County Antrim Shield

The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Football Association (also known as the County Antrim & District Football Association) (membership of which extends beyond County Antrim itself), often plus intermediate teams who qualify via the Steel & Sons Cup, depending on the numbers required. For the 2010–11 and 2011-12 seasons, only the winners took part.

County Antrim Shield

Organising body	County Antrim & District F.A.
Founded	1888
Region	Northern Ireland
Current champions	Cliftonville (2019–20)
Most successful club(s)	Linfield (43 titles)
Website	County Antrim F.A.

The current Shield champions are Cliftonville, who beat Ballymena United 2-1 in the 2019–20 final.

During the later 1980s and early 1990s, the North East Ulster F.A. invited senior clubs from outside its jurisdiction to participate. Hence the Shield has been won by Newry Town (later Newry City) and Glenavon, neither of which are members of the North East Ulster F.A.

The Shield has been regularly sponsored since the late 1980s. The 2014–15 competition was sponsored by Toals Bookmakers.

Finals

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-Up	Notes
1888–89	Distillery	8–4	YMCA	[1]
1889–90	Linfield	5–3	Distillery	Match abandoned due to crowd trouble and Shield withheld. Linfield resigned from the Co. Antrim FA in protest.[2]
1890–91	Black Watch	4–2	Oldpark
1891–92	Cliftonville	2–1	Lancashire Fusiliers
1892–93	Distillery	2–1	Celtic
1893–94	Cliftonville	2–1	Celtic
1894–95	Celtic	3–1	Distillery
1895–96	Distillery	5–0	Linfield
1896–97	Distillery	3–1	Linfield	Replay. The first game ended 2-2.
1897–98	Cliftonville	2–0	Linfield
1898–99	Linfield	4–0	Linfield Swifts	Replay
1899–00	Distillery	2–0	Linfield	Replay
1900–01	Glentoran	2–1	Distillery
1901–02	Glentoran	2–1	Distillery
1902–03	Distillery	4–1	Linfield	Replay. Game 1: 1-1
1903–04	Linfield	4–1	Belfast Celtic
1904–05	Distillery	2–0	Linfield
1905–06	Linfield	2–0	Distillery	Replay. Game 1: 1-1
1906–07	Linfield	2–0	Glentoran
1907–08	Linfield	3–0	Distillery
1908–09	Glentoran II	3–0	Cliftonville	Glentoran II defeated Glentoran's senior team in the semi-final[3]
1909–10	Belfast Celtic	3–1	Glentoran
1910–11	Glentoran	2–0	Cliftonville
1911–12	Final not played.
1912–13	Linfield	1–0	Cliftonville	2nd Replay.
1913–14	Linfield	3–2	Glentoran
1914–15	Distillery	1–0	Glentoran
1915–16	Glentoran	1–0	Distillery
1916–17	Linfield	3–0	Glentoran
1917–18	Glentoran	2–0	Linfield
1918–19	Distillery	1–0	Belfast Celtic	Replay. Game 1: 1-0
1919–20	Distillery	2–0	Belfast Celtic	Replay. Game 1: 0-0
1920–21	Glentoran	1–0	Distillery	3rd Replay. Game 1: 1-1; Game 2: 0-0; Game 3: 0-0
1921–22	Linfield	4–1	Distillery	Replay. Game 1: 1-1.
1922–23	Linfield	4–1	Glentoran
1923–24	Queen's Island	3–0	Distillery
1924–25	Glentoran	2–1	Belfast Celtic
1925–26	Cliftonville	5–1	Glentoran
1926–27	Belfast Celtic	3–2	Dunmurry Rec.
1927–28	Linfield	4–2	Ards	Replay. Game 1: 1-1
1928–29	Linfield	2–1	Broadway United
1929–30	Linfield	3–1	Glentoran
1930–31	Glentoran	2–1	Cliftonville
1931–32	Linfield	5–1	Belfast Celtic
1932–33	Linfield	3–1	Belfast Celtic	2nd Replay.
1933–34	Linfield	7–1	Ards
1934–35	Linfield	4–2	Belfast Celtic II
1935–36	Belfast Celtic	1–0	Belfast Celtic II
1936–37	Belfast Celtic	1–0	Glentoran	Replay. Game 1: 2-2
