Sixes Tournament

The "Sixes" format emerged in the late-sixties when Scottish and English clubs took part in an annual indoor tournament. It re-emerged in Northern Ireland when the Irish League held a six-a-side competition at Dundonald Ice-Bowl. The first two editions were sponsored by Guinness, with the remainder sponsored by McEwan's Lager. The format remains popular in the form of Masters Football.

Seasons Winners....... Score Runners-Up.....Top Scorers
1989/90 Linfield....... 2-2 Newry Town..... .6 Ralph (Newry)
....... ............... 4-3 pens
1990/91 Carrick Rangers 4-3 Linfield....... 10 Knell (Linfield)
1991/92 Ards........... 3-0 Omagh Town..... .6 Campbell (Ards)
1992/93 Crusaders...... 4-1 Newry Town..... .8 McCrae (Crusaders)
1993/94 Omagh Town..... 2-2 Glenavon....... .4 Patton (Omagh)/Araujo (Glenavon)
....... ............... 1-0 pens
1994/95 Cliftonville... 3-2 Ballyclare Com. .5 McCrae (Larne)/Sliney (Cliftonville)

Summary............ W F
Linfield........... 1 1
Omagh Town......... 1 1
Carrick Rangers.... 1 0
Ards............... 1 0
Crusaders.......... 1 0
Cliftonville....... 1 0
Newry Town......... 0 2
Glenavon........... 0 1
Ballyclare Comrades 0 1
................... 6 6

Ulster Cup

The Ulster Cup was held for fifty editions, primarily for members of the Irish League, but often involving intermediate clubs to "make up the numbers". The format was varied, from a straight league format to group stages with various degress of knock-out rounds following. It was removed from the the calender in the late-1990s, initially being limited to First Division clubs before disappearing altogether.

Season. Winners..... Score Runners-Up
1948/49 Linfield.... 3 - 0 Ards
1949/50 Larne....... 2 - 1 Ballymena U.
1950/51 Glentoran... 2 - 1 Linfield
1951/52 ,,Not held (one-off Festival of Britain Cup played instead)
1952/53 Glentoran... 3 - 0 Distillery
1953/54 Crusaders... 2 - 1 Linfield
1954/55 Glenavon.... 3 - 1 Coleraine
1955/56 Linfield.... 5 - 1 Coleraine
1956/57 Linfield.... League
1957/58 Distillery.. 1 - 1 Glentoran
..replay ........... 4 - 1
1958/59 Glenavon.... 2 - 0 Crusaders
1959/60 Linfield.... 1 - 1 Crusaders
..replay ........... 4 - 1
1960/61 Ballymena U. 3 - 1 Glenavon
1961/62 Linfield.... 2 - 0 Glentoran
1962/63 Glenavon.... 1 - 0 Coleraine
1963/64 Crusaders... 2 - 2 Glenavon
..replay ........... 1 - 0
1964/65 Linfield.... 1 - 0 Glentoran
1965/66 Coleraine... League
1966/67 Glentoran... League
1967/68 Linfield.... League
1968/69 Coleraine... League
1969/70 Coleraine... League
1970/71 Linfield.... League
1971/72 Linfield.... League
1972/73 Coleraine... League
1973/74 Ards........ League
1974/75 Linfield.... League
1975/76 Coleraine... League
1976/77 Glentoran... League
1977/78 Linfield.... League
1978/79 Linfield.... League
1979/80 Linfield.... League
1980/81 Ballymena U. League
1981/82 Glentoran... League
1982/83 Glentoran... League
1983/84 Glentoran... 5 - 2 Coleraine... aet
1984/85 Linfield.... 2 - 2 Larne....... aet 3-2 pens
1985/86 Coleraine... 5 - 0 Portadown... aet
1986/87 Coleraine... 1 - 0 Linfield
1987/88 Larne....... 2 - 1 Coleraine
1988/89 Glentoran... 5 - 2 Larne
1989/90 Glentoran... 3 - 1 Glenavon
1990/91 Portadown... 1 - 1 Glenavon
..replay ........... 1 - 1 ............ aet 3-2 pens
1991/92 Bangor...... 3 - 1 Crusaders
1992/93 Linfield.... 2 - 0 Ards
1993/94 Crusaders... 1 - 0 Bangor
1994/95 Bangor...... 3 - 1 Crusaders
1995/96 Portadown... 2 - 2 Linfield.... aet 5-3 pens
1996/97 Coleraine... 1 - 1 Crusaders... aet 4-3 pens
1997/98 Ballyclare C League For Division One Clubs only
1998/99 Distillery.. League For Division One Clubs only
2002/03 Dungannon S. League For Division One Clubs only

