2022–23 NIFL Championship
| Season | 2022–23 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 Aug 2022 – 29 Apr 2023 |
| Champions | Loughgall |
| Promoted | Loughgall |
| Relegated | Warrenpoint Town |
← 2021–22 2023–24 → | |
The 2022–23 NIFL Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth 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 13 August 2022 and concluded on 29 April 2023.
Newry City were the champions of the previous season and promoted to the 2022–23 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by Warrenpoint Town, who were relegated from the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership. Queen's University were relegated to the 2022–23 NIFL Premier Intermediate League and replaced by Newington, the champions of the 2021–22 NIFL Premier Intermediate League.
Teams
[edit]
Stadia and locations
[edit]| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annagh United | Tandragee Road | Portadown | 1,250 (100 seated) |
| Ards | Bangor Fuels Arena | Bangor | 1,895 (500 seated) |
| Ballinamallard United | Ferney Park | Ballinamallard | 2,000 (250 seated) |
| Ballyclare Comrades | Dixon Park | Ballyclare | 5,333 |
| Dergview | Darragh Park | Castlederg | 1,200 |
| Dundela | Wilgar Park | Belfast | 2,500 |
| Harland & Wolff Welders | Tillysburn Park | Belfast | 3,000 |
| Institute | Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium | Derry | 8,200 |
| Knockbreda | Breda Park | Belfast | 1,000 |
| Loughgall | Lakeview Park | Loughgall | 3,000 |
| Newington | Solitude | Belfast | 8,000 (3,000 seated) |
| Warrenpoint Town | Milltown | Warrenpoint | 1,450 |
League table
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loughgall (C, P) | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 76 | 25 | +51 | 77 | Promotion to the NIFL Premiership |
| 2 | Warrenpoint Town (D, R) | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 67 | 45 | +22 | 71 | [b] |
| 3 | Annagh United | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 58 | 43 | +15 | 59 | Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off |
| 4 | Dundela | 38 | 18 | 4 | 16 | 57 | 58 | −1 | 58 | |
| 5 | Ards | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 72 | 75 | −3 | 56 | |
| 6 | Harland & Wolff Welders | 38 | 17 | 4 | 17 | 69 | 65 | +4 | 55 | |
| 7 | Ballyclare Comrades | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 66 | 63 | +3 | 55 | |
| 8 | Ballinamallard United | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 50 | 59 | −9 | 52 | |
| 9 | Newington | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 64 | 73 | −9 | 43 | |
| 10 | Dergview | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 51 | 68 | −17 | 41 | |
| 11 | Institute | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 50 | 63 | −13 | 38 | |
| 12 | Knockbreda (O) | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 47 | 90 | −43 | 33 | Qualification for the NIFL Championship play-off |
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]
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
- ^ Warrenpoint Town were refused an NIFL Championship license, resulting in disqualification from this season and demotion to the NIFL Intermediate League for the next season. Annagh United, who were in third place, accepted the NIFL's invite to take Warrenpoint's place in the NIFL Premiership play-off. Institute were reprieved from the NIFL Championship play-off and thus reprieved from relegation and replaced by Knockbreda, who were reprieved from automatic relegation, but had to compete again to stay in the division.
Results
[edit]
Matches 1–22[edit]During matches 1–22 each team plays every other team twice (home and away). |
Matches 23–33[edit]During matches 23–33 each team plays every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).
|
Matches 34–38
[edit]For the final five matches, the table splits into two halves, with the top six teams forming Section A and the bottom six teams forming Section B. Each team plays every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures are reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams have played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.
NIFL Championship play-off
[edit]The eleventh-placed club (Institute) were expected to face the second-placed club from the 2022–23 NIFL Premier Intermediate League (Ballymacash Rangers) for one place in the following season's Championship. However, after Warrenpoint Town were disqualified and expelled from the NIFL Championship, Institute were reprieved from the play-off and replaced by the bottom-placed NIFL Championship club, Knockbreda.[3]
First leg
[edit]| 30 May 2023 | Ballymacash Rangers | 2–4 | Knockbreda | The Bluebell Stadium |
| 19:45 BST (UTC+01) | Barr  34'Morrison 90+3' |
Rutkowski 45+5', 70' McGreevy 47'Greer 55' |
Second leg
[edit]| 3 June 2023 | Knockbreda | 0–0 (4–2 agg.) | Ballymacash Rangers | Breda Park |
| 13:00 BST (UTC+01) |
Season statistics
[edit]Top scorers
[edit]| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Salley | Ards | 27 |
| 2 | Matthew Ferguson | H&W Welders | 26 |
| 3 | Stephen Murray | Annagh United | 18 |
| - | Darius Roohi | Ballyclare Comrades | 18 |
References
[edit]- ^ "NIFL Championship Venues 2021-2022". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
- ^ "Rules and Regulations". NIFL. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ^ "Premiership Play-Off postponed after Warrenpoint Town denied playing license by Irish FA". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast Telegraph. 27 April 2023.