Tyler Cup
All-Ireland football tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tyler Cup, also called the Tyler All-Ireland Cup,[1] was an association football competition played between clubs in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The competition ran from 1978 to 1980, and was similar to the earlier Blaxnit Cup, North-South Cup, Dublin and Belfast Intercity Cup, or the Setanta Sports Cup inaugurated in the 2000s.[2]
Republic of Ireland
| Organiser(s) | Irish Football Association Football Association of Ireland |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 |
| Abolished | 1980 |
| Region | Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland |
| Most championships | Shamrock Rovers Athlone Town Linfield (1 title each) |
Format
The tournament began late in the 1977–78 season, before skipping a year and returning for the 1979–80 season. It ran again, for the last time, at the beginning of the 1980–81 season and was sponsored by a footwear company. The format for the first competition involved four teams from each country taking part in a knock-out first round, then semi-finals and a final. All ties were decided by a single match and the tournament was won by Shamrock Rovers.[3][4] For the second and third seasons eight teams from each country took part. Again it was a knock-out with a first round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The final was over two legs but the preceding matches were all single ties. These two editions were won by Athlone Town[5][6][7][8] and Linfield[9][10][11] respectively.
List of finals
| Season | Winner (number of titles) |
Score | Runner-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 |  Shamrock Rovers (1) |
1 – 0 | Finn Harps |
Glenmalure Park, Dublin |
| 1978–79 | Tournament not held | |||
| 1979–80 | Athlone Town (1) |
2 – 0 | Drogheda United |
St Mel's Park, Athlone |
| 2 – 1 (3 – 2 agg.) | United Park, Drogheda | |||
| 1980–81 |  Linfield (1) |
0 – 0 | Athlone Town |
Windsor Park, Belfast |
| 2 – 1 (2 – 1 agg.) | St Mel's Park, Athlone | |||