2017–18 Northern Ireland Football League Cup
Football tournament season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2017–18 Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the BetMcLean League Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 32nd edition of Northern Ireland's football knock-out cup competition for national league clubs, and the fourth edition of the competition as the Northern Ireland Football League Cup. This season's League Cup was contested by all 36 clubs of the three divisions of the Northern Ireland Football League. The competition began on 5 August 2017 with the first round, and concluded on 17 February 2018 with the final. The competition was sponsored for the first time by McLean Bookmakers.[1]
BetMcLean League Cup | |
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Tournament details | |
Country | Northern Ireland |
Teams | 36 |
Defending champions | Ballymena United |
Final positions | |
Champions | Dungannon Swifts (1st win) |
Runner-up | Ballymena United |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 35 |
Goals scored | 114 (3.26 per match) |
Ballymena United were the defending champions, defeating Carrick Rangers 2–0 in the 2017 final to win the competition for the first time.[2] This season they reached the final once again, but were defeated 3–1 by Dungannon Swifts, who won the competition to record the first ever senior trophy win in their 69-year history.[3]