Irish News Cup
Introduction The '''Irish News Cup''' was a "north-south" association football competition in Ireland involving teams from the Irish League and League of Ireland mostly located in the north-west of the island. It is thus not counted among the major all-Ireland cup tournaments, since neither League champions nor Cup winners were involved. (Derry City did win the League of Ireland title in 1996-97). It was sponsored by the Irish News and also referred to as the '''Irish News North West Cup'''. It lasted four seasons.
List of finals SeasonWinner(number of titles)ScoreRunner-upVenue1995–96 '''Coleraine''' (1)'''4 – 1''' '''Omagh Town'''St Julian's Road, Omagh'''8 – 1 (12 – 2 agg. )'''The Showgrounds, Coleraine1996–97 '''Derry City''' (1)'''0 – 3''' '''Sligo Rovers'''The Showgrounds, Sligo'''5 – 1 (5 – 4 agg. )'''Brandywell Stadium, Derry1997–98 '''Omagh Town''' (1)'''1 – 1''' '''Ballymena United'''St Julian's Road, Omagh'''1 – 0 (2 – 1 agg. )'''The Showgrounds, Ballymena1998–99 '''Finn Harps''' (1)'''2 – 0''' '''Ballymena United'''Finn Park, Ballybofey
References
External links *  Irish Football Club Project Archive on All-Ireland Competitions*  Irish League Archive - Irish News Cup
Sources *M. Brodie (ed. ), ''Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1996/97''*M. Brodie (ed. ), ''Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1997/98''*M. Brodie (ed. ), ''Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1998/99''*M. Brodie (ed. ), ''Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1999/2000''* Ballymena United Football Club