1996–97 Irish News Cup

1996–97 Irish News Cup
Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland; Republic of Ireland
Teams	8
Defending champions	Coleraine
Final positions
Champions	Derry City
Runner-up	Sligo Rovers
Tournament statistics
Matches played	14
Goals scored	49 (3.5 per match)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Irish News Cup was the 2nd edition of the Irish News Cup, an association football cup competition featuring teams from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.^[1]

Derry City won the title, defeating Sligo Rovers 5–4 on aggregate in the two-legged final.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Results[edit]

Teams that were at home in the first leg listed on the left.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Finn Harps	4–2	Coleraine	2–0	2–2
Limavady United	1–4	Dundalk	1–1	0–3
Omagh Town	2–3	Derry City	0–3	2–0
Sligo Rovers	5–2	Ballymena United	1–0	4–2

Teams that were at home in the first leg listed on the left.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Dundalk	2–9	Derry City	1–4	1–5
Sligo Rovers	5–1	Finn Harps	2–1	3–0

26 March 1997

Sligo Rovers	3–0	Derry City
Thew 32', 80', 83'

Referee: John Ferry (Derry)

8 April 1997

Derry City	5–1	Sligo Rovers
Kelly 32' Hargan 71', 79' McCabe 83' Hegarty 87'		Oates 15'

Referee: Tony Gilroy (Donegal)

Derry City win 5–4 on aggregate.

^ "Irish League Archive, Irish News Cup". Irish League Archive. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
^ "Last gasp goal blast sinks City cup hopes". Belfast Telegraph. 27 March 1997. p. 39.
^ "Weakened Derry beaten". Belfast News Letter. 27 March 1997. p. 47.
^ "Rovers Throw It All Away". Sligo Champion. 9 April 1997. p. 11.
^ "Irish News Cup Results". Irish League Archive. Retrieved 30 April 2023.