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)

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.

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

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

League of Ireland

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

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

Group 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Northern Ireland Linfield (A) 4 3 0 1 9 6 +3 9 Advanced to final
2 Republic of Ireland Longford Town 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 6
3 Northern Ireland Glentoran 4 1 0 3 6 9 −3 3
Source:
(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 Red card 82'		 (Report)
Glentoran2 – 4Linfield
Lockhart 62'
Holmes 72'		 (Report) McAreavey 5'
Murphy 28'
Ferguson 43'
Mouncey 54'
Referee: Republic of Ireland Ian Stokes

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Republic of Ireland Shelbourne (A) 4 2 1 1 5 4 +1 7 Advanced to final
2 Northern Ireland Portadown 4 1 2 1 5 5 0 5
3 Republic of Ireland Cork City 4 1 1 2 2 3 −1 4
Source:
(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 Red card 85'		 (Report) Crawley Red card 90'
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Northern Ireland David Malcolm
Portadown0 – 1Shelbourne
Feeney Red card 53' (Report) Byrne 4'
Shelbourne1 – 0Cork City
Harris 52' (Report)
Referee: Northern Ireland Mark Courtney
Cork City0 – 1Portadown
McNulty Red card (Report) Hamilton 30'
Hamilton Red card
Referee: Republic of Ireland John Feighery

Final

Shelbourne0 – 2Linfield
Byrne Red card 90+'
Moore Red card 90+'		 (Report) Ferguson 26'
Thompson 37'
Referee: Northern Ireland Mark Courtney
 Winner of 2005 Setanta Sports Cup 
Northern Ireland Linfield
1st title

Goalscorers

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

References

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