2018–19 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership

Season	2018–19
Dates	4 August 2018 – 27 April 2019
Champions	Linfield 5th Premiership title 53rd Irish title
Relegated	Newry City Ards (via play-off)
Champions League	Linfield
Europa League	Crusaders (via Irish Cup) Ballymena United Cliftonville (via play-offs)
Matches played	228
Goals scored	696 (3.05 per match)
Top goalscorer	Joe Gormley (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Ballymena United 6–1 Institute (19 March 2019)
Biggest away win	Warrenpoint Town 1–6 Ballymena United (1 September 2018) Warrenpoint Town 0–5 Linfield (7 September 2018) Warrenpoint Town 0–5 Glentoran (9 February 2019) Dungannon Swifts 0–5 Linfield (22 March 2019)
Highest scoring	Institute 6–4 Cliftonville (22 December 2018)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 118th season of Irish league football overall, and the 6th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.

Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 53rd time.

Summary

The season began on 4 August 2018 and concluded on 27 April 2019, with the play-offs for promotion/relegation and the Europa League then taking place in May 2019.

Crusaders were the defending champions from the previous season.^[1] However, they were unable to defend their title, finishing in fourth place. Linfield were the eventual champions, lifting the league title for the second time in three seasons, and stretching their record tally of title wins to 53 overall. The Blues were confirmed as the champions on 13 April 2019, following a 0–0 draw at home against the outgoing champions, Crusaders, which left Linfield 12 points clear at the top of the table, with only three games remaining and nine points left to play for.^[2]

For the second successive season, two clubs suffered relegation to the NIFL Championship. Newry City finished bottom of the table, and were relegated to the 2019–20 NIFL Championship after only one season in the top flight. Eleventh-placed 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 and relegate Ards. 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.^[3]

Premiership champions Linfield entered the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, with the runners-up (Ballymena United) and the play-off winners (Cliftonville) entering the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League along with the 2018–19 Irish Cup winners, Crusaders. Linfield also qualified to take part in the newly introduced Champions Cup against the 2019 League of Ireland Premier Division champions, Dundalk.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the 2018–19 NIFL Premiership, ten of which retained their Premiership status from the previous season. Ballinamallard United were relegated to the 2018–19 NIFL Championship after finishing bottom of the 2017–18 NIFL Premiership, and were replaced by Institute as winners of the 2017–18 NIFL Championship.

Carrick Rangers finished in the promotion-relegation play-off place, and lost their Premiership place after losing the play-off 6–3 on aggregate against Championship runners-up Newry City.

Stadia and locations

Belfast

Ards

Ballymena United

Coleraine

Dungannon Swifts

Glenavon

Institute

Newry City

Warrenpoint Town

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Locations of the 2018–19 NIFL Premiership teams

Cliftonville

Crusaders

Glentoran

Linfield

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Locations of the Belfast-based 2018–19 NIFL Premiership teams

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity^‡[4][5]
Ards	Bangor Fuels Arena	Bangor	1,895 (500 seated)
Ballymena United	The Showgrounds	Ballymena	3,050 (2,280 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)
Linfield	Windsor Park	Belfast	18,614 (all seated)
Newry City	The Showgrounds	Newry	2,275 (1,080 seated)
Warrenpoint Town	Milltown	Warrenpoint	1,280 (150 seated)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
1	Linfield (C)	38	26	7	5	77	27	+50	85	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Ballymena United	38	24	6	8	83	47	+36	78	Qualification for the Europa League preliminary round
3	Glenavon	38	20	10	8	74	46	+28	70	Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[b]
4	Crusaders	38	20	5	13	68	55	+13	65	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[c]
5	Cliftonville (O)	38	19	4	15	70	66	+4	61	Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[b]
6	Coleraine	38	15	11	12	59	55	+4	56
7	Glentoran	38	13	10	15	58	53	+5	49	Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[b]
8	Institute	38	13	5	20	50	72	−22	44
9	Dungannon Swifts	38	11	9	18	44	65	−21	42
10	Warrenpoint Town	38	10	9	19	51	79	−28	39
11	Ards (R)	38	6	9	23	31	63	−32	27	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12	Newry City (R)	38	6	5	27	31	68	−37	23	Relegation to the NIFL Championship

Source: NIFL Premiership, Soccerway
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^[6]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
2. Cliftonville qualified for the Europa League preliminary round as Europa League play-off winners.
3. Crusaders qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as 2018–19 Irish Cup winners.

Results

Matches 1–22 During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away). Home \ Away ARD BYM CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT INS LIN NEW WPT Ards — 1–2 1–3 0–0 0–1 2–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 2–1 4–0 1–1 Ballymena United 2–0 — 2–1 3–3 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 6–1 2–1 3–0 1–2 Cliftonville 3–1 3–2 — 1–2 1–5 5–1 4–2 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 3–1 Coleraine 1–0 2–2 1–2 — 1–0 2–1 1–4 1–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 3–0 Crusaders 4–2 2–2 3–2 0–3 — 1–0 3–0 3–0 3–2 0–2 1–0 3–1 Dungannon Swifts 0–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 3–2 — 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–2 Glenavon 3–1 4–0 0–2 4–0 3–2 2–1 — 1–1 3–3 0–1 2–0 1–1 Glentoran 4–0 0–1 1–2 2–2 2–2 2–1 1–2 — 2–1 0–1 4–1 3–1 Institute 1–0 1–2 6–4 1–2 1–4 0–0 1–4 3–3 — 1–4 1–0 2–0 Linfield 0–0 2–1 4–2 1–2 4–1 3–0 0–0 4–0 3–0 — 3–1 1–1 Newry City 2–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 0–3 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 — 1–1 Warrenpoint Town 1–0 1–6 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–4 1–1 0–1 0–5 2–2 — 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 23–33 During matches 23–33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). Home \ Away ARD BYM CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT INS LIN NEW WPT Ards — — — 1–2 2–2 — — — 0–3 0–2 3–1 0–1 Ballymena United 4–1 — 2–1 — — 2–2 — 0–2 — — 3–1 — Cliftonville 4–1 — — — — — 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–2 1–0 — Coleraine — 0–4 4–1 — — 1–2 1–1 2–0 — — — — Crusaders — 3–2 2–0 4–2 — — 1–1 — — 0–1 — — Dungannon Swifts 0–3 — 3–1 — 1–0 — — — — 0–5 2–1 4–3 Glenavon 2–0 0–2 — — — 1–0 — — 3–3 2–0 — 1–3 Glentoran 1–1 — — — 0–1 2–4 1–2 — — — 2–1 — Institute — 1–2 — 1–0 1–3 2–0 — 0–2 — — — — Linfield — 1–0 — 3–2 — — — 4–2 2–0 — — 4–0 Newry City — — — 1–4 0–1 — 0–1 — 1–2 0–1 — 0–2 Warrenpoint Town — 2–4 0–2 0–1 1–3 — — 0–5 4–0 — — — 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 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.

Section A Home \ Away BYM CLF COL CRU GLA LIN Ballymena United — — 1–0 3–0[‡] 4–3 0–1 Cliftonville 1–1 — 4–2 2–0 — — Coleraine — — — 4–2 — 1–1 Crusaders — — — — — — Glenavon — 4–0 1–1 2–1 — — Linfield — 5–1 — 0–0 0–4 — Source: NIFL Premiership Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. Original 0–3 result overturned to 3–0 by NIFL, after Crusaders fielded a player not listed on the official teamsheet.[7]

Section B Home \ Away ARD DUN GLT INS NEW WPT Ards — 1–0 1–1 — — — Dungannon Swifts — — 1–2 2–1 — — Glentoran — — — 2–0 — 2–2 Institute 0–1 — — — 2–1 2–1 Newry City 3–0 0–1 0–2 — — — Warrenpoint Town 1–1 5–3 — — 2–4 — Source: NIFL Premiership Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

UEFA Europa League play-offs

Four of the teams (Crusaders qualified for the Europa League directly as 2018–19 Irish Cup winners) that finished in the play-off places (3rd–7th position) participated in the Europa League play-offs to decide which team would qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League preliminary round. After victories over Coleraine and Glenavon in the semi-finals respectively, Cliftonville and Glentoran once again contested the final, with Cliftonville securing the last remaining place in next season's Europa League after a 2–0 win. This was a repeat of the 2016 and 2018 play-off finals, with Cliftonville winning 3–2 on both previous occasions.