................... W . F
Linfield.......... 15 . 4
Glentoran.......... 9 . 3
Coleraine.......... 8 . 5
Glenavon........... 3 . 4
Distillery......... 2 . 2
Ballymena United... 2 . 1
Larne.............. 2 . 2
Crusaders.......... 3 . 5
Bangor............. 2 . 1
Portadown.......... 2 . 1
Ards............... 1 . 3
Ballyclare Comrades 1 . 0
Dungannon Swifts .. 1 ..0
.................. 50 . 31

Festival of Britain Cup
The Festival of Britain was organised in 1951 as a spur to regeneration after the Second World War. To commemorate the event the Ulster Cup was replaced by a one-off Festival of Britain Cup. Played between August 1951 and May 1952 it began with four three-team groups, followed by semi-finals then the final.

1951/52 Ballymena U. 3-0 Crusaders

Irish FA Charity Shield

The IFA Charity Shield was played on an occasional basis through the 1990s and early-2000s on the same basis as the English version. Held at the beginning of the season it pitted together the previous campiagn's Irish League and Irish Cup winners. To some extent it is seen as a continuation of the Belfast Charity Cup, held from 1883/84-1940/41.

Sponsored by two mainstays of the Irish League; McEwan's Lager (1992-1994) and Wilkinson Sword (1998-2000). The last edition, in 2000, was seriously devalued as it was played 40 minutes each way to facilitate the day's "main event" - the Belfast Carlsberg Challenge match between Liverpool and Benfica.

1992 Glentoran... 1-1 Glenavon.... Windsor Park, Belfast

................shared

1993 Bangor...... 1-1 Linfield.... Windsor Park, Belfast

................shared

1994 Linfield.... 2-0 Bangor...... Windsor Park, Belfast

----

1998 Cliftonville 1-0 Glentoran... Solitude, Belfast

1999 Portadown... 2-1 Glentoran... Mourneview Park, Lurgan

2000 Linfield.... 2-0 Glentoran... Windsor Park, Belfast

Summary:
.......... Won Share Lost

Linfield.... 2 - 1 - 0

Cliftonville 1 - 0 - 0

Portadown... 1 - 0 - 0

Glentoran... 0 - 1 - 3

Bangor...... 0 - 1 - 1

Glenavon.... 0 - 1 - 0

Top Goalscorers: (1 each)

Mathieson (Glentoran) 1992

Quigley (Glenavon) 1992

Brown (Bangor) 1993

Anderson (Linfield) 1993

Beatty (Linfield) 1994

Fenlon (Linfield) 1994

McCann (Cliftonville) 1998

Arkins (Portadown) 1999

Millar (Portadown) 1999

Elliott (Glentoran) 1999

Ferguson (Linfield) 2000

Morgan (Linfield) 2000

Among the chartities to benefit from the Charity Shield were:

SENSE

LIPID (Royal Victoria Hospital heart disorder research fund)
Royal National Institute for the BlinD
Royal National Institute for the Deaf

NI Hospice

Daisyhill Cancer Appeal

Down Syndrome Association

The Oasis

Crossroads

Chest, Heart & Stroke Foundation