1981–82 Irish Cup

The 1981–82 Irish Cup was the 102nd edition of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition. It began on 30 January 1982, and concluded on 24 April 1982 with the final.

1981–82 Irish Cup

Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Defending champions	Ballymena United
Final positions
Champions	Linfield (33rd title)
Runners-up	Coleraine
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	54 (2.7 per match)
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

Ballymena United were the defending champions, after winning the cup for the 4th time with a 1–0 win over Glenavon in the 1980–81 final.^[1] This season, they went out in the first round after a 3–2 loss to Distillery. Linfield won their 33rd Irish Cup, defeating Coleraine 2–1 in the final.^[2]

Results

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	1–01	Chimney Corner
Cliftonville	1–0	Glentoran
Coleraine	2–1	Institute
Crusaders	1–22	Portadown
Distillery	3–2	Ballymena United
Glenavon	1–2	Limavady United
Larne	2–4	RUC
Linfield	5–0	Bangor

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

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Cliftonville	3–2	RUC
Distillery	0–23	Ards
Limavady United	0–2	Coleraine
Portadown	0–1	Linfield

³This tie required two replays, after the first games ended as 2–2 and 0–0 draws.^[2]

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	1–2	Linfield
Cliftonville	0–1	Coleraine

Final

24 April 1982

Linfield	2 – 1	Coleraine
McKeown Murray (pen.)	Report	Healy

The Oval, Belfast