President of Ireland's Cup

The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's League of Ireland Premier Division and the FAI Cup, and similarly to the FA Community Shield in England, functions both as a domestic Super cup and a unofficial opener to the football season in Ireland. Because it is organised by the Football Association of Ireland, it is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the FAI President's Cup. However the president in the title refers to the President of Ireland and not the president of the FAI. The FAI has previously organised similar competitions, the Top Four Cup and the FAI Super Cup. A similarly named and formatted competition, the LFA President's Cup was organised by the Leinster Football Association.

President of Ireland's Cup

Organising body	Football Association of Ireland
Founded	2014
Region	Republic of Ireland
Number of teams	2
Current champions	Shamrock Rovers F.C. (2nd title)
Most successful club(s)	Dundalk Cork City (3 titles each)
2024 President of Ireland's Cup

History

All President of Ireland's Cups have been presented by Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, 2011 to present.

The President of Ireland's Cup was introduced in 2014 and the inaugural match featured the 2013 League of Ireland Premier Division champions, St Patrick's Athletic, and the 2013 FAI Cup winners, Sligo Rovers.^[1][2] On 25 February 2014 the cup itself was officially unveiled with a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin hosted by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. The president has previously served as president of Galway United and is a well known football supporter who regularly attends League of Ireland games. Also at the ceremony were Liam Buckley and Ger O'Brien, the manager and captain of St Patrick's Athletic and Ian Baraclough and Gavin Peers, the manager and captain of Sligo Rovers.^[3][4][5] President Higgins subsequently attended the inaugural final at Richmond Park on 2 March 2014,^[6] which was won 1–0 by St Patrick's Athletic with Keith Fahey scoring the winner.^[7]

List of finals

Season	Winner	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref.
2014	St Patrick's Athletic	1–0	Sligo Rovers	Richmond Park	1,330	[7]
2015	Dundalk	2–1	St Patrick's Athletic	Oriel Park	1,800	[8]
2016	Cork City	2–0	Dundalk	Turners Cross	1,850	[9]
2017	Cork City	3–0	Dundalk	Turners Cross	3,140	[10]
2018	Cork City	4–2	Dundalk	Oriel Park	3,000	[11]
2019	Dundalk	2–1	Cork City	Turners Cross	2,777	[12]
2020	—	Cancelled[lower-alpha 1]	Dundalk Shamrock Rovers	Oriel Park	—
2021	Dundalk	1–1 (4–3 pens.)	Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght Stadium	0[lower-alpha 2]	[13]
2022	Shamrock Rovers	1–1 (5–4 pens.)	St Patrick's Athletic	Tallaght Stadium	5,426	[14][15]
2023	Derry City	2–0	Shamrock Rovers	Brandywell Stadium	3,700	[16]
2024	Shamrock Rovers	3–1	St Patrick's Athletic	Tallaght Stadium	8,053	[17]

1. Postponed due to Storm Ciara and then later cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions
2. Behind closed doors due to COVID-19 restrictions

List of winners by club

Club	Titles	Seasons	Runners-up	Seasons
Dundalk	3	2015, 2019, 2021	3	2016, 2017, 2018
Cork City	3	2016, 2017, 2018	1	2019
Shamrock Rovers	2	2022, 2024	2	2021, 2023
St Patrick's Athletic	1	2014	3	2015, 2022, 2024
Derry City	1	2023	0	—
Sligo Rovers	0	—	1	2014

See also

• Top Four Cup
• FAI Super Cup
• LFA President's Cup

References

1. "President's Cup date for St Pat's Athletic and Sligo Rovers". www.rte.ie. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
2. "FAI announces details of inaugural President's Cup". www.thejournal.ie. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
3. "Michael D Higgins Interview: Statesman of the game". www.irishexaminer.com. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
4. "President Michael D Higgins unveils Cup for new competition between SSE Airtricity League and FAI Cup winners". www.rte.ie. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
5. "LFA President's Cup". leagueofirelandhistory.wordpress.com. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
6. "President attends the inaugural President's Cup fixture". www.president.ie. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
7. "Superb Fahey strikes earns silverware for St pat's". www.independent.ie. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
8. "VIDEO: Dundalk win the President's Cup". www.rte.ie. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
9. "Cork claim President's Cup by beating Dundalk". www.rte.ie. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
10. "Cork hit Dundalk for three to retain President's Cup". www.rte.ie. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
11. "Stunning Cork comeback sees them power past Dundalk in Oriel". www.rte.ie. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
12. "Dundalk claim the President's Cup despite O'Connor's goalscoring Cork City return". The 42. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
13. "First blood to Dundalk as they win President's Cup on penalties". The Irish Times. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
14. "Jack Byrne with the decisive spot kick as Rovers secure President's Cup". The Irish Times. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
15. "Memorable return for Jack Byrne as Shamrock Rovers beat Pat's on penalties". the42. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
16. "Derry City get season off to a flyer as Patching and Duffy seal President's Cup with victory over Shamrock Rovers". The Irish Independent. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
17. "President's Cup: Shamrock Rovers too strong for St Pat's in season curtain-raiser". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 February 2024.