2016–17 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership
Season 2016–17
Dates 6 August 2016 – 29 April 2017
Champions Linfield
Relegated Portadown
Champions League Linfield
Europa League Crusaders
Coleraine
Ballymena United
Matches played 228
Goals scored 688 (3.02 per match)
Top goalscorer Andrew Mitchell (Dungannon Swifts) (25)
Biggest home win Crusaders 6–0 Ballymena United
(6 August 2016)
Dungannon Swifts 6–0 Portadown
(8 October 2016)
Biggest away win Portadown 0–5 Linfield
(26 November 2016)
Portadown 0–5 Glentoran
(3 January 2017)
Highest scoring Ballymena United 3–4 Ards
(20 August 2016)
Crusaders 4–3 Cliftonville
(1 October 2016)
Ballymena United 3–4 Glenavon
(3 January 2017)
Crusaders 6–1 Glenavon
(29 April 2017)
Highest attendance 7,504
Linfield 1–1 Glentoran
(26 December 2016)[1]
Lowest attendance 173
Carrick Rangers 0–3 Dungannon Swifts
(24 September 2016)[2]
Total attendance 243,738
Average attendance 1,074

The 2016–17 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of the Irish League overall and the fourth as the Northern Ireland Football League.

Crusaders were the defending champions. On 29 April Linfield beat Cliftonville to win the title on the final day of the season.[3]

The winner qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League while the runner-up along with potentially the third placed team and the play-off winners qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.

The fixtures were announced on 7 July 2016.[4] The season began on 6 August 2016 and ended in May 2017.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the 2016–17 NIFL Premiership. Warrenpoint Town were relegated after finishing bottom of the 2015–16 NIFL Premiership and after a failed appeal against an Irish Football Association ruling not to deduct points from Carrick Rangers after their manager incorrectly served a touchline ban.[5] Warrenpoint Town were replaced by Ards as the winners of the 2015–16 NIFL Championship.[6]

Ballinamallard United finished second from bottom but retained their Premiership place after winning the promotion-relegation play-off against NIFL Championship runners-up Institute 5–4 on aggregate.[7] Portadown will start the season on −12 points after an IFA decision due to Portadown unlawfully paying Peter McMahon as a professional despite being contracted to the club as an amateur.[8]

Stadia and locations

Locations of the Belfast-based 2016–17 NIFL Premiership teams
Club Stadium Location Capacity‡[9][10]
ArdsClandeboye ParkBangor1,895 (500 seated)
Ballinamallard UnitedFerney ParkBallinamallard2,000 (250 seated)
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,050 (2,200 seated)
Carrick RangersTaylors AvenueCarrickfergus4,500 (150 seated)
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast2,530 (all seated)
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine2,496 (1,106 seated)
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,383 (all seated)
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon5,000 (300 seated)
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan4,160 (4,000 seated)
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast6,054 (4,989 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,167 (all seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Linfield (C) 38 27 8 3 87 24 +63 89 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
2 Crusaders 38 27 6 5 83 36 +47 87 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3 Coleraine 38 18 11 9 56 42 +14 65
4 Ballymena United (O) 38 18 5 15 75 73 +2 59 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
5 Cliftonville 38 17 7 14 55 50 +5 58
6 Glenavon 38 13 13 12 55 55 0 52
7 Dungannon Swifts 38 14 10 14 67 59 +8 52 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
8 Ards 38 13 8 17 61 70 −9 47
9 Glentoran 38 12 10 16 45 53 −8 46
10 Ballinamallard United 38 10 5 23 45 72 −27 35
11 Carrick Rangers (O) 38 5 7 26 31 79 −48 22 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12 Portadown[lower-alpha 4] (R) 38 7 4 27 28 75 −47 13 Relegation to the NIFL Championship
Source: NIFL Premiership, Soccerway (top six), Soccerway (bottom six)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference[12]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
  2. ↑ Linfield qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2016–17 Irish Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.
  3. 1 2 Teams played for one spot in the Europa League first qualifying round.
  4. ↑ Portadown were deducted 12 points for a player registration breach.[11]

Results

Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away ARD BMD BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLV GLT LIN POR
Ards — 3–3 2–4 3–1 2–2 1–2 0–1 3–3 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–0
Ballinamallard United 2–1 — 0–1 1–3 1–2 0–3 0–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–2
Ballymena United 3–4 4–0 — 2–0 3–2 2–0 2–1 1–4 3–3 4–1 1–4 2–0
Carrick Rangers 1–1 3–3 1–4 — 0–3 2–0 1–4 0–3 0–0 1–2 0–2 1–1
Cliftonville 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 — 1–0 0–4 1–2 3–0 2–0 2–1 1–0
Coleraine 1–1 3–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 — 1–1 2–2 2–2 4–1 1–1 3–0
Crusaders 1–0 5–1 6–0 3–1 4–3 1–0 — 3–1 3–1 2–2 0–0 2–1
Dungannon Swifts 1–2 3–2 2–2 3–1 1–1 4–0 0–1 — 1–1 0–1 0–4 6–0
Glenavon 1–0 0–1 5–0 4–0 3–2 1–0 3–3 0–1 — 1–1 2–2 1–0
Glentoran 1–0 1–1 2–3 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–3 1–0 2–2 — 1–2 0–0
Linfield 4–0 4–0 2–1 3–0 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 4–0 1–1 — 4–1
Portadown 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 2–1 0–2 4–0 0–3 0–1 0–1 2–0 3–0[lower-alpha 2] 0–1 0–5 —
Source: NIFL Premiership
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.
  1. ↑ Match awarded 3–0 to Ards due to Portadown fielding a suspended player; original result was Portadown 3–1 Ards.[13]
  2. ↑ Match awarded 3–0 to Portadown due to Glenavon fielding a suspended player; original result was 2–2 draw.[14]

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).

