2017–18 Irish Cup

The 2017–18 Irish Cup (known as the Tennent's Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 138th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knock-out cup competition in Northern Irish football since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 19 August 2017 and concluded with the final at Windsor Park in May 2018.

Linfield are the defending champions, having defeated Coleraine 3–0 in the 2017 final.

A new system for penalty shoot-outs will be trialled as sanctioned by the International Football Association Board to test a different sequence of taking penalties. Known as "ABBA", it mirrors the serving sequence in a tennis tie-break i.e. team A takes the first penalty, team B takes the second penalty, team B takes the third penalty, etc.

Format and schedule
All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.

130 clubs entered this season's competition, an increase of four clubs compared with the 2016–17 total of 126 clubs. 94 regional league clubs from tiers 4–7 in the Northern Ireland football league system entered the competition in the first round, 12 of whom received a bye into the Round 2A. (Strabane Athletic were originally excluded, but were reinstated after the first-round draw had been made, necessitating a further draw for 'Round 2A' between Strabane and the eleven clubs that had received a first-round bye, with one tie drawn and ten further byes. ). The 41 first-round winners were joined by winner and the ten byes from Round 2A and the 12 clubs of the NIFL Premier Intermediate League in the second round. After two further rounds, with the eight surviving clubs joining the 24 senior NIFL Premiership and NIFL Championship clubs in the fifth round. All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.

First round
Matches were played on 19 August 2017


 * 1st Bangor Old Boys 2–3 Tullyvallen
 * 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys 3–2 Comber Recreation
 * Abbey Villa 0–3 Immaculata
 * Ardstraw 10–2 Richhill
 * Ballymacash Rangers 3–4 Shankill United
 * Ballynahinch United v Rosario YC (Rosario YC received bye)
 * Bangor Amateurs 0–3 Newtowne
 * Barn United 3–8 Rathfriland Rangers
 * Bloomfield 1–3 Craigavon City
 * Bryansburn Rangers 3–1 St. Mary's Youth
 * Coagh United 6–1 Ballymoney United
 * Crewe United 2–3 Drumaness Mills
 * Crumlin Star 9–1 Shorts
 * Crumlin United 3–2 Silverwood
 * Derriaghy Cricket Club 3–1 Bourneview Young Men
 * Dollingstown 1–3 Maiden City
 * Dunloy 3–1 Banbridge Rangers
 * Dunmurry Rec. 4–0 Dromore Amateurs
 * Fivemiletown United 1–4 Islandmagee
 * Glebe Rangers 2–0 Bangor
 * Hanover 8–2 Chimney Corner
 * Killyleagh YC 5–1 Newbuildings United
 * Laurelvale 6–1 Broomhedge Maghaberry
 * Lower Maze 1–2 St. Patrick's Young Men
 * Lurgan Town 3–1 Groomsport
 * Magherafelt Sky Blues v Colin Valley (Colin Valley received bye)
 * Malachians v Downshire Young Men (Downshire Young Men received bye)
 * Markethill Swifts 2–1 Grove United
 * Moneyslane 1–4 Sirocco Works
 * Orangefield Old Boys 3–0 Dunmurry Young Men
 * Oxford United Stars 4–3 Trojans
 * Portaferry Rovers 3–1 Ballynahinch Olympic
 * Rathfern Rangers 4–5 Lisburn Rangers
 * Rosemount Rec 3–1 St. Luke's
 * Royal British Legion 1–2 Dromara Village
 * Saintfield United 2–4 Tandragee Rovers
 * Seagoe 1–12 Larne Tech Old Boys
 * Seapatrick 1–4 Ballynure Old Boys
 * Suffolk 2–3 Dungiven Celtic
 * Valley Rangers 5–0 Oxford Sunnyside
 * Windmill Stars 2–1 St. James' Swifts

Round 2A
Strabane Athletic were originally excluded from the competition, but were reinstated after the first-round draw had been made, necessitating a 'Round 2A' involving Strabane and the eleven clubs that had received first-round byes. One tie drawn was drawn and the following ten teams received further byes: Albert Foundry, Ballywalter Rec., Brantwood, Cookstown Youth, Desertmartin, Mossley, Newcastle, Strabane Athletic, UUJ and Wellington Rec.

