Complaints as BBC Sport changes name of Irish Cup to 'Northern Ireland Cup'

FOUR days on from the Irish Cup final, the BBC Sport website still insists on referring to the competition as the 'Northern Ireland Cup'.

The competition, the fourth-oldest national cup competition in the world, is known this year as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship reasons, but is officially named the Irish Cup, as is made clear on the IFA website.

But at the weekend the BBC Sport website changed the name of the competition from the Irish Cup to the 'Northern Ireland Cup'. By Wednesday morning, the main scores and fixtures tab of the website still listed the competition's name as the 'Northern Ireland Cup', despite BBCNI's attention being drawn to the issue via complaints to the broadcaster from fans when the mistake was first noticed on Saturday morning.

Cliftonville FC won the famous trophy for the first time in 45 years on Saturday, defeating Linfield 3-1 after a thrilling extra-time clash at a sold-out Windsor Park.

The Andersonstown News and North Belfast News were contacted by football fans about the BBC's renaming of the competition.

One Cliftonville fan said he complained to the BBC.

"I told them that no such competition exists," he said. "It is called the Irish Cup and dates back to 1880. The Irish Cup is the accepted name of the trophy used by fans of all persuasions."

A BBC Northern Ireland spokesperson said: “We referred to the Irish Cup across our radio, television and digital output.

"The listing for this fixture on an automated page on the BBC Sport website will be updated shortly.”