2013–14 Northern Ireland Football League

The 2013–14 Northern Ireland Football League was the first season of Northern Ireland's national football league running independently as the Northern Ireland Football League, consisting of the top three levels of the national league system, namely: the Premiership, Championship 1, and Championship 2. It was the 113th season of Irish league football overall.[1] The season began on 9 August 2013 and concluded on 10 May 2014.

Northern Ireland Football League
Season2013–14
ChampionsCliftonville
RelegatedChimney Corner (resigned)
Killymoon Rangers

Cliftonville were the defending top-flight champions after winning their fourth league title the previous season – their first since the 1997–98 season.[2] They went on to retain the title for the first time in the club's history to become the inaugural Northern Ireland Football League champions - their fourth outright league title and fifth overall.[3]

For the first time since 2008, a club was relegated to level 4 (regional level). Killymoon Rangers finished bottom of Championship 2 and were relegated to a regional division for the following season. Also leaving Championship 2 was Chimney Corner. In July 2014, the club announced that they would be resigning from the Championship to join the Ballymena & Provincial League for the following season.[4]

Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Championship 1 to the Premiership

Relegated from the Premiership to Championship 1

Promoted from Championship 2 to Championship 1

Relegated from Championship 1 to Championship 2

Promoted from Northern Amateur Football League to Championship 2

  • Newington YC (1st in NAFL Premier Division - promoted via play-off)

League tables

Premiership
Main article: 2013–14 NIFL Premiership
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Cliftonville (C) 38 26 7 5 88 39 +49 85 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Linfield 38 24 7 7 81 46 +35 79 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3 Crusaders 38 18 12 8 67 42 +25 66
4 Portadown 38 18 8 12 77 53 +24 62
5 Glentoran 38 16 11 11 54 42 +12 59
6 Glenavon 38 15 6 17 75 79 −4 51 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
7 Ballymena United 38 13 8 17 48 59 −11 47
8 Dungannon Swifts 38 12 8 18 49 66 −17 44
9 Coleraine 38 10 12 16 51 61 −10 42
10 Ballinamallard United 38 10 9 19 35 70 −35 39
11 Warrenpoint Town 38 10 6 22 43 72 −29 36
12 Ards (R) 38 6 6 26 44 83 −39 24 Relegation to NIFL Championship 1
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Glenavon qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2013–14 Irish Cup.

Championship 1
Main article: 2013–14 NIFL Championship § Championship 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Institute (C, P) 26 15 9 2 72 35 +37 54 Promotion to NIFL Premiership
2 Bangor[lower-alpha 1] 26 16 5 5 65 39 +26 53
3 Knockbreda 26 14 4 8 57 36 +21 46
4 Dundela 26 14 4 8 65 47 +18 46
5 Carrick Rangers 26 14 4 8 52 34 +18 46
6 Harland & Wolff Welders 26 11 8 7 46 34 +12 41
7 Ballyclare Comrades 26 10 4 12 53 50 +3 34
8 Loughgall 26 9 6 11 48 56 −8 33
9 Larne 26 9 5 12 32 47 −15 32
10 Lisburn Distillery 26 8 7 11 43 49 −6 31
11 Donegal Celtic 26 8 5 13 41 55 −14 29
12 Dergview 26 6 8 12 30 46 −16 26
13 Coagh United (R) 26 5 6 15 38 74 −36 21 Relegation to NIFL Championship 2
14 Limavady United (R) 26 4 3 19 19 59 −40 15
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Bangor were ineligible for the promotion play-off, as they did not attain the required licence for promotion.

Championship 2
Main article: 2013–14 NIFL Championship § Championship 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Armagh City (C, P) 30 25 2 3 90 26 +64 77 Promotion to NIFL Championship 1
2 PSNI (P) 30 20 6 4 84 28 +56 66
3 Queen's University 30 19 6 5 47 32 +15 63
4 Newington YC 30 15 9 6 56 32 +24 54
5 Annagh United 30 15 7 8 75 53 +22 52
6 Banbridge Town 30 16 2 12 60 44 +16 50
7 Moyola Park 30 14 4 12 61 53 +8 46
8 Portstewart 30 12 7 11 52 46 +6 43
9 Ballymoney United 30 11 6 13 61 59 +2 39
10 Tobermore United 30 10 4 16 47 63 −16 34
11 Glebe Rangers 30 10 3 17 48 64 −16 33
12 Lurgan Celtic 30 9 6 15 41 67 −26 33
13 Wakehurst 30 7 6 17 47 75 −28 27
14 Chimney Corner (R) 30 7 2 21 38 75 −37 23 Resigned to join Ballymena & Provincial Regional league[4]
15 Sport & Leisure Swifts 30 5 7 18 37 70 −33 22
16 Killymoon Rangers (R) 30 5 3 22 33 90 −57 18 Relegation to Ballymena & Provincial Regional league
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Premiership
Main article: 2013–14 NIFL Premiership § Results

Championship 1
Main article: 2013–14 NIFL Championship § Championship 1 results

Championship 2
Main article: 2013–14 NIFL Championship § Championship 2 results

References
  1. "NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE". NIFL Premiership.
  2. "Cliftonville beat Linfield to secure Irish Premiership title". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  3. "Cliftonville retain Irish Premiership title for first time". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  4. "Corner step down from Championship football". Antrim Times. 8 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
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