2019–20 NIFL Premiership

The 2019–20 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 119th season of Irish league football overall, and the seventh season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League. The fixtures were released on 26 June 2019. The season began on 9 August 2019 and was initially scheduled to conclude on 25 April 2020, with the promotion/relegation play-off scheduled to take place in the first week of May 2020.[1] However, after 31 rounds of fixtures had been played, the season was suspended on 13 March 2020 as a result of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. No further fixtures were played, with the final games being played on 7 March 2020.

NIFL Premiership
Season2019–20
Dates9 August 2019 – 7 March 2020
ChampionsLinfield
54th Irish title
RelegatedInstitute
UEFA Champions LeagueLinfield
UEFA Europa LeagueColeraine
Matches played186
Goals scored566 (3.04 per match)
Top goalscorerJoe Gormley (18 goals)
Biggest home winLinfield 7–0 Glenavon
(28 September 2019)
Linfield 7–0 Warrenpoint Town
(22 October 2019)
Linfield 8–1 Glenavon
(25 January 2020)
Biggest away winInstitute 0–6 Crusaders
(7 September 2019)
Highest scoringLinfield 8–1 Glenavon
(25 January 2020)
2020–21 →

The Irish FA initially suspended all football-related activity in Northern Ireland until 4 April, with this suspension subsequently being extended first until 30 April, and then until 31 May. On 9 June, NIFL gave clubs the opportunity to vote on two options to conclude the remainder of the season, both of which were rejected by a majority of clubs. The first option was playing two more rounds of fixtures behind closed doors and curtailing the league season after 33 games. This would have meant that every club had played every other club three times. The second option was to curtail the season immediately, and use a mathematical formula chosen by an independent panel to calculate the final standings.[2] On 23 June 2020, after talks between the clubs had failed to find a consensus on an alternative option, NIFL announced that the season was over, and that a mathematical formula would be used to determine the final league standings.[3]

Linfield were the defending champions, having lifted the league title for a record 53rd time the previous season.[4] They successfully defended their title to win a record 54th league championship, after NIFL announced that the final league standings would be decided by a points per game average. Every team had played 31 games, so the application of points per game was academic, and there were no changes to the standings.[5] This meant that Linfield equalled the world record for the most league titles won by any club, a record now shared with Scottish club Rangers.

Linfield qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League preliminary round, while runners-up Coleraine qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League preliminary round, along with the 2019–20 Irish Cup winners.

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

Twelve teams are competing in the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership, ten of which retained their Premiership status from the previous season. Last season's bottom Premiership club, Newry City, were relegated to the 2019–20 NIFL Championship after only one season in the top flight, and were replaced by Larne, who were promoted to this season's Premiership as 2018–19 NIFL Championship winners.[6] This marked a return to the top flight for the first time in 11 years for Larne, after they were relegated at the end of the 2007–08 season when they did not apply for a place in the newly-introduced Premiership for the following season.

Last season's 11th-placed Premiership team, Ards, faced 2018–19 NIFL Championship runners-up, Carrick Rangers, in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off. Carrick Rangers won the tie 3–1 on aggregate to secure promotion to this season's Premiership, with Ards relegated to replace them in the Championship. This brought an end to Ards' three-season stay in the top flight, and meant an immediate return to the Premiership for Carrick Rangers after only one season in the Championship.[7]

Stadia and locations
Club Stadium Location Capacity‡[8][9]
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,050 (2,280 seated)
Carrick RangersLoughshore Hotel ArenaCarrickfergus4,500 (250 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)
InstituteBrandywell StadiumDerry7,700 (2,900 seated)
LarneInver ParkLarne2,000 (1,250 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,614 (all seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint1,280 (150 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Linfield (C) 31 22 3 6 71 24 +47 69 2.23 Qualification for the Champions League preliminary round
2 Coleraine 31 19 8 4 64 24 +40 65 2.10 Qualification for the Europa League preliminary round[lower-alpha 2]
3 Crusaders 31 17 8 6 66 30 +36 59 1.90
4 Cliftonville 31 18 5 8 48 22 +26 59 1.90
5 Glentoran 31 17 7 7 60 33 +27 58 1.87
6 Larne 31 16 8 7 59 29 +30 56 1.81
7 Glenavon 31 10 5 16 46 71 −25 35 1.13
8 Carrick Rangers 31 10 2 19 34 47 −13 32 1.03
9 Dungannon Swifts 31 8 6 17 36 76 −40 30 0.97
10 Ballymena United 31 7 6 18 34 54 −20 27 0.87
11 Warrenpoint Town 31 5 3 23 26 85 −59 18 0.58
12 Institute (R) 31 2 9 20 23 72 −49 15 0.48 Relegation to the NIFL Championship
Source: NIFL Premiership
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots[10]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. The season was curtailed after 31 fixtures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Standings were decided by a points per game average.
  2. The 2019–20 Irish Cup winners will also qualify for the Europa League preliminary round

