1998–99 Irish League Cup

1998–99 Irish League Cup

Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	18
Champions	Linfield (5th title)
Runners-up	Glentoran
Matches played	17
Goals scored	67 (3.94 per match)
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 Irish League Cup was the 13th edition of Northern Ireland's secondary football knock-out league cup competition. It concluded on 4 May 1999 with the final.

Linfield were the defending champions after their fourth League Cup win last season; a 1–0 victory over Glentoran in the previous final. This season they became the first club ever to successfully defend the trophy, and it was a repeat of the previous final, Linfield once again coming out on top with a 2–1 victory against Glentoran in the final, lifting the cup for the fifth time and condemning the Glens to defeat in the League Cup final for the third season running, which is a record for successive final defeats in the competition that still stands.

The competition was re-structured this season, allowing only the 10 top-flight clubs, and the 8 second-tier clubs to enter. This reduced the number of clubs taking part from the usual 32, down to 18.

Preliminary round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Newry Town	0–1	Larne
Omagh Town	4–3	Limavady United

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ballyclare Comrades	1–4	Glenavon
Ballymena United	2–3	Linfield
Carrick Rangers	2–1	Coleraine
Crusaders	3–1	Larne
Bangor	3–4	Ards
Portadown	0–2	Cliftonville
Glentoran	8–0	Dungannon Swifts
Omagh Town	2–3	Distillery

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Carrick Rangers	3–1	Ards
Crusaders	1–2	Cliftonville
Glenavon	1–2	Linfield
Glentoran	2–1	Distillery

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Cliftonville	1–2	Linfield
Glentoran	1–0	Carrick Rangers

Final

4 May 1999	Linfield	2 – 1	Glentoran	Windsor Park, Belfast
		Report