NIFL Premiership | Soccer-tainment

NIFL Premiership

FIFA Region

UEFA

Season

2022-2023

Location

Northern Ireland

Abbreviation

NIR1

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map of participating teams

Summary

The NIFL Premiership (NIR1), or Dankse Bank Premiership, is the top division in Northern Ireland's football system. At the end of the 2022-2023 NIR1 season, the NIR1 teams listed below qualify for the following non-league play:

2023-2024 UEFA Champions League - 1st Qualifying Round:
- 1st place 2022-2023 NIR1 Championhsip Group team
2023-2024 UEFA Europa Conference League - 1st Qualifying Round:
- 2nd place 2022-2023 NIR1 team
- 2022-2023 NIR1 UEFA Europa Conference League Playoffs winner

The winner of the 2022-2023 Irish Football Association Challenge Cup (Irish Cup), typically a NIR1 team, also receives a berth in the 1st Qualifying Round of the 2023-2024 UEFA Europa Conference League.

Leagues Pyramid - Northern Ireland

Abbrev	League	# of Teams
NIR1	Dankse Bank Premiership	12
NIR2	NIFL Championship	12
NIR3	NIFL Premier Intermediate League	11

Competition Structure

Season			# of Teams
Regular 13 Aug 2022 - 25 Mar 2023	Champ/Releg Rounds 8 Apr 2022 - 29 Apr 2023	UEFAECL Playoffs 2 May 2023 - 15 Jun 2023	12: NIR1 (10 minimum), NIR2 (2 maximum)

Season Format

The 2022-2023 NIR1 season consists of 2 stages. In the first stage, each NIR1 team plays the other 11 NIR1 teams 3 times for a total of 33 league matches. In each 3 match series one team hosts 2 home matches and the other team hosts 1 home match. In the second stage, the top six teams (Championship Group) play each other a 4th time (5 more matches) to determine final rankings for UEFA Champions League and Europa League placements, and the bottom six teams (Relegation Group) play each other a 4th time (5 more matches) to determine the relegation placements. Total points are for all 38 matches. Table ranking ties are broken by (1) goal difference, (2) goals scored, (3) head-to-head points, (4) head-to-head goal difference, then (5) a drawing.

Playoffs

At the end of the 2022-2023 NIR1 season, the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place NIR1 Championship Group teams and the 1st place NIR1 Relegation Group team enter into the UEFAECL playoffs (knockout format). The winner of this playoff receives a berth in the 2023-2024 UEFA Europa Conference League - 1st Qualifying Round.

Relegation

At the end of the 2022-2023 NIR1 season, the 6th place NIR1 Relegation Group team will be relegated to the NIR2, and the 5th place NIR1 Relegation Group team enters into a Home-Away highest aggregate score playoff with the 2nd place NIR2 team. The playoff winner and the 1st place NIR2 team play in the 2023-2024 NIR1, and the playoff loser plays in the 2023-2024 NIR2.

More Info...

UEFAECL Playoffs - Finals

Date

Home

Status

Road

Venue

Sat - 13 May 2023

Glentoran FC

Cliftonville

BetMcLean Oval

UEFAECL Playoffs - Semifinals

Date

Home

Status

Road

Venue

Wed - 10 May 2023

BetMcLean Oval

Solitude (Belfast)

Relegation Playoffs

Date

Home

Status

Road

Venue

Aggregate

Dungannon Swifts FC (SCO1)

Annagh United FC (SCO2)

