Northern Ireland Football League


The Northern Ireland Football League, known historically, and still colloquially, as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the league in its current format created in 2013 to assume independent collective management of the top three levels of the Northern Ireland football league system; namely the Premiership, Championship and Premier Intermediate League.
In addition to the league divisions, the NIFL also operates the Northern Ireland Football League Cup for its member clubs, as well as the NIFL Development League and George Wilson Cup for their reserve teams, and the NIFL Youth League and NIFL Youth League Cup for their youth teams. Operated as a limited company, the 35 member clubs act as shareholders with one vote each. The NIFL is the successor to the Irish Football League, which was historically the league for the entire island of Ireland upon its formation in 1890; it became Northern Ireland's national league after the partition of Ireland in 1921.
Linfield are the current champions, winning a record 54th league championship, after NIFL announced that the final league standings would be decided by a points per game average following the season's curtailment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every team had played 31 games, so the application of points per game was academic, and there were no changes to the standings. This equalled the world record for the most league titles won by any club, held by Scottish club, Rangers.

History

Senior

Originally formed in 1890, the national football league of Northern Ireland is the second-oldest national league in the world, being formed a week earlier than the Scottish Football League. Only the English Football League is older..
The Irish Football League was originally formed as the football league for, in theory, all of Ireland. It became the league for Northern Ireland in 1921 after partition, with a separate league and association – being formed for the Irish Free State. The league's records from its days in operation as the league for all of Ireland stand as the records for Northern Ireland.
In its first season, seven of the eight teams came from Belfast, and the league – and Irish football – continued to be dominated by Belfast clubs for many years. In 1892, Derry Olympic became the second non-Belfast side, but only lasted for one season. In 1900, Derry Celtic joined the league and, in 1901, a second Derry team, St Columb's Court, was added. St Columb's Court lasted just one season, before being replaced by the league's first Dublin team, Bohemians, in 1902. Another Dublin side, Shelbourne, was added in 1904. In 1911 Glenavon, from the County Armagh town of Lurgan replaced Bohemians, who resigned from the league, but were re-admitted in 1912. During 1912 there were three Dublin sides, with the addition of Tritonville, but, like Derry Olympic and St Columb's Court before them, they lasted just one season. Derry Celtic also dropped out in 1913, so that when the Irish League split in 1921, Glenavon was the only non-Belfast team left. No southern clubs ever won the championship. The highest place achieved by any of these clubs was second, by Shelbourne in 1906–07.
During the 1920s, however, the league expanded and soon achieved a wide geographic spread across Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, no club from outside Belfast won the League championship until Glenavon took it to Co. Armagh in 1951–52. In 1957–58, Ards became the first team from Co. Down to win the League, and in 1964–65, Derry City were the first Co. Londonderry club to do so. Derry City – now of the League of Ireland – played in the Irish League from 1929 until 1972 and won the title in 1965, but eventually resigned during the Troubles after the League voted narrowly to continue a ban on their home ground imposed by the security forces, even after the security forces had lifted it.
Historically, with relatively few league fixtures each season, the Irish League organised a number of other competitions for its members. While some of these enjoyed considerable prestige over the years, they have been phased out over the years due to fixture congestion caused by the expansion of the league, and reduced spectator interest. These competitions were: the City Cup; the Gold Cup; the Ulster Cup and the Irish League Floodlit Cup. In addition, clubs still compete in their respective regional cup competitions: the County Antrim Shield ; the Mid-Ulster Cup ; and the North West Senior Cup.
From 1995–96 until 2002–03, the senior League was split into two divisions: the Premier Division and First Division. From 2003-16, there was a single division, albeit with relegation to intermediate leagues below, and from 2016 there are two senior divisions. In 2003, the Irish Football Association took direct charge of Northern Ireland's top flight with the creation of the Irish Premier League. As in England and Scotland, the old Irish Football League retained a separate existence, but controlling only two feeder leagues: the First Division and Second Division. In 2004, the IFA took over control of the remaining IFL divisions and renamed them as the IFA Intermediate League First Division and Second Division, effectively winding up the Irish Football League after 114 years.
The first ever Irish League match to be broadcast live on television took place on 24 September 2007 when Sky Sports showed Cliftonville and Linfield draw 2–2 at Solitude. In 2008, the IFA took over responsibility for the Senior League under the name IFA Premiership, and the IFA Intermediate League was replaced by the IFA Championship. After five years under the auspices of the IFA, it was decided to create a single Northern Ireland Football League to assume responsibility for all the national leagues from the 2013–14 season.

