Cliftonville vs Linfield 04/05/24

Welcome to the Clearer Water Irish Cup Final 2024. What a match we have in store for us today. Cliftonville v Linfield in the final for the first time in 90 years. CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S MESSAGE

All tickets were effectively sold out in just over an hour, and it’s the biggest expected crowd for the final since 1979. 1979. Now there’s a date/year. 45 years ago, what else happened then? Of course, as we’ve all been reminded countless times lately, that was the last time the Irish Cup found its way to Solitude. Will today be the day that Jim Magilton breaks that 45-year curse? Or will David Healy steer Linfield to a 45th Irish Cup win? It seems the number 45 has a part to play today either way. Isn’t it fabulous to have two storied legends of our senior men’s international team bringing their teams to the final showdown? And each team backed by thousands of supporters who will bring the colour and noise to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park today. Often, of course, cup competitions throw up unexpected results and heartwarming stories. Many years ago now, in 1955, Dundela triumphed in this very competition, and Carrick Rangers also took the cup home as a side from outside the top division back in 1976. This year, however, the cup has played out to form, with the four top clubs in the Sports Direct NIFL Premiership at the time reaching the semi-finals, and of course two of them are here today having beaten Larne and Glentoran at that penultimate stage. Mentioning Larne, many congratulations to them on retaining the Sports Direct Premiership title after a thrilling season which came down to the wire. Portadown are back in the big time after winning the Playr-Fit Championship, and well done also to Limavady United who have topped the Playr-Fit Premier Intermediate League.

We are looking forward to a big summer here in Northern Ireland as we host the UEFA U19 Euros at Inver Park, Seaview and here at the National Football Stadium. Gareth McAuley will have his squad prepared and ready to take on Italy, Norway and Ukraine in the group stages of the tournament. The action starts on 15 July with the final here on 28 July. Today, however, it’s all about the Clearer Water Irish Cup. This is the first year of Clearer Water’s 10-year partnership deal and we couldn’t have wished for a better final for them. Clearer Water is a Northern Ireland company operating with a mixed ability workforce which delivers water that helps people. What’s not to like about that and we hope everyone from the company has a great day.

Enjoy the match! Patrick Nelson Chief Executive Irish Football Association

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