Northern Ireland Football League Cup

This article is about the tournament in Northern Ireland. For the equivalent tournament in the Republic of Ireland, see League of Ireland Cup.
Northern Ireland Football League Cup
Organiser(s)Northern Ireland Football League
Founded1987
Region Northern Ireland
Teams38
Current championsLinfield (13th title)
(2025–26)
Most championshipsLinfield (13 titles)
2025–26 season

The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the BetMcLean Cup for sponsorship purposes, and commonly known as the Irish League Cup) is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the Northern Ireland Football League. It is the third-most prestigious competition in domestic Northern Irish football after the NIFL Premiership and Irish Cup. Unlike the Irish Cup, the League Cup does not have a berth for UEFA Conference League qualification. The cup has been operated by the Northern Ireland Football League since the 2013–14 season when it took over the administration from the Irish Football Association (IFA), after which the cup was renamed to the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) Cup.

Since the 2017–18 season, the Cup has been sponsored by McLean Bookmakers. The competition's previous sponsors are JBE (2015–16), WASP Solutions (2013–14 and 2014–15), Irn Bru (2011–12 and 2012–13), Co-operative Insurance (2001–02 to 2010–11), Coca-Cola (1998–99 to 2000–01), Wilkinson Sword (1991–92 to 1997–98) and Roadferry Freight (1986–87 to 1990–91).

Linfield are the current holders. They defeated Glentoran 1–0 after extra time in the final on 15 March 2026 to lift the cup for the thirteenth time.

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