The 1987–88 Irish Cup was the 108th edition of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition. It concluded on 30 April 1988 with the final.

1987–88 Irish Cup
Tournament details
Country Northern Ireland
Teams23
Defending championsGlentoran
Final positions
ChampionsGlentoran (14th win)
Runner-upGlenavon
Tournament statistics
Matches played25
Goals scored77 (3.08 per match)

Glentoran were the defending champions after winning their 13th Irish Cup last season by beating Larne 1–0 in the 1987 final.[1] They successfully defended the cup to win it for the fourth year running by beating Glenavon 1–0 in the final. In doing so, they became the first club in history to win four consecutive Irish Cups. To date, the feat has not been achieved again.[2]

Results

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Qualifying round

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Omagh Town 1–2 Brantwood

First preliminary round

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Banbridge Town 2–1 Dungannon Swifts
Brantwood 2–0 Tobermore United
Chimney Corner 2–1 Ballyclare Comrades
Cookstown United 0–3 Dunmurry Rec.

Second preliminary round

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Banbridge Town 4–2 Brantwood
Dunmurry Rec. 6–1 Chimney Corner

First round

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The 14 top flight clubs entered in this round, along with the 2 lower league winners from the second preliminary round.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Ards 4–2 Bangor
Ballymena United 4–0 Dunmurry Rec.
Carrick Rangers 1–2 Glenavon
Cliftonville 0–1 Distillery
Larne 1–1 Linfield
Portadown 3–1 Banbridge Town
Glentoran 3–0 Coleraine
Newry Town 3–0 Crusaders

Replay

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Linfield 1–0 Larne

Quarter-finals

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Ballymena United 0–0 Distillery
Glenavon 2–1 Ards
Glentoran 5–0 Newry Town
Linfield 1–1 Portadown

Replays

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Distillery 0–3 Ballymena United
Portadown 2–0 Linfield

Semi-finals

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Glenavon 2–0 Ballymena United
Glentoran 3–2 Portadown

Final

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Glentoran1 – 0Glenavon
Cleary   89' (pen.) Report

References

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  1. ^ "Northern Ireland Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Northern Ireland 1987/88". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 27 October 2012.