2018–19 NIFL Premiership

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.

NIFL Premiership
Season2018–19
Dates4 August 2018 – 27 April 2019
ChampionsLinfield
5th Premiership title
53rd Irish title
RelegatedNewry City
Ards (via play-off)
Champions LeagueLinfield
Europa LeagueCrusaders (via Irish Cup)
Ballymena United
Cliftonville (via play-offs)
Matches played228
Goals scored696 (3.05 per match)
Top goalscorerJoe Gormley (20 goals)
Biggest home winBallymena United 6–1 Institute
(19 March 2019)
Biggest away winWarrenpoint 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 scoringInstitute 6–4 Cliftonville
(22 December 2018)

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
Locations of the 2018–19 NIFL Premiership teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2018–19 NIFL Premiership teams
Club Stadium Location Capacity‡[4][5]
ArdsBangor Fuels ArenaBangor1,895 (500 seated)
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,050 (2,280 seated)
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast2,530 (all seated)
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine2,496 (1,106 seated)
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,383 (all seated)
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon5,000 (300 seated)
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan4,160 (4,000 seated)
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast6,054 (4,989 seated)
InstituteBrandywell StadiumDerry7,700 (2,900 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,614 (all seated)
Newry CityThe ShowgroundsNewry2,275 (1,080 seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint1,280 (150 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
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[lower-alpha 2]
4 Crusaders 38 20 5 13 68 55 +13 65 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 3]
5 Cliftonville (O) 38 19 4 15 70 66 +4 61 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[lower-alpha 2]
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[lower-alpha 2]
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 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.

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
Semi-final
Glenavon (3rd)2 – 4Glentoran (7th)
Marron 45'
Mitchell 54'		 BBC Sport
NIFL		 Murray 27', 76'
Allen 48'
McDaid 55'
Referee: Lee Tavinder
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'
Referee: Steven Gregg

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

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

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.

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

First leg
Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)1 – 0Ards (Pr. 11th)
Smith 11' BBC Sport
NIFL
Referee: Tony Clarke
Second leg
Ards (Pr. 11th)1 – 2Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)
Taylor 37' BBC Sport
NIFL		 Surgenor 4'
Strain 29'
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 Northern Ireland Joe Gormley Cliftonville 20
2 Northern Ireland Michael McCrudden Institute 19
3 Northern Ireland Andrew Waterworth Linfield 17
4 Northern Ireland Cathair Friel Ballymena United 16
5 Northern Ireland Stephen Murray Glenavon 15
6 Northern Ireland Paul Heatley Crusaders 14
7 Northern Ireland Ryan Curran Cliftonville 13
Northern Ireland Robbie McDaid Glentoran 13
9 Northern Ireland Rory Donnelly Cliftonville 12
Northern Ireland Paul McElroy Dungannon Swifts 12
Northern Ireland 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.
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