to exist in 1976. The old City Cup trophy is now used for the Irish League Cup.
Participating teams
The City Cup began as a competition for Belfast clubs only (although, until 1900 the League consisted only of Belfast clubs). From 1905-11, however, Dublin club Shelbourne also participated. In the 1911-12 season, all eight Irish League clubs participated (Derry Celtic and Glenavon joining the five Belfast teams and Shelbourne). In the 1912-13 season, when the League expanded to ten clubs, only seven participated (the five Belfast teams plus Glenavon and Shelbourne. From 1913 until its demise in 1976, all clubs who were members of the Irish League competed for the City Cup (excluding the war years).
During 1915-19, the City Cup was known as the Belfast City Cup and reverted to being a Belfast-only competition and is not recognised as an "official" competition for this period; and during 1940-47, it was not played at all.
Format
The format for the City Cup varied throughout its history, but most commonly it was organised on a league basis, by which each participating club played each other and the team with the most points won the cup.
The format over the years was as follows:
| Years | No. of seasons | Format |
|---|---|---|
| 1894-1915, 1919-1940
and 1947-1969 |
64 | league |
| 1969-1970 | 1 | group system plus final |
| 1970-1971 | 1 | league |
| 1971-1976 | 5 | group system plus final |
Winners
| Season | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1894/95 | Linfield |
| 1895/96 | Linfield |
| 1896/97 | Glentoran |
| 1897/98 | Linfield |
| 1898/99 | Glentoran |
| 1899/1900 | Linfield |
| 1900/01 | Linfield |
| 1901/02 | Linfield |
| 1902/03 | Linfield |
| 1903/04 | Linfield |
| 1904/05 | Distillery |
| 1905/06 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1906/07 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1907/08 | Linfield |
| 1908/09 | Shelbourne |
| 1909/10 | Linfield |
| 1910/11 | Glentoran |
| 1911/12 | Glentoran |
| 1912/13 | Distillery |
| 1913/14 | Glentoran |
| 1914/15 | Glentoran |
| 1915/19 | not played |
| 1919/20 | Linfield |
| 1920/21 | Glenavon |
| 1921/22 | Linfield |
| 1922/23 | Queen’s Island |
| 1923/24 | Queen’s Island |
| 1924/25 | Queen’s Island |
| 1925/26 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1926/27 | Linfield |
| 1927/28 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1928/29 | Linfield |
| 1929/30 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1930/31 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1931/32 | Glentoran |
| 1932/33 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1933/34 | Distillery |
| 1934/35 | Derry City |
| 1935/36 | Linfield |
| 1936/37 | Derry City |
| 1937/38 | Linfield |
| 1938/39 | Portadown |
| 1939/40 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1940/47 | not played |
| 1947/48 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1948/49 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1949/50 | Linfield |
| 1950/51 | Glentoran |
| 1951/52 | Linfield |
| 1952/53 | Glentoran |
| 1953/54 | Coleraine |
| 1954/55 | Glenavon |
| 1955/56 | Glenavon |
| 1956/57 | Glentoran |
| 1957/58 | Linfield |
| 1958/59 | Linfield |
| 1959/60 | Distillery |
| 1960/61 | Glenavon |
| 1961/62 | Linfield |
| 1962/63 | Distillery |
| 1963/64 | Linfield |
| 1964/65 | Glentoran |
| 1965/66 | Glenavon |
| 1966/67 | Glentoran |
| 1967/68 | Linfield |
| 1968/69 | Coleraine |
| 1969/70 | Glentoran |
| 1970/71 | Bangor |
| 1971/72 | Ballymena United |
| 1972/73 | Glentoran |
| 1973/74 | Linfield |
| 1974/75 | Glentoran |
| 1975/76 | Bangor |
Performance by club
| Club | Winners |
|---|---|
| Linfield | 24 |
| Glentoran | 15 |
| Belfast Celtic | 10 |
| Distillery | 5 |
| Glenavon | 5 |
| Queen’s Island | 3 |
| Bangor | 2 |
| Coleraine | 2 |
| Derry City | 2 |
| Ballymena United | 1 |
| Portadown | 1 |
| Shelbourne | 1 |