2013–14 Northern Ireland Football League Cup

Northern Ireland Football League Cup 2013–14 WASP Solutions League Cup Northern Ireland 42 Cliftonville (3rd win) Crusaders 41 154 2012–13 2014–15 The 2013–14 Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the WASP Solutions League Cup in the final for sponsorship purposes) was the 28th edition of the Northern Ireland Football League Cup, Northern Ireland's secondary football knockout cup competition, and the first season under the control of the Northern Ireland Football League. It was contested by the 12 members of the NIFL Premiership and the 30 members of the NIFL Championship. The competition began on 13 August 2013 and ended on 25 January 2014 with the final. The competition was without a principal sponsor up until the final, as Irn Bru ended their sponsorship following the conclusion of the 2012–13 competition. WASP Solutions became the Cup's new sponsor in January 2014.http://nifootballleague.com/league-cup/news/item/ni-football-league-cup-sponsorship-announcement NI FOOTBALL LEAGUE CUP SPONSORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT 20 January 2014 nifootballleague.com 21 January 2014 Cliftonville were the defending champions after defeating Crusaders 4–0 in the 2012–13 final to become the sixth different winner of the cup in six seasons.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/21200615 Cliftonville beat Crusaders 4-0 in League Cup final 26 January 2013 BBC Sport 26 January 2013 Newington made their debut in the competition this season, following their promotion to the NIFL Championship for the first time in the club's history. In a repeat of the previous season, Cliftonville and Crusaders met in the final once again, which was played at Solitude for the first time. Cliftonville retained the trophy to lift it for the third time by winning 3–2 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time. They became the first club to retain the trophy since Linfield won three consecutive cups in 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/25884029 League Cup final: Cliftonville beat Crusaders in shoot-out 25 January 2014 BBC Sport 25 January 2014 Format The competition was played in a straight knockout format and was open to all members of the NIFL Premiership and both divisions of the NIFL Championship. The top 16 ranked clubs from last season received byes into the second round, which included the 12 members of the 2012–13 IFA Premiership and the top four ranked clubs from the 2012–13 IFA Championship 1. Of the remaining 26 Championship clubs, 20 entered the competition in the first round, with the other 6 given byes to the second round. The 6 clubs to receive byes were randomly drawn. Replays were not used in the competition - all matches used extra time and penalties to determine the winner if necessary. RoundDraw dateFirst match dateFixturesClubs First round 26 July 2013 13 August 2013 10 42 → 32 Second round 12 August 2013 26 August 2013 16 32 → 16 Third round 27 August 2013 8 October 2013 8 16 → 8 Quarter-finals 9 October 2013 12 November 2013 4 8 → 4 Semi-finals 16 November 2013 17 December 2013 2 4 → 2 Final N/A 25 January 2014 1 2 → 1 First round The draw for the first round was made on 26 July 2013. The games were played on 13 August 2013. The first round draw was made randomly and included 20 of the 30 clubs from the NIFL Championship. The top 16 ranked clubs from last season received byes into the second round, which included the 12 members of the 2012–13 IFA Premiership and the top four ranked clubs from the 2012–13 IFA Championship 1, along with six other randomly chosen Championship clubs, namely: Ballymoney United, Bangor, Chimney Corner, Glebe Rangers, Newington and PSNI.http://www.ifapremiership.