2015–16 NIFL Championship

The 2015–16 NIFL Championship (known as the Belfast Telegraph Championship for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the eighth and final season of the competition in this format since its establishment after a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland, and the third season of the league as part of the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL), which took over from the Irish Football Association (IFA) for the 2013–14 season onwards.[2] The season began on 8 August 2015, and concluded on 30 April 2016.

NIFL Championship
Season2015–16

Changes from 2014–15

Competition changes

League restructure proposals to be introduced over a three-season period were approved by the NIFL on 25 June 2014. The second phase, coming into effect this season, amended the Championship rules:

  • Club development – a Club Development/Support programme will be developed and implemented to assist clubs to develop their club infrastructure and comply with licensing requirements.
  • Championship 2 – following the relegation of Ballymoney United to regional football the previous season, Championship 2 will reduce in size to 14 clubs this season, before reducing further to 12 clubs next season.
  • Promotion/relegation play-off – for the second consecutive season, the highest ranked club with a Championship licence, finishing in positions 2–6 in Championship 1 will participate in a promotion/relegation play-off for a place in the Premiership.
  • Promotion and relegation – the three lowest ranked clubs (12th, 13th, 14th) will be relegated from Championship 1 and there will be a play-off between the club finishing in 11th position in Championship 1 and the runners-up in Championship 2. There will be no play-off if the club in Championship 2 has not received a licence for senior football. The five lowest ranked clubs (10th to 14th) will also be relegated from Championship 2 to regional football. However, if there is no eligible regional champion for promotion, only four clubs will be relegated with the 10th-placed club reprieved.

Team changes

Carrick Rangers won the previous season's Championship 1 title, winning promotion back to the top flight for the first time since their relegation in the 2011–12 season.[3] In the bottom two, Dundela and PSNI were relegated to this season's Championship 2, while Lurgan Celtic and Annagh United went in the opposite direction after finishing first and second in Championship 2. For the second successive season, a club was relegated to regional football. Ballymoney United finished bottom of Championship 2 and were relegated to a regional division for the following season. As a result, Championship 2 reduced in size to 14 clubs.

Promoted from Championship 1 to the Premiership

Relegated from the Premiership to Championship 1

Promoted from Championship 2 to Championship 1

Relegated from Championship 1 to Championship 2

  • PSNI (13th in Championship 1)
  • Dundela (14th in Championship 1)

Relegated from Championship 2 to Level 4 Regional League

Championship 1
NIFL Championship 1
ChampionsArds
PromotedArds
RelegatedBangor (demoted)
Donegal Celtic
Lisburn Distillery
Matches played182
Goals scored632 (3.47 per match)
Biggest home winArmagh City 6–0 Lurgan Celtic
(7 November 2015)
Biggest away winLisburn Distillery 1–9 Armagh City
(2 April 2016)
Highest scoringLoughgall 3–7 Larne
(17 October 2015)
Lisburn Distillery 1–9 Armagh City
(2 April 2016)

