Belfast Charity Cup

Football tournament
Belfast Charity Cup
Organising bodyIrish Football Association
Founded1883
Abolished1940
RegionNorthern Ireland Northern Ireland
Most successful club(s)Linfield (24 titles)

The Belfast Charity Cup was a football competition which ran from 1883 to 1941, and was based on a similar tournament in Scotland, the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup. The competition was open to senior sides from Belfast and invited intermediate teams.[1]

The last tournament was played in 1940. The following year, instead of the tournament being played, the holders Belfast Celtic played a representative match against players with cross-channel experience. The representative team won 3-1.[2]

List of finals

1889–90 Belfast Charity Cup Final, Black Watch 5–2 Gordon Highlanders, Ulster Football and Cycling News, 2 May 1890

Key:

Scores level after 90 minutes. A replay was required.
(a.e.t.) Scores level after extra time. A replay was required.
(a.e.t.) Scores level after 90 minutes. Winner was decided in extra time with no penalty shootout required.
† Scores level after 90 minutes. Trophy was shared.


# Season Winner
(number of titles) 		Score Runner-up Venue
1 1883–84 Cliftonville (1) 2 – 0 Distillery Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast
2 1884–85 Oldpark (1) 1 – 0 Cliftonville Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast
3 1885–86 Cliftonville (2) 5 – 1 Glentoran Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast
4 1886–87 Cliftonville (3) 3 – 2 YMCA Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast
5 1887–88 Cliftonville (4) 3 – 2 Linfield Athletic Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast
6 1888–89 Cliftonville (5) 4 – 2 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
7 1889–90 Black Watch (1) 5 – 2 Gordon Highlanders Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast
8 1890–91 Linfield (1) 7 – 1 Ulster Solitude, Belfast
9 1891–92 Linfield (2) 1 – 0 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
10 1892–93 Linfield (3) 3 – 2 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
11 1893–94 Linfield (4) 3 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
12 1894–95 Linfield (5) 3 – 1 Cliftonville Solitude, Belfast
13 1895–96 Glentoran (1) 1 – 0 Cliftonville Solitude, Belfast
14 1896–97 Cliftonville (6) 1 – 1 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
Replay 6 – 2 Solitude, Belfast
15 1897–98 North Staffordshire Regiment (1) 4 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
16 1898–99 Linfield (6) 2 – 1 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
17 1899–1900 Distillery (1) 5 – 0 Linfield Solitude, Belfast
18 1900–01 Linfield (7) 4 – 1 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
19 1901–02 Glentoran (3) 2 – 0 Linfield Solitude, Belfast
20 1902–03 Linfield (8) 2 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
21 1903–04 Belfast Celtic (1) 1 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
22 1904–05 Linfield (9) 2 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
23 1905–06 Cliftonville (6) 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) Distillery Solitude, Belfast
Replay 2 – 0 Grosvenor Park, Belfast
24 1906–07 Glentoran (4) 2 – 0 Linfield Solitude, Belfast
25 1907–08 Cliftonville (7) 3 – 1 Linfield Grosvenor Park, Belfast
26 1908–09 Cliftonville (8) 0 – 0 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
Replay 2 – 0 Grosvenor Park, Belfast
27 1909–10 Belfast Celtic (2) 2 – 2 (a.e.t.) Distillery Solitude, Belfast
Replay 2 – 1 Grosvenor Park, Belfast
28 1910–11 Glentoran 4 – 2 Belfast Celtic Solitude, Belfast
29 1911–12 Belfast Celtic 3 – 0 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
30 1912–13 Linfield 3 – 1 Belfast Celtic Solitude, Belfast
31 1913–14 Linfield 1 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
32 1914–15 Linfield 1 – 0 Belfast Celtic Grosvenor Park, Belfast
33 1915–16 Distillery 1 – 0 Linfield Solitude, Belfast
34 1916–17 Linfield 1 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
35 1917–18 Linfield 1 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
36 1918–19 Linfield 1 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
37 1919–20 Belfast Celtic 3 – 0 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
38 1920–21 Distillery 2 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
39 1921–22 Linfield 3 – 0 Cliftonville Olympic Solitude, Belfast
40 1922–23 Glentoran 2 – 1 Crusaders Solitude, Belfast
41 1923–24 Cliftonville 1 – 0 (a.e.t.) Barn Solitude, Belfast
42 1924–25 Glentoran 2 – 1 Belfast Celtic Solitude, Belfast
43 1925–26 Belfast Celtic
Glentoran 		1 – 1† — Solitude, Belfast
44 1926–27 Linfield 5 – 2 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
45 1927–28 Linfield 4 – 0 Belfast Celtic Solitude, Belfast
46 1928–29 Distillery
Glentoran 		3 – 3† — Solitude, Belfast
47 1929–30 Linfield 2 – 0 Belfast Celtic Solitude, Belfast
48 1930–31 Distillery 4 – 2 Belfast Celtic Grosvenor Park, Belfast
49 1931–32 Belfast Celtic 2 – 0 Linfield Solitude, Belfast
50 1932–33 Linfield 3 – 0 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
51 1933–34 Linfield 4 – 1 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
52 1934–35 Linfield 1 – 1 Belfast Celtic Solitude, Belfast
Replay 2 – 1 Solitude, Belfast
53 1935–36 Belfast Celtic
Linfield 		2 – 2† — Solitude, Belfast
54 1936–37 Belfast Celtic 1 – 0 Distillery Solitude, Belfast
55 1937–38 Linfield 3 – 1 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast
56 1938–39 Belfast Celtic 1 – 0 Linfield Solitude, Belfast
57 1939–40 Belfast Celtic 3 – 0 Glentoran Solitude, Belfast

Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years Runners-up Years
Linfield 24 (1 shared) 8 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1893–94, 1894–95, 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1912–13, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1916–17, 1917–18, 1918–19, 1921–22, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36 (shared), 1937–38 1887–88, 1899–1900, 1901–02, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1915–16, 1931–32, 1938–39
Belfast Celtic 10 (2 shared) 8 1903–04, 1909–10, 1911–12, 1919–20, 1925–26 (shared), 1931–32, 1935–36 (shared), 1936–37, 1938–39, 1939–40 1910–11, 1912–13, 1914–15, 1924–25, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1934–35
Cliftonville 10 3 1883–84, 1885–86, 1886–87, 1887–88, 1888–89, 1896–97, 1905–06, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1923–24 1884–85, 1894–95, 1895–96
Glentoran 8 (2 shared) 14 1895–96, 1901–02, 1906–07, 1910–11, 1922–23, 1924–25, 1925–26 (shared), 1928–29 (shared) 1885–86, 1893–94, 1897–98, 1902–03, 1903–04, 1904–05, 1913–14, 1916–17, 1917–18, 1918–19, 1920–21, 1926–27, 1937–38, 1939–40
Distillery 5 (1 shared) 15 1899–1900, 1915–16, 1920–21, 1928–29 (shared), 1930–31 1883–84, 1888–89, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1900–01, 1905–06, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1911–12, 1919–20, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1936–37
Oldpark 1 0 1884–85 —
Black Watch 1 0 1889–90 —
North Staffordshire Regiment 1 0 1897–98 —
YMCA 0 1 — 1886–87
Gordon Highlanders 0 1 — 1889–90
Ulster 0 1 — 1890–91
Cliftonville Olympic 0 1 — 1921–22
Crusaders 0 1 — 1922–23
Barn 0 1 — 1923–24

Sources

  • Malcolm Brodie, "100 Years of Irish Football", Blackstaff Press, Belfast (1980)

References

  1. ^ "Belfast Charity Cup". Irish Football Club Project. Archived from the original on 2015-10-31. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Belfast Charity Competition. A Representative Match Instead Of Usual Cup Tourney". Belfast Telegraph. 16 May 1941. p. 6.

External links

  • Irish League Archive - Belfast Charity Cup
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