The 2005 Setanta Cup was the first edition of the Setanta Sports Cup, a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. It was inaugurated as a cross-border competition between clubs from the League of Ireland in the Republic of Ireland and the Irish League in Northern Ireland.

2005 Setanta Cup
Tournament details
Country Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland
Teams6
Final positions
ChampionsLinfield (1st title)
Runner-upShelbourne
Tournament statistics
Matches played13
Goals scored33 (2.54 per match)
2006 →

The cup is sponsored by Setanta Sports; the Irish sports television network. The competition was launched with Setanta providing support for prize money (350,000) and sponsorship (€1.6 million over 4 years).

For this season the cup was simply known as the Setanta Cup before being renamed the Setanta Sports Cup from 2006 onwards.

Glentoran beat Longford Town 2–1 in the first ever game of the competition on 15 March 2005. The first final saw Belfast side Linfield defeat Dublin's Shelbourne 2–0 at Tolka Park in Dublin on 21 May 2005 to collect the winner's prize of 150,000.[1]

Format

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The teams would be split into two groups of 3 teams and play each other twice, once at home and once away. The winners of each group would play in a single game final, to be held in Tolka Park if at least one team from the Republic of Ireland was involved. If the final was played between two teams from Northern Ireland, the final would be held at Windsor Park.

Qualification

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League of Ireland

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Shelbourne qualified by winning the 2004 League of Ireland Premier Division title. Longford Town qualified by winning the 2004 FAI Cup Final. Cork City took the third spot by finishing second in the 2004 League of Ireland Premier Division.

Irish League

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Linfield qualified by winning the 2003–04 Irish Premier League. Glentoran qualified by winning the 2003–04 Irish Cup. The third spot went to Portadown for finishing second in the 2003–04 Irish Premier League.

Following a draw (in which league winners were kept apart), the teams were placed as follows;

  • Group 1; Linfield, Longford Town, Glentoran
  • Group 2; Shelbourne, Portadown, Cork City

Group stage

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Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Linfield (A) 4 3 0 1 9 6 +3 9 Advanced to final
2   Longford Town 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 6
3   Glentoran 4 1 0 3 6 9 −3 3
Source: [citation needed]
(A) Advance to a further round
Glentoran2 – 1Longford Town
Halliday   48'
Parkhouse   65'
(Report) Keegan   83'


Linfield3 – 2Glentoran
Larmour   11'
King   35'
Simpson o.g.   58'
(Report) Halliday   47'
Melaugh   85'


Linfield1 – 0Longford Town
Thompson   26'
McCann   82'
(Report)

Glentoran2 – 4Linfield
Lockhart   62'
Holmes   72'
(Report) McAreavey   5'
Murphy   28'
Ferguson   43'
Mouncey   54'
Referee:   Ian Stokes

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Shelbourne (A) 4 2 1 1 5 4 +1 7 Advanced to final
2   Portadown 4 1 2 1 5 5 0 5
3   Cork City 4 1 1 2 2 3 −1 4
Source: [citation needed]
(A) Advance to a further round
Shelbourne3 – 3Portadown
Baker   40',   67'
Byrne   44'
(Report) Hamilton   49',   59'
Boyle   83'

Cork City1 – 0Shelbourne
Behan   59'
Gamble   85'
(Report) Crawley   90'
Attendance: 4,000
Referee:   David Malcolm

Portadown1 – 1Cork City
Kelly   77' (Report) Doyle   64'

Portadown0 – 1Shelbourne
Feeney   53' (Report) Byrne   4'

Shelbourne1 – 0Cork City
Harris   52' (Report)
Referee:   Mark Courtney

Cork City0 – 1Portadown
McNulty   (Report) Hamilton   30'
Hamilton  
Referee:   John Feighery

Final

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Shelbourne0 – 2Linfield
Byrne   90+'
Moore   90+'
(Report) Ferguson   26'
Thompson   37'
Referee:   Mark Courtney


 Winner of 2005 Setanta Sports Cup 
  Linfield
1st title

Goalscorers

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3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
  •   Philip Simpson (Glentoran)

References

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  1. ^ "All-Ireland Cross-Border Cup Competitions". RSSSF.
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