Intermediate

The NIFL Premier Intermediate League, as the highest-level of intermediate football in Northern Ireland, is the successor to the intermediate-status IFA Championship, IFA Intermediate League, the Irish Football League First Division during its last season, and ultimately the Irish League B Division.
The B Division of the Irish League was founded in 1951, and originally consisted of the reserve teams of the senior Irish League clubs alongside some of the top intermediate clubs. The B Division was split geographically into North and South sections in 1974, and then into Section 1 and Section 2 in 1977.
In 1999, the B Division Section 1 was renamed as the Irish League Second Division, and Section 2 became the Reserve League.
There was never any automatic promotion and relegation between either the B Division or Second Division and the senior Irish League.
In 2003, the Irish Premier League was formed by the top sixteen senior teams in the senior Irish League. The four remaining senior teams reverted to intermediate football, along with the top eight teams from the previous year's Second Division - in the Irish League First Division, with the Second Division continuing with twelve teams. Automatic promotion and relegation between senior and intermediate football was introduced. There was also automatic promotion and relegation between the two divisions of the Irish League.
In 2004, the Irish Football League was wound up and replaced by the IFA Intermediate League, consisting of two divisions of twelve, with promotion and relegation between the two. This continued for four seasons, until the Championship was created.
For one season only, 2008–09, there was also an IFA Interim Intermediate League for those former members of the IFA Intermediate League which had failed to meet the criteria for the Championship. These clubs were given a year to make improvements in order to join the Championship for 2009–10. Ten of the 12 clubs succeeded in meeting the necessary standard in 2009 and the Championship was then divided into two divisions.
In 2010–11, a pyramid system was introduced, with the possibility of promotion and relegation between Championship 2 and the four regional intermediate leagues, namely the:
Clubs in these leagues may only gain promotion to the Championship if they win their respective league championship and meet the necessary criteria. In the event that more than one league champion meets the criteria, only one will be promoted, to be decided by a play-off or series of play-offs.
In 2013, the Northern Ireland Football League assumed responsibility from the IFA for the Championship, which became two intermediate divisions of the NIFL and was renamed as the NIFL Championship.
In 2016, Championship 1 acquired senior status and Championship 2 was renamed as the Premier Intermediate League, thus succeeding the Championship as the top intermediate league in Northern Ireland.

2020–21 membership

Listed below are the 35 member clubs for the 2020–21 season.

UEFA coefficient and ranking

For the 2015–16 UEFA competitions, the associations were allocated places according to their 2014 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2009–10 to 2013–14. In the 2014 rankings used for the 2015–16 European competitions, Northern Ireland's coefficient points total was 3.625 and was ranked by UEFA as the 47th best association in Europe out of 54 for the second consecutive season.

List of champions and runners-up

Irish Football League Premier & First Division (1995–2003)

Irish Premier League (2003–2008)

IFA Premiership (2008–2013)

NIFL Premiership (2013–2016)

NIFL Premiership & Championship (2016–)

Summary of champions

Performance by club

Clubs in italics either no longer exist or no longer compete for the title.
ClubWinnersWinning seasons
Linfield54231890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1897–98, 1901–02, 1903–04, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1913–14, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1929–30, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20
Glentoran23231893–94, 1896–97, 1904–05, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1924–25, 1930–31, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2008–09
Belfast Celtic1441899–00, 1914–15, 1919–20, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1947–48
Crusaders751972–73, 1975–76, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18
Distillery681895–96, 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03, 1905–06, 1962–63
Cliftonville561905–06, 1909–10, 1997–98, 2012–13, 2013–14
Portadown4101989–90, 1990–91, 1995–96, 2001–02
Glenavon3101951–52, 1956–57, 1959–60
Coleraine1111973–74
Derry City171964–65
Queen's Island131923–24
Ards111957–58

