2019–20 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership
Season	2019–20
Dates	9 August 2019 – 7 March 2020
Champions	Linfield; 6th Premiership title; 54th Irish title
Relegated	Institute
UEFA Champions League	Linfield
UEFA Europa League	Glentoran (via Irish Cup); Coleraine
Matches played	186
Goals scored	566 (3.04 per match)
Top goalscorer	Joe Gormley (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Linfield 7–0 Glenavon; (28 September 2019); Linfield 7–0 Warrenpoint Town; (22 October 2019); Linfield 8–1 Glenavon; (25 January 2020)
Biggest away win	Institute 0–6 Crusaders; (7 September 2019)
Highest scoring	Linfield 8–1 Glenavon; (25 January 2020)
Highest attendance	6,000; Glentoran 3–0 Linfield; (26 December 2019)
Lowest attendance	58; Warrenpoint Town 1–3 Institute; (28 September 2019)
Total attendance	221,733
Average attendance	1,192
	← 2018–19 2020–21 →

The 2019–20 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 119th season of Irish league football overall, and the 7th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.

Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 54th time and the 2nd consecutive season. The season was curtailed after round 31 of the scheduled 38 rounds of matches, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

Summary

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.^[2] However, the season was suspended on 13 March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, with the clubs having only played 31 of the 38 rounds of fixtures. The season did not resume after the suspension, with the final games having been played on 7 March 2020.

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Linfield were the defending champions, having lifted the league title for a record 53rd time the previous season.^[5] They successfully defended the 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.^[6] 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. The promotion/relegation play-off was cancelled, meaning 11th-placed Warrenpoint Town were reprieved. However, automatic relegation still took place, meaning Institute faced the drop back into the NIFL Championship. On 29 June 2020, the club lodged an appeal with the Irish FA against their relegation.^[7] However, the appeal was rejected by the IFA, and the club decided not to pursue the matter any further.^[8]

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

Teams

Belfast

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Locations of the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership teams

2019–20 NIFL Premiership is located in Greater Belfast

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

Twelve teams competed in the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership, ten of which had retained their Premiership status from the previous season. The previous 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 the Premiership as 2018–19 NIFL Championship winners.^[9] 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 Premiership for the 2008–09 season.

The previous 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.^[10]

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity^‡^[11]^[12]
Ballymena United	The Showgrounds	Ballymena	3,050 (2,280 seated)
Carrick Rangers	Loughshore Hotel Arena	Carrickfergus	4,500 (250 seated)
Cliftonville	Solitude	Belfast	2,530 (all seated)
Coleraine	The Showgrounds	Coleraine	2,496 (1,106 seated)
Crusaders	Seaview	Belfast	3,383 (all seated)
Dungannon Swifts	Stangmore Park	Dungannon	5,000 (300 seated)
Glenavon	Mourneview Park	Lurgan	4,160 (4,000 seated)
Glentoran	The Oval	Belfast	6,054 (4,989 seated)
Institute	Brandywell Stadium	Derry	7,700 (2,900 seated)
Larne	Inver Park	Larne	2,000 (1,250 seated)
Linfield	Windsor Park	Belfast	18,614 (all seated)
Warrenpoint Town	Milltown	Warrenpoint	1,280 (150 seated)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification or relegation^[a]
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
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	Qualification for the Europa League preliminary round^[b]
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^[c]	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^[13]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ The season was curtailed after 31 fixtures due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland. Standings were decided by a points per game average.
^ Glentoran qualified for the Europa League preliminary round by winning the 2019–20 Irish Cup.
^ The promotion/relegation play-off was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland. Warrenpoint Town were reprieved from relegation.

