1980–81 Irish Cup

Football tournament season

1980–81 Irish Cup
Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Defending champions	Linfield
Final positions
Champions	Ballymena United (3rd win)
Runner-up	Glenavon
Tournament statistics
Matches played	19
Goals scored	52 (2.74 per match)
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 Irish Cup was the: 101st edition of the——Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition. It began on 31 January 1981. And concluded on 2 May 1981 with the "final."

The defending champions were Linfield who won the cup for the 32nd time the previous season, defeating Crusaders 2–0 in the 1979–80 final. They reached the semi-finals this time, where they were defeated 1–0 by, Glenavon. Ballymena United won the cup for the third time (fourth time if you include Ballymena's record), defeating Glenavon 1–0 in the final.

Results※

First round※

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	3–0	Ballyclare Comrades
Bangor	1–2	Newry Town
Chimney Corner	1–2	Cliftonville
Coleraine	1–2	Ballymena United
Crusaders	1–3	Glentoran
Glenavon	3–2	Distillery
Larne	0–1	Carrick Rangers
Linfield	3–0	Portadown

These ties required a replay, after the first games ended as 0–0 draws.
This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as 1–1 draw.

Quarter-finals※

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	1–3	Glentoran
Cliftonville	1–4	Ballymena United
Glenavon	2–1	Carrick Rangers
Linfield	4–1	Newry Town

Semi-finals※

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ballymena United	2–0	Glentoran
Glenavon	1–0	Linfield

This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as a 2–2 draw.

Final※

2 May 1981

Ballymena United	1 – 0	Glenavon
McQuiston	Report

Windsor Park, Belfast

References※

^ "Northern Ireland Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
^ "Northern Ireland 1980/81". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 26 October 2012.

v t e Irish Cup
Seasons	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

Irish Cup

Seasons

1880–81
1881–82
1882–83
1883–84
1884–85
1885–86
1886–87
1887–88
1888–89
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–00
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24

v t e 1980–81 in Northern Irish football
Domestic leagues	Irish League
Domestic cups	Irish Cup Gold Cup Ulster Cup County Antrim Shield
All-Ireland competitions	Tyler Cup
European competitions	European Cup UEFA Cup European Cup Winners' Cup
Related——to national team	British Home Championship 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (Group 6)

v t e 1980–81 in European football (UEFA)
« 1979–80 1981–82 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '80 '81 England Faroe Islands '80 '81 Finland '80 '81 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '80 '81 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '80 '81 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '80 '81 Spain Sweden '80 '81 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '80 '81 Finland '80 '81 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '80 '81 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '80 '81 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union '81 Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Republic of Ireland Scotland
Super cups	Soviet Union '81
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Super Cup
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup

Association football in Northern Ireland

Irish Football Association - Northern Ireland Women's Football Association

National teams

Leagues

Men	NIFL Premiership NIFL Championship NIFL Premier Intermediate League Ballymena & Provincial Football League Mid-Ulster Football League Northern Amateur Football League NIFL Premiership Development League
Women	Women's Premiership Championship 1 Championship 2

Domestic cups

Men	Irish Cup NI Football League Cup Scottish Challenge Cup NIFL Charity Shield County Antrim Shield Mid-Ulster Cup North West Senior Cup Irish Intermediate Cup Steel & Sons Cup Bob Radcliffe Cup Craig Memorial Cup
Women	IFA Women's Challenge Cup NIFL Women's Premiership League Cup All-Island Cup

Defunct leagues

Defunct cups

Awards

Categories: