2023–24 NIFL Premiership

The 2023–24 NIFL Irish Premiership (known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 16th season of the Irish Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 123rd season of Irish league football overall, and the 11th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.

NIFL Premiership
Season2023–24
Dates4 Aug 2023 –
2024–25 →

The champions qualify for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. The runners-up, the 2023–24 Irish Cup winners (or the third-placed team if the Irish Cup winners finish in the top two of the NIFL Premiership), and the play-off winners enter the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League first qualifying round. The ninth-placed team qualify for the NIFL Premiership play-off against the runners-up of the 2023–24 NIFL Championship. The bottom-placed team are relegated to the 2024–25 NIFL Championship.

Teams

Team changes

Twelve teams competed in this season's Premiership, eleven of which returned from the previous season. The 38-game season commenced on 4 August 2023. Larne are the defending champions, having won their first league title in the previous season. Portadown were relegated to the NIFL Championship after three years as a Premiership club, and replaced by Championship winners Loughgall, who returned to the top-flight for the first time since 2007. 11th-placed Dungannon Swifts defeated Annagh United in the Premiership play-off to retain their top-flight status.

Stadia and locations
Locations of the 2023–24 NIFL Premiership teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2023–24 NIFL Premiership teams
Club Stadium Location Capacity[1][2]
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)
LoughgallLakeview ParkLoughgall3,000
Newry CityThe ShowgroundsNewry2,275 (1,080 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Linfield 13 11 1 1 31 13 +18 34 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 Crusaders 13 8 3 2 32 11 +21 27 Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
3 Cliftonville 13 8 2 3 29 6 +23 26 Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round play-offs
4 Larne 13 7 5 1 27 9 +18 26
5 Glentoran 13 7 2 4 23 13 +10 23
6 Coleraine 13 6 2 5 19 24 −5 20
7 Loughgall 13 5 3 5 20 22 −2 18
8 Carrick Rangers 13 4 1 8 16 34 −18 13
9 Newry City 13 3 1 9 14 35 −21 10
10 Ballymena United 13 3 0 10 8 20 −12 9
11 Dungannon Swifts 13 1 5 7 16 28 −12 8 Qualification for NIFL Premiership play-off
12 Glenavon 13 2 1 10 11 31 −20 7 Relegation to NIFL Championship
Updated to match(es) played on 21 October 2023. Source: Northern Ireland Football League, 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[3]
Notes:
  1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
  2. The 2023–24 Irish Cup winners qualify for the Conference League second qualifying round. If the Irish Cup winners finish in the top two of the NIFL Premiership, the third-placed team qualify for the Conference League first qualifying round.

Results

Matches 1–33

For matches 1–22, each team plays every other team twice (home and away). For matches 23–33, each team plays every other team for the third time (either at home or away).

Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN LGL NEW BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN LGL NEW
Ballymena United — 0–2 3–1 1–2 0–2 0–1 1–3 0–2 — — — — — —
Carrick Rangers 0–1 — 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 0–2 — — — — — — —
Cliftonville 4–0 — 5–0 a 5–0 3–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 — — a — — — —
Coleraine 2–1 — 0–4 4–1 0–0 1–3 3–1 — — — — — —
Crusaders 1–0 9–0 0–3 — 2–0 2–0 1–1 — — — — — — —
Dungannon Swifts 0–1 2–2 1–4 — 3–1 0–0 2–3 1–2 — — — — — — —
Glenavon 1–0 2–1 0–1 — 0–1 0–4 1–3 — — — — — — —
Glentoran 1–0 1–2 2–2 0–0 3–1 — 1–2 a 6–0 — — — — — —
Larne 3–0 4–1 1–1 4–4 — 2–0 4–0 — 2–0 — — — — —
Linfield 3–3 2–1 2–0 4–2 2–0 — 6–1 — — — — a — — —
Loughgall 3–4 1–2 2–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 — 3–1 — — — — — —
Newry City 0–3 0–2 0–4 2–2 2–4 0–3 — — — — — — — —
Updated to match(es) played on 21 October 2023. Source: Northern Ireland Football League, Soccerway
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

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.

Play-offs

UEFA Conference League play-offs

Four or five of the clubs that finish in 3rd–7th place compete for one place in the 2024–25 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 will face the second-placed club from the 2023–24 NIFL Championship for the final place in the following season's Premiership.

References
  1. "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  3. "NIFL Premiership Rules 2020–21" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
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