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=886&catid=12&Itemid=12 Northern Ireland League Cup - Round 1 draw 26 July 2013 niflpremiership.com 3 August 2013 |- |colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;"|13 August 2013 Ballyclare Comrades 2–1 Annagh United Banbridge Town 4–0 Queen's University Dergview 0–3 Coagh United Harland & Wolff Welders 1–0 Armagh City Killymoon Rangers 3–3 (aet)(2–3 p) Lurgan Celtic Knockbreda 1–0 Carrick Rangers Larne 5–3 Portstewart Limavady United 1–1 (aet)(1–3 p) Sport & Leisure Swifts Moyola Park 2–3 Loughgall Tobermore United 0–1 (aet) Wakehurst |} Second round The second round draw was made on 12 August 2013, with the games played on 26 August 2013. The top 16 ranked clubs from last season entered the competition at this stage, along with the six other Championship clubs that received byes and the 10 winners from the first round. The second round draw was seeded, so that the top 16 clubs from last season avoided each other.http://premiership.nifootballleague.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=898&catid=12&Itemid=12 Northern Ireland League Cup - Round 2 draw 12 August 2013 nifootballleague.com 13 August 2013 https://archive.today/20130813100803/http://premiership.nifootballleague.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=898&catid=12&Itemid=12 13 August 2013 dead dmy-all |- |colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;"|26 August 2013 Ballinamallard United 3–0 Banbridge Town Ballyclare Comrades 0–2 Glentoran Ballymena United 2–2 (aet)(5–3 p) Ballymoney United Chimney Corner 1–8 Dundela Cliftonville 3–0 Harland & Wolff Welders Coagh United 1–3 Lisburn Distillery Coleraine 2–1 (aet) Loughgall Donegal Celtic 1–2 Lurgan Celtic Glenavon 6–0 PSNI Institute 2–0 Glebe Rangers Larne 0–1 Dungannon Swifts Linfield 2–0 Knockbreda Newington 1–3 Crusaders Portadown 4–0 Sport & Leisure Swifts Wakehurst 0–5 Ards Warrenpoint Town 2–3 Bangor |} Third round The third round draw was made on 17 August 2013, with the games played on 8 and 15 October 2013. Lurgan Celtic were the lowest ranked club to reach this round, as the only representative from Championship 2.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/23854098 Glentoran to face Linfield in League Cup third round 27 August 2013 BBC Sport 27 August 2013 |- |colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;"|8 October 2013 Ballymena United 3–0 Ballinamallard United Cliftonville 5–0 Dundela Crusaders 4–1 (aet) Coleraine Dungannon Swifts 1–1 (aet)(3–4 p) Ards Glenavon 4–1 Institute Glentoran 0–0 (aet)(2–4 p) Linfield Portadown 6–0 Lisburn Distillery |- |colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;"|15 October 2013 Bangor 8–1 Lurgan Celtic |} Quarter-finals The quarter-final draw was made on 9 October 2013, with the matches played on 12 November 2013. Bangor were the lowest ranked club to reach this round, as the only club from outside the NIFL Premiership.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/24467453 Linfield draw Crusaders in League Cup quarter-finals 9 October 2013 BBC Sport 9 October 2013 12 November 2013 19:45 GMT Ballymena United 4 – 0 Report Portadown Cushley 7Surgenor 58Thompson 86Teggart 90 pen. Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena 12 November 2013 19:45 GMT Cliftonville 4 – 0 Report Bangor Walsh 7 og.Boyce 36Gormley 72 86 Solitude, Belfast 12 November 2013 19:45 GMT Glenavon 3 – 3 yes Report Ards Marshall 57 86Patton 77 Faulkner 19 22Roy 25 4 – 5 Mourneview Park, Glenavon 12 November 2013 19:45 GMT Linfield 1 – 1 yes Report Crusaders McCaul 89 pen. Caddell 62 9 – 10 Windsor Park, Belfast Semi-finals The semi-final draw was made on 16 November 2013, with the matches played on 17 December 2013. 17 December 2013 19:45 GMT Ards 0 – 2 Report Cliftonville Donnelly 26Gormley 45 Clandeboye Park, Bangor 17 December 2013 19:45 GMT Crusaders 4 – 3 yes Report Ballymena United Caddell 28 66McCutcheon 70 pen.Owens 97 Cushley 24 27 45 Seaview, Belfast Final The final was played on 25 January 2014 at Solitude, Belfast. 25 January 2014 17:30 GMT Cliftonville 0 – 0 yes 3 – 2 McMullan Gormley O'Carroll Caldwell Coates McCutcheon Hanley Owens McClean Report Crusaders Solitude, Belfast See also 2013–14 NIFL Premiership 2013–14 NIFL Championship 2013–14 Irish Cup External links https://archive.today/20130628042845/http://www.niflpremiership.com/ NIFL Premiership official site el References Category:Irish League Cup seasons League Cup