Stadia and locations
Location of teams in the 2015-16 NIFL Championship 1
Location of the Belfast-based teams in the NIFL Championship 1 2015-16
Club Stadium Location Capacity
Annagh UnitedTandragee RoadPortadown1,250 (100 seated)
ArdsClandeboye ParkBangor2,850 (500 seated)
Armagh CityHolm ParkArmagh3,000 (330 seated)
Ballyclare ComradesDixon ParkBallyclare1,800 (500 seated)
BangorClandeboye ParkBangor2,850 (500 seated)
DergviewDarragh ParkCastlederg1,200 (100 seated)
Donegal CelticDonegal Celtic ParkBelfast2,330 (650 seated)
Harland & Wolff WeldersTillysburn ParkBelfast3,000 (100 seated)
InstituteRiverside StadiumDrumahoe3,110 (1,540 seated)
KnockbredaBreda ParkKnockbreda1,000 (100 seated)
LarneInver ParkLarne1,100 (656 seated)
Lisburn DistilleryNew Grosvenor StadiumBallyskeagh7,000 (540 seated)
LoughgallLakeview ParkLoughgall3,000 (180 seated)
Lurgan CelticKnockrammer ParkLurgan1,000 (100 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Ards (C, P) 26 17 3 6 59 35 +24 54 Promotion to the NIFL Premiership
2 Harland & Wolff Welders[lower-alpha 2] 26 15 6 5 54 28 +26 51
3 Armagh City[lower-alpha 2] 26 13 5 8 64 36 +28 44
4 Knockbreda[lower-alpha 2] 26 12 7 7 48 32 +16 43
5 Institute 26 12 6 8 40 20 +20 42 Qualification for the promotion play-off[lower-alpha 3]
6 Larne 26 12 6 8 64 45 +19 42
7 Lurgan Celtic 26 11 6 9 40 40 0 39
8 Ballyclare Comrades 26 9 10 7 44 40 +4 37
9 Loughgall 26 10 6 10 45 54 −9 36
10 Bangor (R) 26 10 5 11 44 40 +4 35 Demotion to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League[lower-alpha 4]
11 Dergview 26 9 8 9 41 40 +1 35
12 Annagh United[lower-alpha 5] 26 7 6 13 37 57 −20 27
13 Donegal Celtic (R) 26 2 4 20 34 80 −46 10 Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League
14 Lisburn Distillery (R) 26 2 4 20 18 85 −67 10
Source: Northern Ireland Football League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots.[6]
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Teams played each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 26 matches.
  2. Harland & Wolff Welders, Armagh City and Knockbreda did not apply for the Promotion Licence required for promotion to the Premiership. As a result, they were ineligible for the promotion play-off.
  3. As the highest-ranked Championship 1 club outside the top two to successfully attain a Promotion Licence, Institute qualified for the promotion play-off against the 11th-placed Premiership club.
  4. Bangor were demoted to the third tier as their application for the mandatory second tier Championship Licence was refused.[4] As a result, the highest-ranked Championship 2 club to successfully attain the licence (PSNI) was automatically promoted to replace Bangor in the second tier.
  5. Limavady United (in Championship 2) applied for the mandatory second tier 'Championship Licence' but were refused. As a result, the 12th-placed Championship 1 club was reprieved from relegation.[5]

Results

Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games.

Home \ Away ANN ARD ARM BCC BGR DGV DGC H&W INS KNB LRN LIS LGL LGC
Annagh United 1–3 2–1 1–1 1–3 3–3 2–3 0–5 0–2 1–2 0–5 1–2 3–2 2–3
Ards 4–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–1 3–3 0–2 2–0 2–2 5–2 3–0 1–1
Armagh City 1–1 4–3 4–0 3–4 3–1 2–2 1–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 3–0 4–0 6–0
Ballyclare Comrades 2–2 0–2 2–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 3–3 1–0 1–3 3–2 4–1 1–1 1–3
Bangor 1–3 2–4 2–0 0–1 2–0 5–0 1–2 1–0 2–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–3
Dergview 4–4 1–0 0–1 0–4 1–2 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 2–4 3–1
Donegal Celtic 0–1 2–3 1–3 0–4 1–3 2–6 1–2 1–4 1–2 1–6 1–4 0–1 1–2
Harland & Wolff Welders 3–0 3–4 1–1 3–0 1–0 3–0 6–2 3–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–2
Institute 0–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 4–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 3–0
Knockbreda 3–3 2–0 1–3 2–2 1–0 3–0 3–3 1–0 1–0 3–0 2–2 2–2 0–0
Larne 2–0 1–6 4–4 0–0 1–1 3–2 5–0 2–1 1–3 0–3 6–1 2–2 1–0
Lisburn Distillery 0–3 0–3 1–9 1–1 2–2 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–4 0–3 0–7 1–5 0–4
Loughgall 1–0 2–0 3–3 3–2 4–3 0–2 3–1 2–2 1–0 0–7 3–7 3–0 0–1
Lurgan Celtic 1–2 1–2 0–2 2–2 2–1 0–2 3–3 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–3 2–0 2–1
Source: NI Football League
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship 2
NIFL Championship 2
ChampionsLimavady United
PromotedPSNI
RelegatedCoagh United
Dollingstown
Glebe Rangers
Portstewart
Wakehurst
Matches played182
Goals scored575 (3.16 per match)
Biggest home winPSNI 7–0 Moyola Park
(30 April 2016)
Biggest away winBanbridge Town 0–6 Sport & Leisure Swifts
(5 September 2015)
Highest scoringQueen's University 4–5 Portstewart
(28 November 2015)