Records

The first Irish League champions were Linfield, and the first runners-up were Ulster. Of the 114 completed championships, the title has only been taken out of Belfast on ten occasions. The last club to do so was Portadown in 2001–02. They are also the most successful provincial club, with four championships overall.
In 1961–62, Linfield famously achieved the feat of winning seven trophies: the Irish League; Irish Cup; City Cup, Gold Cup; Ulster Cup; County Antrim Shield; and North-South Cup. This was a repeat of a similar feat in 1921–22, when Linfield won the Irish League; Irish Cup; City Cup, Gold Cup; County Antrim Shield; Belfast Charities Cup and Alhambra Cup.
The record for consecutive titles is six, which has been achieved by two clubs. Belfast Celtic won five consecutive titles between 1935–36 and 1939–40, before the suspension of the league in 1940 due to World War II. On the resumption of the league in 1947–48 they won their sixth consecutive title, albeit eight years after the fifth. Linfield are the only club to achieve six consecutive titles without a hiatus, from 1981–82 to 1986–87. The longest gap between title wins is the 88 years separating Cliftonville's wins in 1909–10 and 1997–98. A total of 12 different clubs have won the championship, Linfield holding the record for the most wins.

Tiebreakers

In the 1905–06 season, the championship title was shared after Cliftonville and Distillery could not be separated after two play-off matches. This is the only occasion in the league's history that the title has been shared. Using the modern award of 3 points for a win, Distillery would have been crowned champions by one point. However, if goal difference had been used instead, Cliftonville would have won the title with a goal difference of +9 compared to Distillery's +7. In the 1992–93 season, Linfield became the first club to win the championship on goal difference, when they finished level on 66 points with Crusaders, but eight goals better with a +34 goal difference to Crusaders' +26.
Before goal difference was introduced, if the top two teams finished the season with the same number of points, the championship title was decided by a play-off. Nine such championship play-offs took place over the years as follows:
SeasonWinnersScoreRunners-up
1895–96Distillery2–1Cliftonville
1898–99Distillery2–0Linfield
1904–05Glentoran3–1Belfast Celtic
1905–06Cliftonville0–0Distillery
ReplayCliftonville3–3Distillery
1910–11Linfield3–2Glentoran
1937–38Belfast Celtic2–2Derry City
ReplayBelfast Celtic3–1Derry City
1949–50Linfield2–0Glentoran
1960–61Linfield2–0Portadown
1961–62Linfield3–1Portadown

Unbeaten seasons

On seven occasions, a team has completed a league campaign unbeaten. Linfield have done so four times, but with fewer fixtures relative to Belfast Celtic's unbeaten seasons in 1926–27 and 1928–29. Glentoran were the last club to finish an entire league season unbeaten, when they won the 1980–81 Irish League title by two points after completing 22 league games without defeat. They again came close in the 1991–92 Irish League season, losing only once in 30 league games. Linfield also came close in the 2003–04 Irish Premier League season, when they too lost just one league game all season. Across the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, Linfield lost just two out of 60 league games in two seasons - one in each season. Coleraine also came close in the 2017–18 season, losing just once in 38 league games.
SeasonClubMatches playedWinsDraws
1892–93Linfield1082
1894–95Linfield642
1903–04Linfield14122
1921–22Linfield1073
1926–27Belfast Celtic22157
1928–29Belfast Celtic26224
1980–81Glentoran22157