Match played on 23 September 2017
 * Ards Rangers 9–0 Iveagh United

Second round
The twelve members of the NIFL Premier Intermediate League join the competition at this stage as well as the first-round winners, and the winners and byes from Round 2A.

Matches were played on 30 September 2017


 * 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys 1–2 UUJ
 * Annagh United 4–2 Markethill Swifts
 * Ardstraw 2–6 Dundela
 * Armagh City 2–0 Coagh United
 * Ballywalter Recreation 6–3 Ballynure Old Boys
 * Bryansburn Rangers 3–4 Albert Foundry
 * Colin Valley 1–4 Valley Rangers
 * Cookstown Youth 6–7 Craigavon City
 * Crumlin Star 5–0 Oxford United Stars
 * Crumlin United 2–0 Donegal Celtic
 * Derriaghy Cricket Club 1–2 Shankill United
 * Downshire Young Men 1–10 Moyola Park
 * Dromara Village 0–1 Banbridge Town
 * Drumaness Mills 0–2 Hanover
 * Dunloy 1–2 Portstewart
 * Dunmurry Rec. 0–7 Tobermore United
 * Glebe Rangers 3–0 Rosemount Recreation
 * Immaculata 2–1 Larne Tech Old Boys
 * Islandmagee 1–2 Ards Rangers
 * Killyleagh YC 2–0 Sirocco Works
 * Laurelvale 5–2 Tullyvallen
 * Maiden City 7–1 Lurgan Town
 * Newcastle 3–1 Strabane Athletic
 * Newington 0–3 Lisburn Distillery
 * Newtowne 4–2 Desertmartin
 * Portaferry Rovers 2–0 Mossley
 * Queen's University 7–2 Dungiven Celtic
 * Rathfriland Rangers 4–1 Orangefield Old Boys
 * Rosario YC 4–0 Brantwood
 * Sport & Leisure Swifts 2–0 Windmill Stars
 * St Patrick's YM 3–2 Wellington Recreation
 * Tandragee Rovers 3–2 Lisburn Rangers

Third round
Matches were played on 4 November 2017


 * Armagh City 1–2 Crumlin Star
 * Ballywalter Recreation 3–2 Ards Rangers
 * Banbridge Town 1–2 Queen's University
 * Craigavon City 1–4 Albert Foundry
 * Crumlin United 2–0 Valley Rangers
 * Glebe Rangers v UUJ (Glebe Rangers received a bye)
 * Hanover 2–3 Shankill United
 * Immaculata 3–1 Brantwood (aet)
 * Killyleagh YC 3–1 Tobermore United
 * Laurelvale 0–5 Moyola Park
 * Newcastle 3–0 Rathfriland Rangers
 * Newtowne 0–2 Lisburn Distillery
 * Portstewart 2–1 Portaferry Rovers
 * Sport & Leisure Swifts 0–2 Dundela
 * St Patrick's Young Men 2–5 Annagh United
 * Tandragee Rovers 1–2 Maiden City (aet)

Fourth round
Matches were played on 2 December 2017


 * Crumlin United 2–4 Immaculata
 * Dundela 5–0 Newcastle
 * Glebe Rangers 2–1 Annagh United
 * Lisburn Distillery 3–1 Albert Foundry
 * Moyola Park 2–0 Ballywalter Recreation
 * Portstewart 1–1 Maiden City (Maiden City won 3–1 on pens)
 * Queen's University 3–1 Killyleagh YC
 * Shankill United 0–4 Crumlin Star

Fifth round
Matches were played on 6 January 2018


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Sixth round
Matches were played on 3 February 2018


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Quarter-finals
''Matches were due to be played on 3 March 2018 but only the Glenavon/Loughgall fixture was completed on this date. The three remaining fixtures were played on 13 March 2018.''


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Semi-finals
''Matches were played on 31 March 2018. Cliftonville played Loughgall at the Oval, and Coleraine played Larne at Ballymena Showgrounds.''


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Final
The final was played on 5 May 2018 at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park.