1979–80 Irish Cup

1979–80 Irish Cup
Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Defending champions	Cliftonville
Final positions
Champions	Linfield (32nd win)
Runner-up	Crusaders
Tournament statistics
Matches played	22
Goals scored	56 (2.55 per match)
	← 1978–79 1980–81 →

The 1979–80 Irish Cup was the 100th edition of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition. It began on 2 February 1980, and concluded on 26 April 1980 with the final.

The defending champions were Cliftonville, after they had won the cup for the 8th time the previous season, defeating Portadown 3–2 in the 1978–79 final.^[1] However, Portadown gained revenge by knocking the holders out in the first round with a 2–1 win. Linfield won the cup for the 32nd time, defeating Crusaders 2–0 in the final.^[2]

Results

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Bangor	2–0¹	Ballymena United
Cliftonville	1–2	Portadown
Coleraine	8–1	Ballyclare Comrades
Crusaders	1–0	Stranmillis College
Larne	0–2²	Glentoran
Linfield	3–1	Distillery
Queen's University	0–4	Glenavon
RUC	4–0	Ards

¹This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as a 1–1 draw.^[2]
²This tie required two replays, after the first games ended as 1–1 and 0–0 draws.^[2]

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ballymena United	3–2	Portadown
Crusaders	3-0³	Glenavon
Linfield	4–0	Glentoran
RUC	1–0⁴	Coleraine

³This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as a 0–0 draw at Glenavon.^[2]
⁴This tie required two replays, after the first games ended as 1–1 and 0–0 draws.^[2]