Cold Ard facts

Tonight’s Clearer Water Irish Cup clash at Windsor Park is Cliftonville’s 200th semi-final tie – and eighth against Ards.

As the Club’s Heritage Development Officer, Paul Treanor, is at pains to point out, however, the match does not represent the 200th time we have reached a semi-final, with no fewer than 27 such fixtures having gone to replays down through the years, while others were two-legged affairs.

This evening’s encounter does, however, mark the 40th time the Reds have reached the last four of the Irish Cup though, on account of the aforementioned plethora of replays, it will be our 51st semi-final match in the competition – the first of which came way back in March 1881 when a Cliftonville side featuring founding fathers John McCredy McAlery and RM Kennedy drew 2-2 with Knock before triumphing 2-1 in a replay.

Our 367th outing in the Irish Cup and 294th meeting with Ards, tonight’s showdown will be the 10th time the sides have met in the tournament, with the Reds having won five and lost two of those previous duels.

While Cliftonville hold the upper hand with five victories from seven semi-final battles with Ards, it’s arguable that our two defeats remain the most memorable of those contests.

A 4-0 County Antrim Shield win in 1931 was followed up by a 3-2 County Antrim Shield success in 1979. Then, twice in the space of eight months in 1993, the Reds produced two of the most nightmarish conclusions you could ever dream up.

Trailing 2-0 in an Irish Cup semi-final at The Oval, Frankie Parkes’ side roared back to level thanks to goals from Mickey Donnelly and James McFadden and, paying no heed to the momentum now being firmly on their side, contrived to concede a comical last-gasp goal that still haunts fans of a certain vintage to this day. That scorer Harry McCourt would redeem himself by bagging the strike that sealed our Premier League title triumph five years later still comes as little comfort.

Shortly after that east Belfast horror show came an entirely new level of despair. This time, it was the Reds who were two up, with finishes from Shaun Strang and Aaron Shearer putting the team firmly on course to reach the Budweiser Cup Final. Not only did Cliftonville lead 2-0 at half-time, they also led 2-0 when the clock struck 90 minutes. When injury-time ended three minutes later, they were beaten. Truly a night when you simply had to be there to understand the level of anguish the Red Army went through.

Since then, wins at the semi-final stage of the 1996 Floodlit Cup, 2013 League Cup and 2014 County Antrim Shield have set the Reds on a run of form they will bid to maintain this evening.

More generally in Irish Cup ties with Ards, since losing the 1927 Final, Cliftonville boast five wins from eight clashes, with the most recent – and first since that 1993 abomination – coming when goals from Mark Clarke and Stephen Garrett earned a 2-0 success under Tommy Breslin’s watch in a 2012 sixth round tie.

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Cliftonville’s Irish Cup record
P366 W167 D62 L137 F671 A538

Cliftonville’s overall record v Ards
P293 W122 D51 L120 F523 A578

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Cliftonville’s Irish Cup record v Ards
P9 W5 D2 L2 F17 A11

March 26, 1927
Final: Ards 3-2 Cliftonville

February 12, 1944
Quarter-final 1st Leg: Ards 2-2 Cliftonville
February 19, 1944
Quarter-final 2nd Leg: Cliftonville 3-0 Ards

March 10, 1956:
Final: Ards 1-2 Cliftonville

February 8, 1975
First round: Ards 0-0 Cliftonville
February 12, 1975
First round replay: Cliftonville 3-2 Ards

February 18, 1984
Second round: Cliftonville 1-0 Ards

April 2, 1993
Semi-final: Ards 3-2 Cliftonville

January 1, 2012
Sixth round: Cliftonville 2-0 Ards

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Cliftonville’s semi-final record v Ards
P7 W5 D0 L2 F18 A10

March 11, 1931
County Antrim Shield: Ards 0-4 Cliftonville

May 9, 1979
County Antrim Shield: Cliftonville 3-2 Ards

April 2, 1993
Irish Cup: Ards 3-2 Cliftonville

December 8, 1993
Budweiser Cup: Ards 3-2 Cliftonville

March 5, 1996
Floodlit Cup: Ards 1-3 Cliftonville

December 17, 2013
League Cup: Ards 0-2 Cliftonville

December 2, 2014
County Antrim Shield: Ards 1-2 Cliftonville

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Cliftonville’s list of semi-final matches
Alhambra Cup: 3
Budweiser Cup: 2
County Antrim Shield: 63 (including one two-legged affair and 12 replays)
Coca-Cola Floodlit Cup: 2
Charity Cup: 40 (including four replays)
European Play-Offs: 4
Gold Cup: 12 (including one two-legged affair)
Irish Cup: 50 (including 11 replays)
Inter City Cup: 2 (two legs)
League Cup: 15
Setanta Sports Cup: 2 (two legs)
Ulster Cup: 4