2019–20 NIFL Championship

The 2019–20 NIFL Championship was the fourth season of the NIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the Northern Ireland Football League - the national football league in Northern Ireland. The season began on 3 August 2019 and concluded prematurely due to the Covid-19 pandemic on 9 June 2020.

NIFL Championship
Season2019–20
Dates3 August 2019 – 9 June 2020
ChampionsPortadown
PromotedPortadown
RelegatedPSNI
Matches played183
Goals scored651 (3.56 per match)
Biggest home winBallyclare Comrades 8–0
H&W Welders
(13 August 2019)
Biggest away winKnockbreda 0–8 Ards
(26 December 2019)
Highest scoringBallinamallard United 6–4
PSNI
(22 February 2020)
2020–21 →

Larne are the current champions. However, due to their promotion to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership, they are unable to defend their title.

Teams
Locations of the 2019–20 NIFL Championship teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2019–20 NIFL Championship teams

The 2019–20 NIFL Championship is being contested by 12 teams, nine of which retained their Championship status from the previous season. Larne were champions in the previous season, and were promoted to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by the bottom team in last season's Premiership, Newry City. Runners-up Carrick Rangers won 3–1 on aggregate in the promotion play-off against Ards, also achieving promotion to the Premiership for this season and relegating Ards to the Championship.

The bottom team from the previous season, Limavady United, were relegated to the third-tier NIFL Premier Intermediate League. They were replaced by Queen's University, winners of the Premier Intermediate League. The eleventh-placed team from the previous season, PSNI, remained in the Championship this season, after defeating the NIFL Premier Intermediate League runners-up Annagh United 5–3 on aggregate in the relegation play-off.

Stadia and locations
Club Stadium Location Capacity[1]
ArdsBangor Fuels ArenaBangor1,895 (500 seated)
Ballinamallard UnitedFerney ParkBallinamallard2,000 (250 seated)
Ballyclare ComradesDixon ParkBallyclare5,333
DergviewDarragh ParkCastlederg1,200
DundelaWilgar ParkBelfast2,500
Harland & Wolff WeldersTillysburn ParkBelfast3,000
KnockbredaBreda ParkBelfast1,000
LoughgallLakeview ParkLoughgall3,000
Newry CityThe ShowgroundsNewry2,275 (1,080 seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)
PSNINewforge LaneBelfast1,500
Queen's UniversityUpper MaloneBelfast1,000 (330 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Portadown (P) 31 20 6 5 72 30 +42 66 Promotion to the NIFL Premiership
2 Ballinamallard United 30 19 3 8 71 34 +37 60
3 Loughgall 31 18 4 9 64 45 +19 58
4 Ards 31 16 6 9 68 44 +24 54
5 Newry City 30 15 6 9 55 32 +23 51
6 Dundela 31 13 7 11 43 49 −6 46
7 Ballyclare Comrades 30 11 7 12 53 49 +4 40
8 Harland & Wolff Welders 31 10 5 16 52 63 −11 35
9 Queen's University 31 11 1 19 59 69 −10 34
10 Dergview 30 8 5 17 38 54 −16 29
11 Knockbreda 30 7 4 19 36 84 −48 25
12 PSNI (R) 30 7 2 21 40 98 −58 23 Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League
Updated to match(es) played on 10 March 2020. Source: NIFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots[2]
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league splits into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

Results

Matches 1–22

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

Home \ Away ARD BMD BCC DGV DUN HAR KNB LGL NEW POR PSN QUE
Ards — 3–2 2–0 5–2 1–1 1–0 2–3 3–0 0–3 2–4 3–0 3–2
Ballinamallard United 1–1 — 5–0 2–1 4–0 4–2 0–1 2–3 0–1 4–2 5–0 2–0
Ballyclare Comrades 1–1 2–0 — 1–1 0–1 8–0 4–0 4–5 0–1 0–1 1–2 3–2
Dergview 3–1 2–0 1–1 — 0–2 0–3 3–1 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–4 3–2
Dundela 0–3 0–4 0–0 1–0 — 3–2 5–0 1–3 1–1 1–1 5–2 3–1
Harland & Wolff Welders 1–2 0–2 3–0 2–2 1–2 — 2–3 1–2 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–1
Knockbreda 0–1 1–4 1–3 1–1 0–2 2–2 — 3–0[‡] 1–4 0–5 1–1 1–3
Loughgall 0–3[‡] 1–2 1–4 2–1 0–0 4–1 0–3 — 1–0 0–0 6–0 0–1
Newry City 5–1 1–3 5–1 1–2 4–0 1–2 2–2 3–4 — 1–2 1–2 1–0
Portadown 2–1 0–1 5–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 0–0 — 5–0 3–1
PSNI 0–4 0–4 2–6 3–1 0–1 1–4 3–2 1–4 1–6 0–1 — 5–3
Queen's University 3–1 0–2 1–2 2–1 5–2 5–2 3–2 0–4 1–3 3–3 5–1 —
Source: NIFL Championship
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
  1. ^
    NIFL awarded results as 3–0 wins to Ards and Knockbreda against Loughgall, after Loughgall fielded an ineligible player in both matches.[3]

Matches 23–33

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

Home \ Away ARD BMD BCC DGV DUN HAR KNB LGL NEW POR PSN QUE
Ards — — 2–2 3–1 — 1–2 — — 1–1 0–1 —
Ballinamallard United 2–2 — 3–0 1–0 — — 1–2 — — 6–4 —
Ballyclare Comrades — — — 2–0 — 0–1 1–1 1–1 — — 2–0
Dergview — — — — 1–0 — — 3–1 — 2–0
Dundela 1–5 — 4–2 — — 1–0 — 1–1 0–0 — —
Harland & Wolff Welders — 1–2 — 1–1 — — — — — 2–4 3–1
Knockbreda 0–8 — — 2–6 — — — — 4–2 —
Loughgall — — — 2–1 — 3–1 4–0 — — 0–2 —
Newry City 1–0 — — — 0–0 3–1 0–3 — — 3–0 —
Portadown — 3–3 0–2 — — — 4–0 — — — 7–1
PSNI — — 2–4 — — — — 0–2 — 0–4
Queen's University 1–2 — — 3–1 — 4–0 2–5 0–1 — — —
Updated to match(es) played on 10 March 2020. Source: NIFL Championship
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 34–38

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

Play-offs

NIFL Premiership play-offs

See: 2019–20 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Championship play-off

It was announced by NIFL that on 9th June the season would be concluded using a mathematical formula and promotion and relegation play offs would not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

References
  1. "Championship 2018/2019 - Venues". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. "NIFL Championship - Rules and Regulations" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  3. "STATEMENT: 30 APRIL 2020". Northern Ireland Football League. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
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