2003–04 Irish League Cup

The 2003–04 Irish League Cup (known as the CIS Insurance Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th edition of Northern Ireland's secondary football knock-out cup competition. It concluded on 11 November 2003 with the final.

2003–04 Irish League Cup
CIS Insurance Cup
Country Northern Ireland
Teams16
ChampionsCliftonville (1st win)
Runners-upLarne
Matches played54
Goals scored159 (2.94 per match)

Glentoran were the defending champions after their fourth League Cup win last season; a 2–0 victory over Linfield in the previous final. This season the Glens reached the semi-finals but were later disqualified from the competition for fielding an ineligible player in an earlier match. As a result, Larne were given a walkover into the final where they were defeated on penalties by Cliftonville, who won the Cup for the first time. This was Cliftonville's second appearance in the final, and first since the 1994–95 final. It was also the first final in eight years not to feature either Linfield or Glentoran.[1][2]

As a result of a restructuring of the league system, the number of clubs eligible to take part in the competition this season was reduced to 16. The 16 clubs taking part were divided into four groups of four clubs. The clubs in each group played each other at home and away. The top two clubs from each group then advanced to the quarter-finals where they played a single knock-out tie against another quarter-finalist. The semi-finals were played in the same format with the two winners of the ties advancing to the single match final.

Group stage

Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts GLT CLI OMA DUN
Glentoran 6 6 0 0 18 1 +17 18 2–0 3–1 8–0
Cliftonville 6 2 0 4 5 6 −1 6 0–1 0–1 0–1
Omagh Town 6 2 0 4 5 8 −3 6 0–2 1–2 0–1
Dungannon Swifts 6 2 0 4 2 15 −13 6 0–2 0–3 0–2
Source: rsssf.com

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts POR INS GLA BYM
Portadown 6 4 2 0 13 5 +8 14 0–0 1–0 3–1
Institute 6 3 1 2 11 9 +2 10 2–4 0–2 3–2
Glenavon 6 2 1 3 7 8 −1 7 2–2 0–3 0–1
Ballymena United 6 1 0 5 6 15 −9 3 0–3 1–3 1–3
Source: rsssf.com

Group C
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts COL CRU ARD LIM
Coleraine 6 4 1 1 16 7 +9 13 2–4 3–1 4–1
Crusaders 6 3 2 1 8 4 +4 11 0–0 0–0 1–0
Ards 6 3 1 2 7 9 −2 10 1–4 1–0 2–0
Limavady United 6 0 0 6 3 14 −11 0 0–3 1–3 1–3
Source: rsssf.com

Group D
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts LIN LRN LIS NEW
Linfield 6 6 0 0 17 4 +13 18 5–2 1–0 3–0
Larne 6 4 0 2 9 7 +2 12 0–1 2–0 2–0
Lisburn Distillery 6 1 0 5 6 12 −6 3 1–3 1–2 2–1
Newry Town 6 1 0 5 5 14 −9 3 1–4 0–1 3–2
Source: rsssf.com

Quarter-finals
Team 1  Score  Team 2
Coleraine 2–4 Larne
Glentoran 6–1 Institute
Linfield 0–1 Crusaders
Portadown 0–3 Cliftonville

Semi-finals
Team 1  Score  Team 2
Glentoran w/o Larne1
Cliftonville 1–1 (4–1 p) Crusaders

1 Glentoran were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. Larne received a walkover into the final.

Final
Cliftonville1 – 1 (a.e.t.)Larne
Mulvenna  79' Report Delaney  11'
Penalties
5 – 4

References
  1. "Northern Ireland - List of League Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  2. "Northern Ireland League Cup 2003/04". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
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