1937–38	Linfield	3–2	Ballymena United
1938–39	Belfast Celtic	2–1	Glentoran
1939–40	Glentoran	4–0	Linfield
1940–41	Glentoran	1–0	Distillery
1941–42	Linfield	2–0	Larne
1942–43	Belfast Celtic	2–1	Linfield	2nd Replay.
1943–44	Glentoran	3–0	Belfast Celtic
1944–45	Belfast Celtic	1–0	Linfield	Replay.
1945–46	Distillery	3–0	Bangor Reserves	Replay. Game 1: 1-1
1946–47	Linfield	w/o	Belfast Celtic	Linfield won by walkover after Belfast Celtic withdrew.
1947–48	Ballymena United	2–1	Linfield
1948–49	Linfield Swifts	4–1	Bangor	2nd Replay
1949–50	Glentoran	2–0	Linfield
1950–51	Ballymena United	3–0	Cliftonville	Replay
1951–52	Glentoran	3–0	Brantwood
1952–53	Linfield	2–1	Distillery	2nd Replay. Game 1: 2-2; Game 2: 4-4
1953–54	Distillery	1–0	Ballymena United
1954–55	Linfield	3–0	Crusaders
1955–56	Ards	4–1	Linfield
1956–57	Glentoran	4–0	Distillery	Replay. Game 1: 0-0
1957–58	Linfield	3–1	Distillery
1958–59	Linfield	3–1	Bangor
1959–60	Crusaders	2–0	Linfield	Replay
1960–61	Linfield	2–1	Glentoran
1961–62	Linfield	5–0	Glentoran
1962–63	Linfield	4–0	Bangor
1963–64	Distillery	2–1	Glentoran
1964–65	Crusaders	6–0	Larne
1965–66	Linfield	4–0	Ballymena United
1966–67	Linfield	5–3	Crusaders
1967–68	Glentoran	3–0	Linfield	Replay. Game 1: 3-3
1968–69	Crusaders	2–1	Linfield
1969–70	Bangor	3–2	Ards	3rd Replay. Game 1: 1-1; Game 2: 1-1; Game 3: 1-1.
1970–71	Glentoran	2–1	Crusaders
1971–72	Ards	3–3 (5–4 pens)	Crusaders	Played over two legs. Tie ended 3–3 on aggregate.
1972–73	Linfield	9–1	Bangor	Over two legs (4-1, 5-0)
1973–74	Crusaders	2–1	Larne
1974–75	Bangor	2–1	Glentoran
1975–76	Ballymena United	4–0	Distillery
1976–77	Linfield	3–1	Glentoran
1977–78	Glentoran	1–0	Crusaders
1978–79	Cliftonville	0–0 (3–1 pens)	Crusaders
1979–80	Ballymena United	0–0 (3–1 pens)	Crusaders
1980–81	Linfield	4–1	Glentoran
1981–82	Linfield	1–0	Distillery
1982–83	Linfield	4–1	Glentoran
1983–84	Linfield	3–1	Crusaders
1984–85	Glentoran	2–1	Crusaders
1985–86	Distillery	3–1	Ballymena United
1986–87	Glentoran	3–0	Glenavon
1987–88	Newry Town	2–1	Ballymena United
1988–89	Bangor	2–1	Glentoran
1989–90	Glentoran	0–0 (6–5 pens)	Linfield
1990–91	Glenavon	4–3	Newry Town
1991–92	Crusaders	2–1	Glenavon
1992–93	Carrick Rangers	2–1	Glentoran	Replay: Game 1: 1-1[4]
1993–94	Ards	4–2	Crusaders
1994–95	Linfield	4–0	Glenavon
1995–96	Glenavon	3–0	Crusaders
1996–97	Cliftonville	0–0 (5–4 pens)	Ballymena United	Replayed after first match abandoned.[5]
1997–98	Linfield	1–0	Crusaders
1998–99	Glentoran	2–0	Cliftonville
1999–00	Glentoran	2–1	Bangor
2000–01	Linfield	2–1	Glentoran
2001–02	Glentoran	2–0	Linfield
2002–03	Glentoran	3–0	Ballymena United
2003–04	Linfield	2–0	Ards
2004–05	Linfield	2–1	Crusaders
2005–06	Linfield	2–1	Ballymena United
2006–07	Cliftonville	2–1	Distillery
2007–08	Glentoran	2–1	Crusaders
2008–09	Cliftonville	2–1	Linfield
2009–10	Crusaders	3–2 (aet)	Linfield	[6]
2010–11	Glentoran	3–1	Linfield
2011–12	Cliftonville	2–1	Glentoran
2012–13	Ballymena United	1–1 (aet) 4–3 (pens)	Linfield	[7]
2013–14	Linfield	0–0 (aet) 4–1 (pens)	Crusaders	[8]
2014–15	Cliftonville	1–0	Bangor	[9]
2015–16	Ballymena United	3–2	Linfield	[10]
2016–17	Linfield	3–1	Crusaders	[11]
2017–18	Crusaders	4–2	Ballymena United	[12]
2018–19	Crusaders	4–3	Linfield	[13]
2019–20	Cliftonville	2–1	Ballymena United

