Ulster Cup


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

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 seasonsFormat
1948–1951 and 1952–567group system plus final
1956–19571league
1957–19658group system plus final
1965–198318league
1983–199616group system plus final
1996–19971knock-out
1997–1999 and 2002–033league

List of winners

Winners of the Ulster Cup by season

Senior

First Division only