Kirk Cup

The Kirk Cup is the oldest hockey tournament in Ulster and the oldest provincial hockey trophy in Ireland.^[1] It has become a tradition since the 1966-67 season for the final to be played on Boxing Day, a date previously reserved for the Anderson Cup Final. The final attracts the largest crowd of the Ulster hockey season. The cup is named after its donor, Mr. John Kirk, J.P, who was a member of the Antrim club.

In the early years of the competition it was also known as the Ulster Senior Challenge Cup.

The current holder is Annadale.^[2]

Historical format

From the introduction of the Cup in the 1897-98 season until the major re-organisation of the Ulster Senior League for the 1969-70 season, the format was that of a knockout competition. The Cup was competed for towards the end of the season.

From the 1969-70 all the teams in Senior League Section One and Two were split into four groups. The winner of each group would go forward to an open draw for semi-final matches.

From the 2000-01 until the 2008-09 season, the format of the competition was altered slightly. The eight teams in the Ulster Premier Hockey League were drawn into four groups. The top eight teams from Section One were drawn into these groups to create four groups of four teams each. The eight Section One teams were the relegated Premier League team from the previous season and the teams finishing in second to eighth places in the final league standings of the previous season.

Each club played the other teams in their Group once. The winners of each Group proceed to semi-final matches, with the ties decided via an open draw.

The Premier League reverted to ten teams for the 2009-10 season and these teams together with the top six teams in Section One were drawn into four groups of four teams. Each team played the other teams in their group once. The group winners contested the semi-final with the ties decided by an open draw. The two semi-final winners contested the final which is scheduled for Boxing Day. This format was used in 2010-11 too.

Current format

For the start of the 2011-12 season the entry was restricted to the Premier League teams. The ten Premier League teams were drawn in two pools of five teams, with each team playing the other teams in their pool once. The semi-finals saw the winner of one pool playing the runner-up of the other pool, with the winners of the semi-finals going on to contest the final. Since 2015-16, the top sixteen teams in the Ulster Senior League were drawn into four groups of four.

Finals

(records incomplete)

1890s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1897-98	North Staffordshire Regiment	3	2	Antrim	[3]
1898-99	Antrim	3	1	King's Own Liverpool Regiment	[4]

1900s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1899-00	North Down	4	2	Cliftonville	[5]
1900-01	Antrim	3	1	Banbridge	[6]
1901-02	North Down	2	1	Cliftonville	[7]
1902-03	Strabane	1	0	North Down	[8]
1903-04	Cliftonville	1	0	Banbridge
1904-05	Antrim	2	1	Banbridge	after extra time
1905-06	Banbridge	1	0	Malone
1906-07	Antrim	3	1	Downpatrick
1907-08	Malone & North Down			SHARED
1908-09	Banbridge	5	2	Malone

1910s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1909-10	Banbridge	3	0	Malone
1910-11	Banbridge	3	2	Queen's University
1911-12	Cliftonville	2	1	North Down
1912-13	Banbridge	3	1	Queen's University
1913-14	Banbridge	2	0	Queen's University
1914-05	Not played due to World War I
1915-16	Not played due to World War I
1916-17	Not played due to World War I
1917-18	Not played due to World War I
1918-19	Not played due to World War I

1920s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1919-20	Banbridge	4	1	Queen's University
1920-21	North Down	1	0	Banbridge	[9]
1921-22	South Antrim	2	1	Banbridge	[10]
1922-23	Lisnagarvey	3	0	North Down	[11]
1923-24	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Cliftonville	[12]
1924-25	Lisnagarvey	1	0	East Antrim	[13]
1925-26	Banbridge	2	1	Antrim	[14]
1926-27	Banbridge	3	0	East Antrim	[15]
1927-28	Antrim	1	0	East Antrim	[16]
1928-29	North Down	2	1	South Antrim	after extra time[17]

1930s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1929-30	Cliftonville	3	0	Derry YMCA	[18]
1930-31	Cliftonville	4	1	Derry YMCA	[19]
1931-32	South Antrim	2	0	East Antrim	[20]
1932-33	East Antrim	2	0	Banbridge	[21]
1933-34	Lisnagarvey	5	4	Cliftonville	[22]
1934-35	Banbridge	1	0	North Down	[23]
1935-36	North Down	2	0	Wanderers	after extra time[24]
1936-37	North Down	3	1	Lisnagarvey	after extra time[25]
1937-38	Banbridge	3	1	North Down	after extra time[26]
1938-39	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Antrim	[27]

1940s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1939-40	Not Played due to World War II
1940-41	Not Played due to World War II
1941-42	Lisnagarvey	2	1	North Down
1942-43	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Banbridge
1943-44	North Down	3	1	Banbridge	after two periods of extra time[28]
1944-45	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Short & Harland
1945-46	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Wanderers
1946-47	Portrush	1	0	Banbridge	[29]
1947-48	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Belfast YMCA	[30]
1948-49	Portrush	3	1	Lisnagarvey	[31]

