2019–20 Northern Ireland Football League Cup

The competition was open to the 35 members of the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL). The top sixteen ranked clubs from the 2018–19 season (all twelve 2018–19 NIFL Premiership clubs, along with the top four clubs from the 2018–19 NIFL Championship) entered the competition in the second round as seeds. Of the remaining twenty NIFL clubs, eight of them were randomly drawn to face each other in four first round matches. The remaining twelve clubs, along with the four first round winners, made up the sixteen unseeded clubs in the second round. Lurgan Celtic were included in the original draw, but later withdrew from the Northern Ireland Football League for financial reasons. This meant that Crusaders received a bye into the third round. From the third round onwards, the competition operated in a straight knockout format. Replays were not used in the competition, with all matches using extra time and penalties to determine the winner if necessary. ==Results==

The league tier of each club at the time of entering the competition is listed in parentheses. First round The first round matches took place on 10 August 2019. Second round The second round matches were played on 27 and 28 August 2019. The top 16 league clubs from the previous season were seeded in this round in order to avoid drawing each other. As a result of Lurgan Celtic's withdrawal from the league, Crusaders received a bye into the third round. Third round The third round matches were played on 8 and 23 October 2019. Quarter-finals The quarter-finals were played on 29 October 2019. Semi-finals The semi-finals took place on 3 December 2019. Final The final was played on 15 February 2020 at Windsor Park, Belfast. ==References==