Results

Matches 1–22

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

Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT INS LAR LIN WPT
Ballymena United — 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–3 1–2 4–0
Carrick Rangers 0–1 — 0–1 1–4 1–3 1–0 6–2 0–1 3–0 1–2 0–3 1–0
Cliftonville 1–0 3–1 — 1–0 0–2 5–0 3–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 4–0
Coleraine 2–0 3–2 1–1 — 4–2 5–0 4–0 2–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 3–0
Crusaders 0–1 3–0 1–2 0–2 — 3–0 3–2 5–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 4–0
Dungannon Swifts 2–2 2–1 0–4 0–2 1–6 — 2–1 3–1 2–2 0–1 1–4 3–1
Glenavon 3–1 1–0 1–2 0–4 2–2 5–0 — 1–1 3–1 1–3 1–0 2–0
Glentoran 3–1 3–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 6–1 4–0 — 4–0 2–1 3–0 2–1
Institute 1–1 0–2 0–3 2–0 0–6 2–3 1–4 1–1 — 1–4 0–3 0–1
Larne 2–4 0–0 1–1 2–2 0–0 0–0 6–0 2–3 1–1 — 3–1 6–0
Linfield 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–4 1–1 0–0 7–0 1–0 3–1 1–0 — 7–0
Warrenpoint Town 2–1 0–3 1–5 3–1 0–1 4–3 1–3 0–4 1–3 0–2 0–2 —
Source: NIFL Premiership
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 23–31

During matches 23–33 each team was scheduled to play every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). However, two rounds of fixtures did not take place, after the league season was curtailed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT INS LAR LIN WPT
Ballymena United — 0–2 — 0–2 — — 0–3 — — 2–3 1–4 —
Carrick Rangers — — 1–0 0–2 — 1–2 — — — — 0–2 1–2
Cliftonville 1–1 — — — — 1–1 1–0 — — — 1–2 —
Coleraine — — 1–0 — 0–1 — 2–1 — — — 1–1 —
Crusaders 2–0 — 0–0 — — 5–0 — — 2–1 3–0 — —
Dungannon Swifts 1–0 — — — — — — 0–2 2–0 0–2 — 4–4
Glenavon — — — — 2–1 — — 2–2 2–2 — — 1–1
Glentoran 2–0 0–0 0–2 0–1 — — — — — — — 2–1
Institute — 0–3 — 0–4 — — — 0–2 — 0–4 — —
Larne — 4–0 1–2 — — — 1–0 2–1 — — — 1–0
Linfield — — — — 4–0 2–1 8–1 — 3–0 — — —
Warrenpoint Town — — — 0–4 0–4 — — — 2–2 — 1–2 —
Source: NIFL Premiership
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.

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed Premiership team usually played the Championship runners-up over two legs for one spot in the following season's NIFL Premiership, with the Premiership team given home advantage for the second leg. However, the play-off was cancelled when the league was curtailed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Top goalscorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals[11]
1 Joe Gormley Cliftonville 18
2 Robbie McDaid Glentoran 15
3 Andrew Waterworth Linfield 13
4 David McDaid Larne 12
Jamie McGonigle Crusaders 12
Hrvoje Plum Glentoran 12
7 Joel Cooper Linfield 11
Conor McMenamin Cliftonville 11
Jonathan McMurray Larne 11
Jordan Owens Crusaders 11

References
  1. "KEY DATES FOR 2019/2020 SEASON". NIFL. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  2. "Irish Premiership: Independent panel to decide positions if NIFL two-game plan is rejected". BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  3. "Irish Premiership: Season curtailed and mathematical formula to decide final standings". BBC. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  4. "Irish Premiership: Linfield secure title with draw against Crusaders". BBC. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  5. "Irish Premiership: Linfield officially crowned 2019-20 league champions". BBC. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. "Championship: Larne beat Mallards to clinch title and promotion to Premiership". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. "Ards 1-2 Carrick Rangers (1-3 agg): Niall Currie's side promoted after play-off win over Ards". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  8. "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  9. "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  10. "NIFL Premiership Rules 2018–19" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  11. "Irish Premiership Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
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