1978–79 Irish Cup

The 1978–79 Irish Cup was the 99th edition of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition.

1978–79 Irish Cup

Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Defending champions	Linfield
Final positions
Champions	Cliftonville (8th win)
Runner-up	Portadown
Tournament statistics
Matches played	17
Goals scored	68 (4 per match)

The defending champions were Linfield, who defeated Ballymena United 3–1 in the 1977–78 final. However, they were knocked out by eventual winners Cliftonville in the first round. Cliftonville went on to win the cup for the 8th time, defeating Portadown 3–2 in the final. The 1979 victory represented their first cup success in 70 years; this remains a record for the longest gap between Irish Cup wins. This was Cliftonville's last Irish Cup success until the club won the Irish Cup for the first time in 45 years in 2024, though they had reached the final five times since this win; in 1997, 1999, 2009, 2013 and 2018. They lost the 1997, 2009, 2013 and 2018 finals, and were disqualified before the final was played in 1999 when it was discovered that they had fielded an ineligible player in the earlier rounds.

Results

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	1–3	Portadown
Ballymena United	2–1	Crusaders
Coleraine	5–2	Downpatrick Rec.
Distillery	0–2	Banbridge Town
Glenavon	4–1	Bangor
Larne	3–2	Glentoran
Linfield	3–4	Cliftonville
Omagh Town	2–6	RUC

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Coleraine	2–3	Cliftonville
Glenavon	3–2	Banbridge Town
Portadown	2–11	Ballymena United
RUC	0–1	Larne

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

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Cliftonville	1–02	Larne
Portadown	2–1	Glenavon

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

Final

28 April 1979

Cliftonville	3 – 2	Portadown
Platt 32' Adair 46' Bell 89'	Report	Campbell 2' Alexander 77'

Windsor Park, Belfast