NIFL Charity Shield

The Northern Ireland Football League Charity Shield is the national association football super cup in Northern Ireland. It has been held on an occasional basis since its inauguration in 1992. Similar to the English FA Community Shield, it pits together the previous campaign's Irish League champions and Irish Cup winners, providing the opening match of the Irish League season. The 2014 edition, the first since 2000, saw 2013–14 NIFL Premiership champions Cliftonville face 2013–14 Irish Cup runners-up Ballymena United. Cup winners Glenavon were unable to take part due to a pre-arranged fixture.[1] Cliftonville defeated Ballymena United 4–2 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after 90 minutes, lifting the Shield for the second time.[2]

NIFL Charity Shield
Founded1992
RegionNorthern Ireland
Number of teams2
Current championsLinfield (2017)
Most successful club(s)Linfield – 4 titles
(3 outright titles + 1 shared)
WebsiteNI Football League

Linfield are the current holders, after they defeated Coleraine 3–1 in the 2017 edition to win the competition for a record fourth time overall, and the first time since winning the final edition of the Shield held before its hiatus in 2000.[3] The match was again forgone in 2018, with the teams involved in European competition.[4]

Sponsorship

McEwan's Lager sponsored the competition between 1992 and 1994, and Wilkinson Sword were sponsors from 1998 until 2000, both of whom also sponsored other competitions in Irish League football. The proceeds from the 2014 and 2015 editions were donated to the Northern Ireland Hospice.[5]

Format

The Shield is held in early August as a single match. In the 1992 and 1993 editions, the trophy was shared between the two competing sides for six months when both matches finished level at full-time. However, the rules were later changed to ensure an outright winner. In the 2014 edition, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner when the match ended level after 90 minutes, without extra time being played.

Matches
Year Date Winner
(number of titles)		 Score Runner-up Venue
1992 8 August Glenavon (1)
Glentoran (1)
(trophy shared)		 1 – 1 Windsor Park, Belfast
1993 10 August Bangor (1)
Linfield (1)
(trophy shared)		 1 – 1
1994 3 August Linfield (2) 2 – 0 Bangor
1998 8 August Cliftonville (1) 1 – 0 Glentoran The Oval, Belfast
1999 8 August Portadown (1) 2 – 1 Glentoran Mourneview Park, Lurgan
2000 5 August Linfield (3) 2 – 0 Glentoran Windsor Park, Belfast
2014 2 August Cliftonville (2) 0 – 0 (4 – 2 pen.)[2] Ballymena United Solitude, Belfast
2015 1 August Glentoran (2) 1 – 0[6] Crusaders
2016 30 July Glenavon (2) 1 – 0[7] Crusaders Mourneview Park, Lurgan
2017 5 August Linfield (4) 3 – 1[3] Coleraine The Oval, Belfast

Performance by club
Team Wins
(Outright Wins / Shared Titles)		 Years (* Title was Shared) Runner-up
Linfield4 (3/1)1993*, 1994, 2000, 2017-
Cliftonville2 (2/0)1998, 2014-
Glentoran2 (1/1)1992*, 20151998, 1999, 2000
Glenavon2 (1/1)1992*, 2016-
Portadown1 (1/0)1999-
Bangor1 (0/1)1993*-
Crusaders--2015, 2016
Bangor--1994
Ballymena United--2014
Coleraine--2017

References
  1. "Cliftonville to play Ballymena in Charity Shield". BBC Sport. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  2. "Cliftonville beat Ballymena in Charity Shield shoot-out". BBC Sport. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  3. "Charity Shield: Linfield defeat Bannsiders in Oval curtain-raiser". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  4. "Charity Shield match scrapped for 2018". BBC Sport. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  5. "NI FOOTBALL LEAGUE CHARITY SHIELD". nifootballleague.com. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  6. "Glentoran beat Crusaders 1-0 in Charity Shield at Solitude". BBC Sport. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  7. "Charity Shield: Ten-man Glenavon defeat Crusaders". BBC Sport. 30 July 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
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