2022–23 NIFL Premiership explained

Competition:NIFL Premiership
Season:2022–23
Dates:12 Aug 2022 – 29 Apr 2023
Winners:Larne
Relegated:Portadown
Continentalcup1:UEFA Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Larne
Continentalcup2:UEFA Europa Conference League
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Linfield
Crusaders (via Irish Cup)
Glentoran (via Play-offs)
Biggest Away Win:Portadown 1–6 Linfield
Highest Scoring:Carrick Rangers 4–3 Crusaders
Matches:228
Total Goals:647
Highest Attendance:7,134 Linfield 0–3 Glentoran
Updated:11 March 2023
Prevseason:2021–22
Nextseason:2023–24

The 2022–23 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 122nd season of Irish League football overall, and the 10th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.

Larne were champions, winning the Irish League for the first time. They became the 13th different club to win the league since 1890, and the first addition to the list of title-winners since Coleraine in 1974.

Summary

The 38-game season commenced on 12 August 2022 and concluded on 29 April 2023.

Linfield were the four-time defending champions, having been league winners in the previous four seasons - the 2021–22 season seeing them win a world record 56th league crown.

Larne became the champions and entered the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, clinching their first league title on 14 April 2023 with a 2–0 win over Crusaders.[1] The runners-up (Linfield), the Irish Cup winners (Crusaders), and the play-off winners (Glentoran) entered the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in this season's Premiership, eleven of which returned from the previous season. Warrenpoint Town finished bottom of the table the previous season, and were relegated to the NIFL Championship after five years as a Premiership club, with Championship winners Newry City promoted to replace them for this season's Premiership. 11th-placed Portadown retained their Premiership status after defeating Annagh United 4–2 on aggregate in the Premiership play-off.

Stadia and locations

ClubStadiumLocationCapacity[2] [3]
Ballymena United3,824 (all seated)
Carrick Rangers2,100 (380 seated)
Cliftonville3,054 (all seated)
Coleraine4,843 (1,607 seated)
Crusaders3,208 (all seated)
Dungannon Swifts2,000 (300 seated)
Glenavon3,302 (all seated)
Glentoran6,054 (3,991 seated)
Larne2,732 (1,632 seated)
Linfield18,434 (all seated)
Newry City2,275 (1,080 seated)
Portadown3,940 (2,765 seated)

League table

Results

Matches 1–22

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

Matches 23–33

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

Matches 34–38

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.

Section B

Play-offs

UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs

Four or five of the clubs that finish in 3rd–7th place compete for one place in the 2023–24 Europa Conference League first qualifying round. The play-offs are one-off matches with extra time and penalties used to determine the winner if necessary, with the higher-ranked teams given home advantage against the lower-ranked teams (i.e. 3rd v. 7th and 5th v. 6th) in the semi-finals. The higher-ranked of the two semi-final winners also gains home advantage in the final.

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club (Dungannon Swifts) were expected to face the second-placed club from the 2022–23 NIFL Championship (Warrenpoint Town) for one place in the following season's Premiership. However, Warrenpoint Town were denied an NIFL Premiership license on 27 April 2023 and were unsuccessful in their appeal, resulting in the play-off being postponed.[4] Eventually, the third-placed club from the NIFL Championship at the time (Annagh United) elected to take Warrenpoint Town's place in the play-off.

Second leg

Statistics

Top goalscorers

RankScorerClubGoals[5]
1 Matthew ShevlinColeraine23
2 Matthew FitzpatrickGlenavon19
3 Ronan HaleCliftonville18
5 Eetu VertainenLinfield17
Philip LowryCrusaders
6 Lee BonisLarne15
7 Ryan CurranCliftonville14
8 Paul O'NeillLarne13
10 Jay DonnellyGlentoran12
Joel CooperLinfield

Clean sheets

RankGoalkeeperClubClean sheets[6]
1 Rohan FergusonLarne23
2 Chris JohnsLinfield21
3 Aaron McCareyGlentoran17
4 Jonathan TuffeyCrusaders14
6 Nathan GartsideCliftonville12
Gareth DeaneColeraine
7 Ross GlendinningCarrick Rangers9
8 Sean O'NeillBallymena United8
9 Rory BrownGlenavon7
10 Martin GallagherColeraine6

Notes and References

  1. News: Larne secure historic first Irish League title. 14 April 2023. BBC Sport. BBC.
  2. Web site: AQW 1178/11. 18 October 2010. niassembly.gov.uk. 21 December 2011.
  3. Web site: Sport NI Annual review 2008/09 . 18 . sportni.net . 14 May 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130928175439/http://www.sportni.net/NR/rdonlyres/5854FC89-D9B6-4B17-9C60-34D977CEBEB0/0/AnnualReview200809.pdf . 28 September 2013 . dmy .
  4. News: Premiership Play-Off postponed after Warrenpoint Town denied playing license by Irish FA. 27 April 2023. Belfast Telegraph. Belfast Telegraph.
  5. Web site: NIFL Premiership Statistics. NI Football League. 15 May 2023.
  6. Web site: NIFL Premiership Statistics. NI Football League. 15 May 2023.