Senior club membership history

A total of 46 different clubs have been members of the senior league since its inception - ten of which have been members for only one season. The newest members are Warrenpoint Town, who joined the league in 2013 for the first time. That was the second consecutive season that a new member club had made its first appearance in the league, following Ballinamallard United's debut a year earlier in 2012. Three clubs – Cliftonville, Glentoran and Linfield – have retained unbroken membership since 1890: 130 years and 119 seasons.
In 1891, the league expanded to ten clubs, but shrank again after only one season to six clubs for the 1892–93 season. Only four clubs competed in 1892–93 and 1893–94, then six clubs for the following season, until a membership of eight was achieved for the 1901–02 season. With the exception of one season in which there were ten clubs, membership stayed at eight until the southern clubs resigned in 1920, anticipating the formation of the separate League of Ireland in what would become the Irish Free State. Prior to the split, three southern clubs had participated in the League: Bohemians, Shelbourne and Tritonville. In the early years, Army regiments stationed in Ireland had also participated in the League: the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1891–92; the North Staffordshire Regiment for three seasons from 1896–99; the Royal Scots in 1899–00 and the King's Own Scottish Borderers in 1903–04.
Only five and six clubs competed in 1920–21 and from 1921–23 respectively, but expansion began with the admission of four new clubs in 1923, another two in 1924 and a further two in 1927, giving a membership of fourteen from 1927 until the League was suspended in 1940 because of the Second World War. When the League resumed in 1947 it was reduced to twelve clubs, and stayed at this number until 1983 when membership was increased to fourteen.
In 1990, a further two clubs brought the membership to sixteen, and the League was divided into two divisions of eight in 1995, with promotion and relegation between the two. In 1996 the results from the Premier Division and the First Division started to be featured on the Press Association vidiprinter. In 1997, membership increased again to eighteen, with ten in the Premier Division and eight in the First Division. Between 1999 and 2003, the League had a record twenty clubs in membership. From 1999 to 2002, ten clubs each competed in the Premier and First Divisions and in 2002–03 there were twelve in the Premier Division and eight in the First Division.
In 2003, with the creation of the Irish Premier League, the senior league was reduced to a single division of sixteen clubs, although for the first time with relegation to, and promotion from, a league below. In 2008, with the creation of the IFA Premiership, the league was reduced to twelve. The Northern Ireland Football League was formed in 2013 to assume independent collective management of the top three levels of the Northern Ireland football league system, which had been under the direct management of the Irish Football Association: namely the IFA Premiership and both divisions of the IFA Championship.
In 2016, the NIFL Championship was given senior status.

Membership summary

Listed below are all the senior League members from 1890 up to and including the 2020–21 season in the following competitions:
ClubLocationNo. seasons in leagueMembership years
CliftonvilleBelfast1201890–
GlentoranBelfast1201890–
LinfieldBelfast1201890–
Lisburn DistilleryBallyskeagh1121890–2013
GlenavonLurgan981911–2004, 2005–
PortadownPortadown891924–2008, 2009–
ColeraineColeraine871927–
ArdsNewtownards821923–2006, 2013–2014, 2016–
Ballymena UnitedBallymena801934–
CrusadersBelfast711949–2005, 2006–
BangorBangor701927–2003, 2008–2009
LarneLarne581923–1940, 1972–2008, 2016–
Newry CityNewry451923–1940, 1983–2011
Belfast CelticBelfast381896–1920, 1924–1949
Derry CityDerry361929–1972
Carrick RangersCarrickfergus271983–2003, 2011–2012, 2015–
Dungannon SwiftsDungannon241997–
Ballyclare ComradesBallyclare181990–2003, 2016–
InstituteDrumahoe161999–2006, 2007–2010, 2014–2015, 2016–
Omagh TownOmagh151990–2005
BohemiansDublin131902–1911, 1912–1920
Derry CelticDerry131900–1913
Limavady UnitedLimavady131997–2008, 2017–2019
ShelbourneDublin121904–1920
Ballinamallard UnitedBallinamallard92012–
Armagh CityArmagh81999–2003, 2005–2008, 2016–2017
LoughgallLoughgall82004–2007, 2016–
Queen's IslandBelfast81921–1929
Warrenpoint TownWarrenpoint82013–
BallymenaBallymena61928–1934
UlsterBelfast61890–1894, 1901–1903
BarnCarrickfergus51923–1928
DergviewCastlederg52016–
Donegal CelticBelfast52006–2008, 2010–2013
Harland & Wolff WeldersBelfast52016–
KnockbredaBelfast52016–
Newry City AFCNewry42017–
PSNIBelfast42016–2020
DundelaBelfast32018–
North Staffordshire RegimentArmy team31896–1899
Annagh UnitedPortadown22016–2017, 2020–
LigonielBelfast21891–1892, 1893–1894
Lurgan CelticLurgan22016–2018
OldparkBelfast21890–1892
Queen's UniversityBelfast22019–
ClarenceBelfast11890–1891
Derry OlympicDerry11892–1893
King's Own Scottish BorderersArmy team11903–1904
Lancashire FusiliersArmy team11891–1892
MilfordMilford11890–1891
MilltownBelfast11891–1892
Royal ScotsArmy team11899–1900
St Columb's CourtDerry11901–1902
TritonvilleDublin11912–1913
YMCABelfast11891–1892

Bold – a current member

Italics – a club no longer in existence, or no longer competing in Northern Irish football

