1987–88 Irish Cup

1987–88 Irish Cup

Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Champions	Glentoran (14th win)
Runners-up	Glenavon
Matches played	18
Goals scored	50 (2.78 per match)
← 1986–87 1988–89 →

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

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]

Qualifying[]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Omagh Town	1–2	Brantwood

First preliminary round[]

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[]

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

First round[]

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[]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Linfield	1–0	Larne

Quarter-finals[]

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

Replays[]

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

Semi-finals[]

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

Final[]

References[]