The cup winning team of 1951
Today's 'Cup Final Countdown' fast-forwards through half a century from our first win in 1914. When Glentoran won their 7th Irish Cup in 1951, few people would have believed there would be a 15 year wait for us to get our hands on number 8 but that was the case. Glentoran's Irish Cup run in 1966 began with a win against Banbridge Town where 'Champagne' Charlie McDonnell's hat-trick proved the only bright spot in a dull 1st round clash. Distillery proved tough opponents in the second round with it taking three attempts for The Glens to see them off. Albert Finlay saved a penalty in the first game whilst Bryan Hamilton starred for The Whites throughout. In the semi-final, the weather became the central feature with high winds and driving rain playing their part. The game finished 1-1 but Terry Conroy should have won it for The Glens. The replay however served up a surprisingly easy 5-0 win for The Glens.
Once again Glentoran found themselves facing the old enemy in The Irish Cup Final, as the packed Oval hosted Linfield on 23rd April. The game marked the opening of the lower stand, adding 1,100 additional seats to the 2,500 upstairs. The day will be sadly remembered for an incident where a group of Linfield supporters hit Glentoran keeper Albert Finlay in the groin with a stone but following treatment, Finlay played on. Glentoran got their revenge too running out 2-0 winners. Terry Conroy was the hero with both goals. The 1966 Cup victory paved the way for the following season for Glentoran to win four trophies in one of the most famous season's in the club's history concluding with the Detroit Cougar tour of USA and Canada.
The cup winning team of 1966
It wasn't until 1973 that Glentoran would taste Cup Final glory again but once again it came against Linfield in a year where The Glens recorded 3 Cup wins. Jim Hall started the Cup run off with a hat-trick at Limavady whilst the second round tie against Crusaders saw Tommy Morrow receive a guard of honour on his last game before transferring to Hakoah in Australia. Morrow didn't score but The Glens won 2-1. Feeney netted the winner in the semi-final from the spot to beat Glenavon 1-0.
Lying far down the table, Glentoran were massive underdogs at Windsor Park against Linfield and even more so when goalkeeper Alan Patterson was taken off injured with The Glens 1-0 up through Warren Feeney. Roy Stewart took over in goals and performed admirably but couldn't prevent 2 LInfield goals. Glentoran rallied late on however with Jamison bringing us level and when Feeney was taken down in the box by Billy Sinclair, Warren himself had the chance to bring the cup home. Feeney made no mistake and Glentoran brought The Irish Cup back to East Belfast for a 9th time. This meant despite finishing 8th in the table, we still qualified for Europe where we famously reached the Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final to be defeated by heavyweights, Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Winners in 1973
(Thanks to 'Glentoran- A Complete Record' by Roy France for detailed accounts)