Home \ Away ARD BMD BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLV GLT LIN POR
Ards — 2–0 4–2 0–4 — — 2–4 — 1–0 1–3 — —
Ballinamallard United — — 1–2 — 1–0 1–2 — — — — 1–2 1–0
Ballymena United — — — 3–1 — 1–1 — 3–2 3–4 2–4 — 3–0
Carrick Rangers — 1–2 — — — — — 0–1 0–0 — 0–2 3–2
Cliftonville 2–1 — 2–1 0–0 — 0–0 — — — 1–1 — 3–0
Coleraine 3–1 — — 2–0 — — 1–0 2–1 — 2–0 — 4–2
Crusaders — 3–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 — — — — — 1–2 —
Dungannon Swifts 3–3 2–2 — — 2–2 — 1–2 — — — 1–4 —
Glenavon — 3–0 — — 2–2 1–2 0–1 2–0 — — 1–2 —
Glentoran — 0–1 — 1–0 — — 0–3 2–2 0–0 — 0–1 —
Linfield 5–1 — 2–0 — 2–0 0–1 — — — — — 1–1
Portadown 0–3 — — — — — 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–5 — —
Source: NIFL Premiership
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once. As this was the fourth time that teams played each other this season, home sides were chosen so that they will have played each other twice at home and twice away.

Play-offs

UEFA Europa League play-offs

Teams finishing fourth to seventh will take part in Europa League play-offs to decide one team who will qualify for next season's Europa League first qualifying round.

Semi-finals

Ballymena United 5–2 Dungannon Swifts
Kane  3', 40'
McKinney  36'
McMurray  70'
Owens  82'		 BBC Sport
Soccerway		 Lowe  64'
Glackin  74'
Referee: Ian McNabb
Cliftonville 3–5 Glenavon
Winchester  7'
Curran  33'
J. Donnelly  42'		 BBC Sport
Soccerway		 Marshall  3'
Moorhouse  40'
Singleton  49'
Gray  69'
McGrory  72' (pen.)
Referee: Tim Marshall

Final

Ballymena United 2–1 Glenavon
Friel  53'
Braniff  80'		 BBC Sport
Soccerway		 Marshall  67'
Referee: Arnold Hunter

NIFL Premiership play-offs

Pre-play-off

The runners-up and third-placed teams from the Championship, Institute and Ballyclare Comrades respectively, took part (over two legs) in a pre-play-off.

Ballyclare Comrades 1–0 Institute
  • McMullan  81'
 Report
Institute 3–1 Ballyclare Comrades
Report

Institute won 3–2 on aggregate.

Play-off

The eleventh-placed team from the Premiership, Carrick Rangers, played the winners of the pre-play-off, Institute, over two legs for one spot in the 2017–18 NIFL Premiership.

Institute 1–1 Carrick Rangers
McCrudden  41' BBC Sport
Soccerway		 Murray  43' (pen.)
Referee: Lee Tavinder
Carrick Rangers 4–1 Institute
McVey  11'
McCullough  25'
O'Brien  71', 80' (pen.)		 BBC Sport
Soccerway		 Morrow  12'

Carrick Rangers won 5–2 on aggregate and retained their spot in the NIFL Premiership for the 2017–18 season; Institute remained in the NIFL Championship.

Top goalscorers

As of 18 April 2017
Rank Scorer Club Goals[15]
1 Northern Ireland Andrew Mitchell Dungannon Swifts 25
2 Northern Ireland Paul Heatley Crusaders 21
3 Northern Ireland Andrew Waterworth Linfield 20
Northern Ireland Jordan Owens Crusaders 20
5 Northern Ireland Cathair Friel Ballymena United 17
6 Northern Ireland Curtis Allen Glentoran 16
7 Northern Ireland Tony Kane Ballymena United 14
Northern Ireland Aaron Burns Linfield 14
Northern Ireland Jamie McGonigle Coleraine 14
10 Northern Ireland Johnny McMurray Ballymena United 12
11 Northern Ireland Adam Lecky Ballinamallard United 11
Northern Ireland Michael Ruddy Ards 11
13 Republic of Ireland Greg Moorhouse Glenavon 10
Northern Ireland Gavin Whyte Crusaders 10
Northern Ireland James Mclaughlin Coleraine 10

References

  1. ↑ http://www.irishleaguesupporters.com/attteam.php?atthometeam=Linfield&attseason=1617&atthomeaway=home
  2. ↑ http://www.irishleaguesupporters.com/attteam.php?atthometeam=Carrick%20Rangers&attseason=1617&atthomeaway=home
  3. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Linfield clinch title by beating Cliftonville". BBC Sport. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "2016–17 SEASON FIXTURES RELEASED". nifootballleague.com. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Warrenpoint Town relegated after appeal dismissed". BBC Online. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "IRISH LEAGUE: Ards promoted to Danske Bank Premiership". News Letter. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Irish Premiership play-off: Late Mallards goal secures aggregate win". BBC Online. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Portadown down 12 points in Danske Bank Premiership season following IFA fine". Belfast Telegraph. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Portadown handed 12-point deduction for next season over Peter McMahon case - BBC Sport". BBC Online. BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "Premiership 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Portadown forfeit match against Ards after playing suspended Robert Garrett". BBC Online. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  14. ↑ "Glenavon to appeal IFA ruling on David Elebert". BelfastLive. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  15. ↑ "FIFA NI Premiership top scorers". Retrieved 11 August 2016.
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