2021–22 NIFL Premiership

The 2021–22 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 121st season of Irish league football overall, and the 9th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.

NIFL Premiership
Season2021–22
Dates27 Aug 2021 – 30 Apr 2022
ChampionsLinfield
8th Premiership title
56th Irish title
RelegatedWarrenpoint Town
UEFA Champions LeagueLinfield
UEFA Europa Conference LeagueCrusaders (via Irish Cup)
Cliftonville
Larne (via play-offs)
Matches played228
Goals scored621 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorerJay Donnelly (25 goals)
Biggest home winLinfield 5–0 Dungannon Swifts
(19 March 2022)
Biggest away winWarrenpoint Town 1–6 Glenavon
(4 September 2021)
Dungannon Swifts 0–5 Coleraine
(11 September 2021)
Dungannon Swifts 1–6 Linfield
(1 January 2022)
Portadown 0–5 Carrick Rangers
(30 April 2022)
Highest scoringGlentoran 6–2 Carrick Rangers
(28 March 2022)
Highest attendance8,007
Linfield 1–1 Glentoran
(27 December 2021)[1]
Lowest attendance98
Carrick Rangers 1–2 Dungannon Swifts
(4 December 2021)[1]
Total attendance328,529[2]
Average attendance1,441

Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 56th time and the 4th consecutive season. The season was due to begin in early August, however, due to the previous season finishing a few weeks later than usual in late May 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, the start of this season was pushed back.

Summary

The 38-game season commenced on 27 August 2021 and concluded on 30 April 2022, with the play-offs taking place during the first two weeks in May 2022.[3]

Linfield were the three-time defending champions, having been league winners in the previous three seasons - the 2020–21 season seeing them win a then world record-equalling 55th league title. This season Linfield once again retained their title, securing a world record 56th league crown on the final day of the season. A 2–0 win over Coleraine meant that the Blues pipped runners-up Cliftonville to the title by a single point. This was the first time in 35 years that a club had won four consecutive titles, with Linfield winning the last of their six consecutive titles in the 1986–87 season. It was also the narrowest title-winning margin since the 2008–09 season, when Glentoran won the title by a single point ahead of Linfield. At the bottom end of the table, Warrenpoint Town were relegated to the NIFL Championship after five years as a Premiership club, with Championship winners Newry City promoted to replace them for the following season. Portadown retained their Premiership status after defeating Annagh United 4–2 on aggregate in the Premiership play-off.

League winners Linfield entered the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, while Larne (play-off winners) and Crusaders (Irish Cup winners) joined Cliftonville (league runners-up) in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

Teams
Locations of the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2021–22 NIFL Premiership teams

Twelve teams competed in the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership, the same twelve teams from the previous season. No relegation took place from the previous season's Premiership, after a majority of second-tier NIFL Championship clubs voted to cancel their 2020–21 season. The second and third tiers had not been granted 'elite' sporting status by the IFA which was required in order to continue playing matches during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, with lower division clubs not having played any league fixtures since the 2019–20 season had initially been suspended in March 2020.[4]

Dungannon Swifts finished bottom of the table the previous season, but were reprieved from relegation. Carrick Rangers were also reprieved, having finished in 11th place. This would normally have required them to take part in the NIFL Premiership play-off against the qualifier from the NIFL Championship.

Stadia and locations
Club Stadium Location Capacity[5][6]
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,824 (all seated)
Carrick RangersLoughshore Hotel ArenaCarrickfergus2,100 (380 seated)
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast3,054 (all seated)
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine4,843 (1,607 seated)
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,208 (all seated)
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon2,000 (300 seated)
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan3,302 (all seated)
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast6,054 (3,991 seated)
LarneInver ParkLarne2,732 (1,632 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,434 (all seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint2,000 (150 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Linfield (C) 38 24 11 3 67 24 +43 83 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Cliftonville 38 24 10 4 61 29 +32 82 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3 Glentoran 38 21 8 9 68 44 +24 71 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs[lower-alpha 2]
4 Crusaders 38 21 5 12 60 36 +24 68 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 3]
5 Larne (O) 38 17 11 10 61 39 +22 62 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs[lower-alpha 2]
6 Coleraine 38 14 9 15 55 45 +10 51
7 Glenavon 38 15 9 14 54 50 +4 54 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs[lower-alpha 2]
8 Ballymena United 38 16 5 17 46 52 −6 53
9 Dungannon Swifts 38 11 2 25 46 86 −40 35
10 Carrick Rangers 38 9 7 22 41 67 −26 34
11 Portadown (O) 38 5 10 23 29 72 −43 25 Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off
12 Warrenpoint Town (R) 38 6 3 29 35 79 −44 21 Relegation to the NIFL Championship
Source: Northern Ireland Football League
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[7]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Teams played 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. Larne entered the Europa Conference League first qualifying round as play-off winners.
  3. Crusaders entered the Europa Conference League first qualifying round as 2021–22 Irish Cup winners.

Results

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches the table was then split into two halves, with teams ranked 1st–6th in Section A and teams ranked 7th–12th in Section B. During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures were reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams had played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

Play-offs

UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs

Four of the clubs that finished in 3rd–7th place competed for one place in the 2022–23 Europa Conference League first qualifying round, with 4th-placed Crusaders vacating their play-off place as they qualified for Europe directly by winning the Irish Cup. The play-offs were 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 had home advantage in the final.

Semi-finals
Semi-final
Glentoran (3rd)2–0Glenavon (7th)
McMenamin 48'
Donnelly 72'		 NIFL
Referee: Lee Tavinder
Semi-final
Larne (5th)2–0Coleraine (6th)
Brown 12' (o.g.)
Randall 90+5'		 NIFL
Referee: Ross Dunlop

Final
Final
Glentoran (3rd)2–4 (a.e.t.)Larne (5th)
 NIFL
Referee: Raymond Crangle

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club, Portadown, faced the second-placed club from the 2021–22 NIFL Championship, Annagh United, for one place in the following season's Premiership.

First leg
Annagh United2–3Portadown
Upton 22'
Murray 27'		 NIFL Beverland 13'
Teggart 71'
Stedman 73'
BMG Arena, Portadown
Second leg
Portadown1–0Annagh United
Upton 88' (o.g.) NIFL

Portadown won 4–2 on aggregate.

Statistics

Top goalscorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals[8]
1 Northern Ireland Jay Donnelly Glentoran 26
2 Northern Ireland Conor McMenamin Glentoran 20
3 Northern Ireland Ryan Curran Cliftonville 19
4 Democratic Republic of the Congo Christy Manzinga Linfield 17
5 Northern Ireland Matthew Fitzpatrick Glenavon 13
Northern Ireland Joe Gormley Cliftonville
Northern Ireland Matthew Shevlin Coleraine
8 Northern Ireland Peter Campbell Glenavon 11
Northern Ireland Ben Kennedy Crusaders
Northern Ireland David McDaid Larne

References
  1. "NIFL Premiership results 2021-2022". Northern Ireland Football League.
  2. "Irish League boast huge rise in attendances as Covid-19 concerns ease". Belfast Live. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  3. "Irish Premiership: New season to start on 28 August following feedback from managers". BBC. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. "NIFL Championship: 2020/2021 season declared null and void after clubs vote". BBC. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  5. "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  6. "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  7. "NIFL Premiership Rules 2020–21" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  8. "Irish Premiership Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
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