1950s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1949-50	Banbridge	2	0	Antrim	[32]
1950-51	Banbridge			Parkview
1951-52
1952-53	Lisnagarvey
1953-54	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Mossley	after extra time[33]
1954-55
1955-56	Parkview & Lisnagarvey			SHARED
1956-57	Banbridge
1957-58	Belfast YMCA			Banbridge
1958-59	Belfast YMCA			Antrim

1960s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1959-60	Belfast YMCA	1	0	Portrush	[34]
1960-61	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Banbridge	[35]
1961-62	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Banbridge	[36]
1962-63	Competition abandoned due to severe winter weather
1963-64	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Antrim	[37]
1964-65	Portrush	4	2	Banbridge	AET - Replay - Game 1: 2-2[38][39]
1965-66	Antrim	1	0	Lisnagarvey	[40]
1966-67	Parkview	2	1	Banbridge	[41]
1967-68	Cliftonville	3	0	Antrim	[42]
1968-69	Cliftonville	1	0	Instonians	[43]

1970s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1969-70	Portrush	3	1	Instonians	[44]
1970-71	Lisnagarvey			Cliftonville	Replay - Game 1: 1-1[45]
1971-72	Antrim & Instonians			SHARED	2nd replay - Game 1: 2-2, Game 2:[46]
1972-73	Lisnagarvey	1	0	Friends School Old Boys	[47]
1973-74	Lisnagarvey	3	0	Mossley	Replay - Game 1: 1-1[48]
1974-75	Instonians	2	1	Lisnagarvey	[49]
1975-76	Instonians	2	1	Cliftonville	[50]
1976-77	Belfast YMCA	2	0	Instonians	[51]
1977-78	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Belfast YMCA	[52]
1978-79	Belfast YMCA	3	0	Antrim	[53]

1980s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1979-80	Lisnagarvey			Instonians	Replay - Game 1: 1-1[54]
1980-81	Instonians	3	1	Banbridge	[55]
1981-82	Lisnagarvey	1	1	Banbridge	Replay - Lisnagarvey won 4-2 on penalty strokes - Game 1: 2-2[56][57]
1982-83	Banbridge	2	1	Belfast YMCA	[58]
1983-84	Mossley	2	0	Lisnagarvey	[59]
1984-85	Belfast YMCA	3	0	Lisnagarvey	[60]
1985-86	Banbridge	2	1	RUC	[61]
1986-87	Banbridge	2	0	Cookstown	Replay - Game 1: 1-1[62]
1987-88	Banbridge	2	1	Mossley	Replay - Game 1: 1-1[63][64]
1988-89	Cookstown	1	0	Mossley	[65]

1990s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1989-90	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Banbridge	[66]
1990-91	Holywood 87	2	1	Lisnagarvey	Replay - Game 1: 2-2[67]
1991-92	Holywood 87	1	0	Lisnagarvey	[68]
1992-93	Holywood 87	2	0	Instonians	[69]
1993-94	Instonians	3	1	Banbridge
1994-95	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Instonians	[70]
1995-96	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Newry	[71]
1996-97	Lisnagarvey	3	2	Instonians	[72]
1997-98	Lisnagarvey	2	0	Annadale	[73]
1998-99	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Cookstown	[74]

2000s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
1999-00	Annadale	1	1	Lisnagarvey	after extra time - Annadale won 3-1 on penalty strokes[75]
2000-01	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Annadale
2001-02	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Instonians
2002-03	Cookstown	2	1	Instonians
2003-04	Annadale	2	1	Banbridge	Annadale won with "Golden Goal" in 7th minute of extra time
2004-05	Instonians	2	2	Lisnagarvey	Instonians won 5-4 on penalty strokes
2005-06	Banbridge	2	1	Annadale	[76]
2006-07	Cookstown	2	1	Lisnagarvey	[77]
2007-08	Annadale	3	2	Lisnagarvey	[78][79]
2008-09	Cookstown	4	3	Lisnagarvey	after extra time[80]

2010s

Year	Winner			Runner-up	Notes
2009-10	Cookstown	2	0	Banbridge	[81]
2010-11	Banbridge	4	2	Cookstown	[82]
2011-12	Lisnagarvey	2	1	Cookstown	[83]
2012-13	Cookstown	3	1	Lisnagarvey	[84]
2013-14	Annadale	1	1	Lisnagarvey	after extra time - Annadale win 4-2 on penalty strokes[2]
2014-15	Banbridge			Cookstown	[85]
2015-16	Instonians	8	2	Mossley	[86]

Sources

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2. "Lisnagarvey pay the penalty against Annadale". 26 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
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85. BBC
86. News Letter, 26 December 2015

External links

• Ulster Branch of Irish Hockey Association