Stadia and locations
Location of teams in the 2015-16 NIFL Championship 2
Newington
Sport & Leisure Swifts
Queen's University
Location of the Belfast-based teams in the NIFL Championship 2 2015-16
Club Stadium Location Capacity
Banbridge TownCrystal ParkBanbridge1,500 (100 seated)
Coagh UnitedHagan ParkCoagh2,000 (179 seated)
DollingstownPlanters ParkLurgan1,000 (100 seated)
DundelaWilgar ParkBelfast2,500 (100 seated)
Glebe RangersRiada StadiumBallymoney5,752 (218 seated)
Limavady UnitedThe ShowgroundsLimavady1,000 (174 seated)
Moyola ParkMill MeadowCastledawson1,000 (200 seated)
Newington YCSeaviewBelfast3,383 (all seated)
PortstewartSeahavenPortstewart1,000 (100 seated)
PSNINewforge LaneBelfast500 (112 seated)
Queen's UniversityDub StadiumBelfast1,000 (100 seated)
Sport & Leisure SwiftsGlen Road HeightsBelfast500 (215 seated)
Tobermore UnitedFortwilliam ParkTobermore1,500 (100 seated)
WakehurstMill MeadowCastledawson1,000 (200 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Limavady United[lower-alpha 2] (C) 26 18 5 3 66 27 +39 59
2 PSNI (P) 26 18 5 3 59 23 +36 59 Promotion to the NIFL Championship[lower-alpha 3]
3 Sport & Leisure Swifts 26 13 8 5 59 28 +31 47
4 Tobermore United 26 13 5 8 38 31 +7 44
5 Moyola Park 26 12 5 9 40 34 +6 41
6 Banbridge Town 26 9 9 8 35 34 +1 36
7 Queen's University 26 10 6 10 35 37 −2 36
8 Dundela 26 11 3 12 38 47 −9 36
9 Newington YC 26 9 7 10 38 38 0 34
10 Dollingstown (R) 26 9 7 10 46 51 −5 34 Relegation to the tier 4 regional leagues
11 Glebe Rangers (R) 26 9 5 12 34 46 −12 32
12 Coagh United (R) 26 6 4 16 28 54 −26 22
13 Portstewart (R) 26 6 3 17 34 58 −24 21
14 Wakehurst (R) 26 1 4 21 25 67 −42 7
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2016. Source: Northern Ireland Football League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots.[6]
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Teams play each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 26 matches.
  2. Limavady United were ineligible for promotion as their application for the mandatory second tier licence was refused.[5]
  3. Bangor (in Championship 1) were demoted to the third tier as they failed to apply for the mandatory second tier 'Championship Licence'.[4] As a result, PSNI, the highest-ranked Championship 2 club to successfully attain the licence was automatically promoted to replace Bangor in the second tier.

Results

Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games.

Home \ Away BBT COA DOL DND GBE LIM MOY NTN PST PSNI QUE SLS TOB WAK
Banbridge Town 1–2 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–3 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–6 3–4 1–0
Coagh United 1–1 2–1 2–3 0–0 2–5 1–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–4 0–1 0–1 1–0
Dollingstown 1–5 3–1 4–0 2–2 0–1 1–0 3–3 3–0 1–2 1–2 2–2 0–0 4–2
Dundela 0–1 3–1 2–3 3–2 0–2 0–3 1–0 3–1 0–1 1–1 2–5 4–0 3–2
Glebe Rangers 1–0 3–2 3–4 3–1 0–4 1–3 1–1 1–3 1–2 1–0 0–4 2–1 2–1
Limavady United 2–2 4–1 3–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 4–0 3–1 4–2 1–1 2–2 2–0 5–1
Moyola Park 0–0 3–0 6–1 0–0 1–0 0–4 0–3 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 4–1
Newington YC 0–0 3–1 5–2 0–1 4–1 0–4 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–3 1–0
Portstewart 1–3 0–2 2–2 1–3 3–1 2–3 3–0 3–4 0–3 2–1 1–1 2–5 2–2
PSNI 3–3 3–0 3–1 3–2 1–0 3–0 7–0 3–0 5–0 4–0 4–2 2–0 2–0
Queen's University 1–1 3–2 0–2 0–0 0–3 0–2 3–2 1–0 4–5 4–0 1–2 0–2 3–1
Sport & Leisure Swifts 0–2 4–0 1–1 1–3 3–1 4–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 7–1
Tobermore United 3–1 2–1 2–0 5–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–4 0–1
Wakehurst 1–2 2–2 1–2 2–3 2–2 1–5 0–3 1–2 0–2 1–2 2–3 0–4 0–0
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2016. Source: NI Football League
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References
  1. BELFAST TELEGRAPH SPONSOR THE IFA CHAMPIONSHIP Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE". NIFL Premiership.
  3. "Carrick Rangers are promoted to Irish Premiership". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  4. "Bangor are facing third tier demotion over a lack of licence". Belfast Telegraph. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  5. "FOOTBALL: Limavady United can't win promotion - licence 'rejected'". Londonderry Sentinel. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  6. "NIFL Regulations and Club Information – Season 2015/16" (PDF). Northern Ireland Football League. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
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