1978–79 Irish Cup

The 1978–79 Irish Cup was the 99th edition of Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition.

1978–79 Irish Cup

Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Champions	Cliftonville (8th win)
Runners-up	Portadown
Matches played	17
Goals scored	68 (4 per match)
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The defending champions were Linfield, who defeated Ballymena United 3–1 in the 1977–78 final.[1] However, they were knocked out by eventual winners Cliftonville in the first round. Cliftonville went on to win the cup for the 8th time, defeating Portadown 3–2 in the final. The 1979 victory represented their first cup success in 70 years; this remains a record for the longest gap between Irish Cup wins.[2] To date, this is Cliftonville's last Irish Cup success, though they have reached the final five times since this win; in 1997, 1999, 2009, 2013 and 2018. They lost the 1997, 2009, 2013 and 2018 finals, and were disqualified before the final was played in 1999 when it was discovered that they had fielded an ineligible player in the earlier rounds.

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	1–3	Portadown
Ballymena United	2–1	Crusaders
Coleraine	5–2	Downpatrick Rec.
Distillery	0–2	Banbridge Town
Glenavon	4–1	Bangor
Larne	3–2	Glentoran
Linfield	3–4	Cliftonville
Omagh Town	2–6	RUC

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Coleraine	2–3	Cliftonville
Glenavon	3–2	Banbridge Town
Portadown	2–1^1	Ballymena United
RUC	0–1	Larne

¹This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as a 0–0 draw.[2]

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Cliftonville	1–0^2	Larne
Portadown	2–1	Glenavon

²This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as a 2–2 draw.[2]

Final

28 April 1979

Cliftonville	3 – 2	Portadown
Platt  32' Adair  46' Bell  89'	Report	Campbell  2' Alexander  77'

Windsor Park, Belfast

References

1. "Northern Ireland Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
2. "Northern Ireland 1978/79". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 October 2012.