Semi-finals

7 May 2019 (2019-05-07)

19:45 BST

Semi-final

Glenavon (3rd)	2 – 4	Glentoran (7th)
Marron 45' Mitchell 54'	BBC Sport NIFL	Murray 27', 76' Allen 48' McDaid 55'

Mourneview Park, Lurgan

Referee: Lee Tavinder

---

7 May 2019 (2019-05-07)

19:45 BST

Semi-final

Cliftonville (5th)	5 – 3 (a.e.t.)	Coleraine (6th)
Gormley 34' McMenamin 76', 113' Curran 90+7' (pen.) Ives 92'	BBC Sport NIFL	McLaughlin 9', 28', 72'

Solitude, Belfast

Referee: Steven Gregg

Final

11 May 2019 (2019-05-11)

17:30 BST

Final

Cliftonville (5th)	2 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Glentoran (7th)
Gormley 105+1' McMenamin 119'	BBC Sport NIFL

Solitude, Belfast

Referee: Andrew Davey

Cliftonville won the Europa League play-offs, and qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League preliminary round.

NIFL Premiership play-offs

Pre play-off

The 2018–19 NIFL Championship runners-up, Carrick Rangers, took part in a Championship promotion pre play-off match against the 3rd-placed team, Portadown, with Carrick Rangers given home advantage as the higher-ranked of the two clubs. Carrick Rangers won the match 2–0 and advanced to the two-legged play-off against the 11th-placed NIFL Premiership team, Ards, for the last remaining place in the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership. The pre play-off match was played on 30 April 2019.

30 April 2019 (2019-04-30)

19:45 BST

Pre play-off

Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)	2 – 0	Portadown (Ch. 3rd)
McCallum 74' (o.g.) Nixon 90+2'	BBC Sport NIFL

Loughshore Hotel Arena, Carrickfergus

Referee: Declan Hassan

Play-off

The 11th-placed Premiership team, Ards, played a two-legged tie against the pre play-off winners, Carrick Rangers, with Ards given the advantage of playing the second leg at home as the Premiership club. Carrick Rangers won the tie 3–1 on aggregate to secure promotion to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership, with Ards being relegated to the Championship. The matches took place on 3 May and 6 May 2019.

3 May 2019 (2019-05-03)

19:45 BST

First leg

Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)	1 – 0	Ards (Pr. 11th)
Smith 11'	BBC Sport NIFL

Loughshore Hotel Arena, Carrickfergus

Referee: Tony Clarke

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6 May 2019 (2019-05-06)

19:45 BST

Second leg

Ards (Pr. 11th)	1 – 2	Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)
Taylor 37'	BBC Sport NIFL	Surgenor 4' Strain 29'

Bangor Fuels Arena, Bangor

Referee: Evan Boyce

Carrick Rangers won 3–1 on aggregate, and were promoted to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership. Ards were relegated to the 2019–20 NIFL Championship.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals[8]
1	Joe Gormley	Cliftonville	20
2	Michael McCrudden	Institute	19
3	Andrew Waterworth	Linfield	17
4	Cathair Friel	Ballymena United	16
5	Stephen Murray	Glenavon	15
6	Paul Heatley	Crusaders	14
7	Ryan Curran	Cliftonville	13
	Robbie McDaid	Glentoran	13
9	Rory Donnelly	Cliftonville	12
	Paul McElroy	Dungannon Swifts	12
	Andrew Mitchell	Glenavon	12

References

1. "Irish Premiership:Crusaders are crowned champions". BBC. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
2. "Irish Premiership: Linfield secure title with draw against Crusaders". BBC. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
3. "Ards 1-2 Carrick Rangers (1-3 agg): Niall Currie's side promoted after play-off win over Ards". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
4. "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
5. "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
6. "NIFL Premiership Rules 2018–19" (PDF). NIFL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
7. "Ballymena awarded 3-0 win over Crues after David Cushley teamsheet error". BBC. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
8. "Archived: Irish Premiership Top Scorers (28 April 2019)". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.

External links

• Official website