1977–78 Irish Cup

Country

Northern Ireland

Teams

Champions

Linfield (31st title)

Runners-up

Ballymena United

Matches played

Goals scored

71 (3.94 per match)

← 1976–77

1978–79 →

The 1977–78 Irish Cup was the 98th edition of Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition. It began on 4 February 1978, and concluded on 29 April 1978 with the final.

The defending champions were Coleraine, after they defeated Linfield 4–1 in the 1976–77 final.^[1] However, Linfield gained revenge by knocking the holders out with a 2–1 win in the first round. Linfield went on to win the cup for the 31st time, defeating Ballymena United 3–1 in the final.^[2]

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	5–2	Dungannon Swifts
Ballymena United	6–2	Downpatrick Rec.
Cliftonville	1–3	Bangor
Dundela	1–2¹	Crusaders
Glenavon	1–3	Larne
Glentoran	5–1	RUC
Linfield	2–1	Coleraine
Portadown	5–3	Distillery

¹This tie required a replay, after the first game was a 2–2 draw.^[2]

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ballymena United	1–0	Ards
Bangor	0–6	Portadown
Crusaders	1–0	Larne
Linfield	4–3	Glentoran

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ballymena United	1–1 (4–1 p)²	Crusaders
Linfield	2–1	Portadown

²This tie was eventually decided by a penalty shoot-out in the second replay, after all three games ended as 1–1 draws.^[2]

Final

Linfield v Ballymena United

29 April 1978

Linfield	3 – 1	Ballymena United
Dornan 14' Garrett 39' Raferty 83'	Report	Nelson 67'

The Oval, Belfast

References

↑ "Northern Ireland Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Northern Ireland 1977/78". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 October 2012.

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1977–78 in European football (UEFA)

« 1976–77 1978–79 »

Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '77 '78 England Estonia '77 '78 Faroe Islands '77 '78 Finland '77 '78 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '77 '78 Israel Italy Latvia '77 '78 Lithuania '77 '78 Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '77 '78 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '77 '78 Spain Sweden '77 '78 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia

Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '77 '78 Finland '77 '78 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '77 '78 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '77 '78 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia

League cups	England Poland Republic of Ireland Scotland Switzerland

UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup

Association football in Northern Ireland

Irish Football Association

National teams

League system

men:	NIFL Premiership NIFL Championship Ballymena & Provincial League Mid-Ulster Football League Northern Amateur Football League NI Intermediate League NIFL Reserve League Irish League representative team

women:	Women's Premier League

Domestic cups

men:	Irish Cup NI Football League Cup IFA Charity Shield County Antrim Shield Mid-Ulster Cup North West Senior Cup Irish Intermediate Cup Steel & Sons Cup Bob Radcliffe Cup Craig Memorial Cup

women:	Irish Women's Cup Premier League Cup

Awards