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Winning Years
Linfield	43	1898–99, 1903–04, 1905–06, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1912–13, 1913–14, 1916–17, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1941–42, 1946–47, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2013–14, 2016–17
Glentoran	26	1900–01, 1901–02, 1910–11, 1915–16, 1917–18, 1920–21, 1924–25, 1930–31, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1943–44, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1956–57, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1989–90, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2010–11
Distillery	14	1888–89, 1892–93, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1899–00, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1914–15, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1945–46, 1953–54, 1963–64, 1985–86
Cliftonville	11	1891–92, 1893–94, 1897–98, 1925–26, 1978–79, 1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2019–20
Crusaders	8	1959–60, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1991–92, 2009–10, 2017–18, 2018–19
Belfast Celtic	7	1909–10, 1926–27, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1942–43, 1944–45
Ballymena United	6	1947–48, 1950–51, 1975–76, 1979–80, 2012–13, 2015–16
Ards	3	1955–56, 1971–72, 1993–94
Bangor	3	1969–70, 1974–75, 1988–89
Glenavon	2	1990–91, 1995–96
Black Watch	1	1890–91
Carrick Rangers	1	1992–93
Glentoran II	1	1908–09
Linfield Swifts	1	1948–49
Newry Town	1	1987–88
Queen's Island	1	1923–24

Centenary Chalice

To mark the centenary of the County Antrim F.A., a Centenary Chalice was played for in 1987–88. Glentoran won it, defeating Ballymena United 4–2 in the final.[14]

References

1. 100 Years of Football: The History of the Co. Antrim FA (Graham Hamilton, 1988) Page 109
2. The Whites: A History of Distillery FC 1880-2004 (Dawson Simpson) Page 20
3. Glentoran: A Complete Record (Roy France, 2001) Page 74
4. "Northern Ireland - List of County Antrim Shield Winners". www.rsssf.com.
5. Belfast Telegraph Soccer Yearbook 1997–98 Page 58
6. "Crusaders 3-2 Linfield". BBC News. 31 May 2018.
7. "Ballymena beat Linfield on penalties in Co Antrim Shield final". BBC. 27 November 2012.
8. Belfast Telegraph, 5 March 2014
9. "County Antrim Shield Final: Bangor 0-1 Cliftonville". BBC. 31 May 2018.
10. "Ballymena United beat Linfield in dramatic Co Antrim Shield Final". BBC. 31 May 2018.
11. "County Antrim Shield final: Crusaders 1-3 Linfield". BBC. 7 February 2017.
12. "County Antrim Shield final: Ballymena United 2-4 Crusaders". BBC. 31 May 2018.
13. "County Antrim Shield final: Late double sees Crusaders beat Linfield 4-3 in thriller". BBC. 12 March 2019.
14. Brodie, M. (ed.), Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1988-89