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
Legend: 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
Legend: 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^[14]
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

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "NIFL Premiership results 2019-2020". Northern Ireland Football League.
^ "KEY DATES FOR 2019/2020 SEASON". NIFL. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
^ "Irish Premiership: Independent panel to decide positions if NIFL two-game plan is rejected". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
^ "Irish Premiership: Season curtailed and mathematical formula to decide final standings". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
^ "Irish Premiership: Linfield secure title with draw against Crusaders". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
^ "Irish Premiership: Linfield officially crowned 2019-20 league champions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
^ "Irish Premiership: Institute launch appeal against relegation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
^ "Institute: Club decide not to pursue arbitration route after automatic relegation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
^ "Championship: Larne beat Mallards to clinch title and promotion to Premiership". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^ "Ards 1-2 Carrick Rangers (1-3 agg): Niall Currie's side promoted after play-off win over Ards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
^ "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
^ "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
^ "NIFL Premiership Rules 2018–19" (PDF). NIFL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
^ "Irish Premiership Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 August 2019.

External links

Official website

[13] The season was curtailed after 31 fixtures due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland. Standings were decided by a points per game average.

[table_note_res_ELPRcup0.093359644568227-14] Glentoran qualified for the Europa League preliminary round by winning the 2019–20 Irish Cup.

[table_note_WPT0.093359644568227-15] The promotion/relegation play-off was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland. Warrenpoint Town were reprieved from relegation.

[Results-1] "NIFL Premiership results 2019-2020". Northern Ireland Football League.

[2] "KEY DATES FOR 2019/2020 SEASON". NIFL. Retrieved 24 June 2019.

[3] "Irish Premiership: Independent panel to decide positions if NIFL two-game plan is rejected". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2020.

[4] "Irish Premiership: Season curtailed and mathematical formula to decide final standings". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

[5] "Irish Premiership: Linfield secure title with draw against Crusaders". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2019.

[6] "Irish Premiership: Linfield officially crowned 2019-20 league champions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2020.

[7] "Irish Premiership: Institute launch appeal against relegation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2020.

[8] "Institute: Club decide not to pursue arbitration route after automatic relegation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 August 2020.

[9] "Championship: Larne beat Mallards to clinch title and promotion to Premiership". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

[10] "Ards 1-2 Carrick Rangers (1-3 agg): Niall Currie's side promoted after play-off win over Ards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 May 2019.

[11] "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

[12] "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.

[16] "NIFL Premiership Rules 2018–19" (PDF). NIFL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.

[17] "Irish Premiership Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 August 2019.

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v t e NIFL Premiership seasons
Irish League	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Irish Premier League	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
IFA Premiership	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
NIFL Premiership	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Belfast & District League (wartime)	1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19
Northern Regional League (wartime)	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47

v t e 2019–20 in Northern Irish football
Domestic leagues	NIFL Premiership NIFL Championship NIFL Premier Intermediate League
Domestic cups	Irish Cup Northern Ireland Football League Cup County Antrim Shield
Other cups	Scottish Challenge Cup
European competitions	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Related to national team	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification (Group C)

v t e 2019–20 in European men's football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '19 '20 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia '19 '20 Faroe Islands '19 '20 Finland '19 '20 France Georgia '19 '20 Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '19 '20 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '19 '20 Kosovo Latvia '19 '20 Lithuania '19 '20 Luxembourg Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Northern Ireland Norway '19 '20 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '19 '20 Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '19 '20 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '19 '20 Finland '19 '20 France Georgia '19 '20 Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '19 '20 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '19 Kosovo Latvia '19 '20 Liechtenstein Lithuania '19 '20 Luxembourg Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Northern Ireland Norway '19 '20 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '19 '20 Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
League cups	England France Iceland '19 '20 Israel Northern Ireland Portugal Republic of Ireland '19 '20 Scotland Wales
Supercups	Albania Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus England Estonia '19 '20 Faroe Islands France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Hungary Iceland Israel Italy Kazakhstan Kosovo Lithuania '19 '20 Malta Netherlands Norway '19 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '19 '20 Romania Russia San Marino Spain Turkey Ukraine
UEFA competitions	Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round group stage knockout phase Final Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round Champions Path Main Path group stage knockout phase Final Super Cup Youth League UEFA Champions League Path Domestic Champions Path knockout phase
International competitions	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup 2021 Euro Under-21 qualification 2020 Euro Under-19 qualification 2020 Euro Under-17 qualification Football at the 2020 Summer Olympics