Relegation and promotion history

1995–2003 (Two senior divisions)

Between 1995–96 and 2002–03, the league was split into two divisions, with promotion and relegation between the two as follows.
SeasonRelegated to First DivisionPromoted to Premier Division
1995–96BangorColeraine
1996–97-Ballymena United
Omagh Town
1997–98ArdsNewry Town
1998–99Omagh TownDistillery
1999–2000Lisburn DistilleryOmagh Town
2000–01Ballymena UnitedArds
2001–02-Lisburn Distillery
Institute

2003–2016 (One senior division)

At the end of the 2002–03 season, the league was reformed as the single-division Irish Premier League. Four clubs were relegated to intermediate football, and from then until 2014-15 there was relegation and promotion between a single senior Irish League division and the top intermediate league below.
SeasonRelegatedPromoted
2002–03Armagh City
Ballyclare Comrades
Bangor
Carrick Rangers		-
2003–04GlenavonLoughgall
2004–05Crusaders
Omagh Town		Armagh City
Glenavon
2005–06Ards
Institute		Crusaders
Donegal Celtic
2006–07LoughgallInstitute
2007–08Armagh City
Donegal Celtic
Larne
Limavady United
Portadown		Bangor
2008–09BangorPortadown
2009–10InstituteDonegal Celtic
2010–11Newry CityCarrick Rangers
2011–12Carrick RangersBallinamallard United
2012–13Donegal Celtic
Lisburn Distillery		Ards
Warrenpoint Town
2013–14ArdsInstitute
2014–15InstituteCarrick Rangers
2015–16Warrenpoint TownArds

2016–present (Two senior divisions)

At the end of the 2015–16 season, the Championship acquired senior status and the league reverted to two senior divisions, with promotion and relegation between those divisions, and between the second senior tier and the top intermediate division below.
SeasonRelegated to ChampionshipPromoted to PremiershipSeasonRelegated to Premier Intermediate LeaguePromoted to Championship
2016–17PortadownWarrenpoint Town2016–17Annagh United
Armagh City		Limavady United
Newry City AFC
2017–18Ballinamallard United
Carrick Rangers		Institute
Newry City AFC		2017–18Lurgan CelticDundela
2018–19Ards
Newry City AFC		Carrick Rangers
Larne		2018–19Limavady UnitedQueen's University
2019–20InstitutePortadown2019–20PSNIAnnagh United

Intermediate

List of champions

Irish Intermediate League (1915–1954)

† Elected to senior football

Irish League B Division (1951–1977)

Irish League B Division Section 1 (1977–1999)

Irish League Second Division (1999–2003)

Irish League First & Second Division (2003–04)

IFA Intermediate League First & Second Division (2004–2008)

IFA Championship & Interim Intermediate League (2008–09)

IFA Championship 1 & 2 (2009–2013)

NIFL Championship 1 & 2 (2013–2016)

† Elected to senior football
‡ Promoted to senior football

NIFL Premier Intermediate League (2016–)

‡ Promoted to senior football

Summary of champions

Knock-out competitions

In 1982, a knock-out competition for members was introduced, known as the B Division Knock-out Cup and sponsored by Smirnoff. It was discontinued after 2002, but a new IFA Intermediate League Cup was played between 2004 and 2008, sponsored in its first season by the Daily Mirror and thereafter by Carnegie. In 2008–09, there was no knock-out competition for Championship clubs, who participated with Premiership clubs in the Irish League Cup. In the 2009–10 season only, however, while Championship 1 clubs continued to participate in the Irish League Cup, a Championship 2 League Cup was inaugurated for those in Championship 2. From 2010–11 onwards, all Championship clubs from divisions 1 and 2 also competed in the Irish League Cup, and the Championship 2 League Cup was abolished.

Summary of winners

ClubWinsWinning seasons
Dundela41987–88, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1994–95
Harland & Wolff Welders41997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2009–10
RUC31982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86
Ballyclare Comrades21983–84, 1988–89
Institute21996–97, 2006–07
Limavady United21992–93, 1995–96
Ballymoney United11998–99
Bangor12004–05
Chimney Corner11986–87
Crusaders12005–06
Dungannon Swifts11993–94
Loughgall12007–08
Moyola Park11999–00
Omagh Town11989–90