06.05.23	Dungannon Swifts FC		20		Annagh United FC	Stangmore Park
	Dungannon Swifts FC remains in NIR1

30.05.23

Annagh United FC

Dungannon Swifts FC

Milltown Playing Fields

2nd Stage

		League							Home						Road
POS		MP	W - D - L	PTS	CPTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD
Championship
1	Larne FC	38	25 -8-5	83	-	64	22	42	18	12 -5-1	41	32	6	26	20	13 -3-4	42	32	16	16
2	Linfield FC	38	23 -8-7	77	-	75	27	48	18	11 -5-2	38	35	12	23	20	12 -3-5	39	40	15	25
3	Glentoran FC	38	23 -5-10	74	-	77	28	49	18	13 -1-4	40	43	9	34	20	10 -4-6	34	34	19	15
4	Cliftonville	38	20 -8-10	68	-	66	53	13	20	12 -5-3	41	41	22	19	18	8 -3-7	27	25	31	-6
5	Crusaders FC	38	19 -10-9	67	-	72	45	27	20	15 -2-3	47	49	17	32	18	4 -8-6	20	23	28	-5
6	Coleraine FC	38	18 -8-12	62	-	59	39	20	19	11 -4-4	37	33	15	18	19	7 -4-8	25	26	24	2
Relegation
1	Glenavon FC	38	14 -10-14	52	-	58	61	-3	20	8 -5-7	29	34	36	-2	18	6 -5-7	23	24	25	-1
2	Carrick Rangers FC	38	12 -4-22	40	-	45	74	-29	20	8 -2-10	26	28	37	-9	18	4 -2-12	14	17	37	-20
3	Ballymena United FC	38	11 -6-21	39	-	37	55	-18	19	8 -4-7	28	22	20	2	19	3 -2-14	11	15	35	-20
4	Newry City AFC	38	9 -3-26	30	-	37	71	-34	19	4 -2-13	14	21	32	-11	19	5 -1-13	16	16	39	-23
5	Dungannon Swifts FC	38	9 -3-26	30	-	28	84	-56	18	7 -1-10	22	17	31	-14	20	2 -2-16	8	11	53	-42
6	Portadown FC	38	6 -5-27	23	-	29	88	-59	19	5 -3-11	18	18	37	-19	19	1 -2-16	5	11	51	-40
2023-2024 UEFACL UEFAECL Playoffs 2023-2024 UEFAECL Relegation Playoffs Relegation to NIR2

1st Stage

		League							Home						Road
POS		MP	W - D - L	PTS	CPTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Larne FC	33	22 -7-4	73	-	57	18	39	16	11 -4-1	37	29	5	24	17	11 -3-3	36	28	13	15
2	Linfield FC	33	21 -5-7	68	-	70	25	45	16	11 -3-2	36	34	11	23	17	10 -2-5	32	36	14	22
3	Cliftonville	33	20 -6-7	66	-	61	41	20	16	12 -3-1	39	36	13	23	17	8 -3-6	27	25	28	-3
4	Crusaders FC	33	18 -8-7	62	-	65	37	28	17	14 -2-1	44	45	12	33	16	4 -6-6	18	20	25	-5
5	Glentoran FC	32	19 -4-9	61	-	63	23	40	15	10 -1-4	31	32	8	24	17	9 -3-5	30	31	15	16
6	Coleraine FC	33	17 -7-9	58	-	53	30	23	17	10 -4-3	34	30	14	16	16	7 -3-6	24	23	16	7
7	Glenavon FC	32	10 -8-14	38	-	49	57	-8	17	7 -3-7	24	30	33	-3	15	3 -5-7	14	19	24	-5
8	Carrick Rangers FC	33	11 -4-18	37	-	41	65	-24	17	7 -2-8	23	25	32	-7	16	4 -2-10	14	16	33	-17
9	Ballymena United FC	32	9 -5-18	32	-	30	48	-18	16	6 -4-6	22	19	19	0	16	3 -1-12	10	11	29	-18
10	Newry City AFC	33	7 -2-24	23	-	31	66	-35	17	4 -1-12	13	19	29	-10	16	3 -1-12	10	12	37	-25
11	Dungannon Swifts FC	33	7 -2-24	23	-	22	76	-54	16	5 -1-10	16	12	28	-16	17	2 -1-14	7	10	48	-38
12	Portadown FC	32	4 -4-24	16	-	22	78	-56	16	3 -3-10	12	14	35	-21	16	1 -1-14	4	8	43	-35
Championship Group Relegation Group