[2] This season, Linfield were the eventual winners, defeating Ballymena United 1–0 in the final.
The competition was played in a straight knockout format and was open to the 36 members of the Northern Ireland Football League.
Replays were not used in the competition, with all matches using extra time and penalties to determine the winner if necessary.
The league tier of each club at the time of entering the competition is listed in parentheses.
[4] The top 16 league clubs from the previous season were seeded in this round in order to avoid drawing each other.