Summary
The NIFL Premiership (NIR1), or Dankse Bank Premiership, is the top division in Northern Ireland's football system. At the end of the 2021-2022 NIR1 season, the NIR1 teams listed below qualify for the following non-league play:
- 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League - 1st Qualifying Round:
- 1st place 2021-2022 NIR1 team
- 2022-2023 UEFA Europa Conference League - 1st Qualifying Round:
- 2nd place 2021-2022 NIR1 team
- 2021-2022 NIR1 UEFA Europa Conference League Playoffs winner
The winner of the 2021-2022 Irish Football Association Challenge Cup (Irish Cup), typically a NIR1 team, also receives a berth in the 1st Qualifying Round of the 2022-2023 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Leagues Pyramid - Northern Ireland
| Abbrev | League | # of Teams |
|---|---|---|
| NIR1 | Dankse Bank Premiership | 12 |
| NIR2 | NIFL Championship | 12 |
| NIR3 | NIFL Premier Intermediate League | 11 |
Competition Structure
Season | # of Teams | ||
| Regular 27 Aug 2021 - 5 Apr 2022 | Champ/Releg Rounds 8 Apr 2022 - 31 May 2022 | UEFAECL Playoffs 3 Jun 2022 - 15 Jun 2022 | 12: NIR1 (10 minimum), NIR2 (2 maximum) |
Season Format
The 2021-2022 NIR1 season consists of 2 stages. In the first stage, each NIR1 team plays the other 11 NIR1 teams 3 times for a total of 33 league matches. In each 3 match series one team hosts 2 home matches and the other team hosts 1 home match. In the second stage, the top six teams play each other a 4th time (5 more matches) to determine final rankings for UEFA Champions League and Europa League placements, and the bottom six teams play each other a 4th time (5 more matches) to determine the relegation placements. Total points are for all 38 matches. Table ranking ties are broken by (1) goal difference, (2) goals scored, (3) head-to-head points, (4) head-to-head goal difference, then (5) a drawing.
Playoffs
Not applicable.
Relegation
At the end of the 2021-2022 NIR1 season, the 12th place NIR1 team is relegated to the NIR2, and the 11th place NIR1 team enters into a Home-Away highest aggregate score playoff with the 2nd place NIR2 team. The playoff winner and the 1st place NIR2 team play in the 2022-2023 NIR1, and the playoff loser plays in the 2022-2023 NIR2.
More Info...
UEFAECL Playoffs - Finals
| Date | Home | Status | Road | Venue | ||||
 | 24 | Larne FC | BetMcLean Oval |
UEFAECL Playoffs - Semifinals
| Date | Home | Status | Road | Venue | ||||
| 20 | Coleraine FC | Inver Park |
| 20 | Glenavon FC | BetMcLean Oval |
Relegation Playoffs
| Date | Home | Status | Road | Venue | ||||
| Aggregate | Annagh United FC (NIR2) | 24 | Portadown FC (NIR1) |
| 03.05.22 |  | 23 | Portadown FC | BMG Arena |
| 06.05.22 | | 10 | Annagh United FC | Shamrock Park | ||
| Portadown FC remains in NIR1 | ||||||
2nd Stage
| League | Home | Road | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | MP | W - D - L | PTS | CPTS | GF | GA | GD | MP | W - D - L | PTS | GF | GA | GD | MP | W - D - L | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
| Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Linfield FC | 38 | 24 -11-3 | 83 | - | 67 | 24 | 43 | 19 | 13 -6-0 | 45 | 34 | 8 | 26 | 19 | 11 -5-3 | 38 | 33 | 16 | 17 |
| 2 | Cliftonville | 38 | 24 -10-4 | 82 | - | 61 | 29 | 32 | 18 | 13 -3-2 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 18 | 20 | 11 -7-2 | 40 | 32 | 18 | 14 |
| 3 | Glentoran FC | 38 | 21 -8-9 | 71 | - | 68 | 44 | 24 | 19 | 10 -3-6 | 33 | 35 | 26 | 9 | 19 | 11 -5-3 | 38 | 33 | 18 | 15 |
| 4 | Crusaders FC | 38 | 21 -5-12 | 68 | - | 60 | 36 | 24 | 19 | 9 -4-6 | 31 | 27 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 12 -1-6 | 37 | 33 | 18 | 15 |
| 5 | Larne FC | 38 | 17 -11-10 | 62 | - | 61 | 39 | 22 | 18 | 8 -5-5 | 29 | 29 | 17 | 12 | 20 | 9 -6-5 | 33 | 32 | 22 | 10 |
| 6 | Coleraine FC | 38 | 14 -9-15 | 51 | - | 55 | 45 | 10 | 20 | 10 -5-5 | 35 | 32 | 19 | 13 | 18 | 4 -4-10 | 16 | 23 | 26 | -3 |
| Relegation | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Glenavon FC | 38 | 15 -9-14 | 54 | - | 54 | 50 | 4 | 19 | 8 -2-9 | 26 | 24 | 27 | -3 | 19 | 7 -7-5 | 28 | 30 | 23 | 7 |
| 2 | Ballymena United FC | 38 | 16 -5-17 | 53 | - | 46 | 52 | -6 | 19 | 10 -4-5 | 34 | 29 | 21 | 8 | 19 | 6 -1-12 | 19 | 17 | 31 | -14 |
| 3 | Dungannon Swifts FC | 38 | 11 -2-25 | 35 | - | 46 | 86 | -40 | 20 | 6 -1-13 | 19 | 28 | 46 | -18 | 18 | 5 -1-12 | 16 | 18 | 40 | -22 |
| 4 | Carrick Rangers FC | 38 | 9 -7-22 | 34 | - | 41 | 67 | -26 | 19 | 5 -4-10 | 19 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 19 | 4 -3-12 | 15 | 22 | 38 | -16 |
| 5 | Portadown FC | 38 | 5 -10-23 | 25 | - | 29 | 72 | -43 | 20 | 3 -8-9 | 17 | 16 | 28 | -12 | 18 | 2 -2-14 | 8 | 13 | 44 | -31 |
| 6 | Warrenpoint Town FC | 38 | 6 -3-29 | 21 | - | 35 | 79 | -44 | 18 | 2 -0-16 | 6 | 21 | 50 | -29 | 20 | 4 -3-13 | 15 | 14 | 29 | -15 |
2022-2023 UEFACL UEFAECL Playoffs 2022-2023 UEFAECL Relegation Playoffs Relegation to NIR2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
1st Stage
| League | Home | Road | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | MP | W - D - L | PTS | CPTS | GF | GA | GD | MP | W - D - L | PTS | GF | GA | GD | MP | W - D - L | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
| 1 | Linfield FC | 33 | 22 -8-3 | 74 | - | 62 | 22 | 40 | 16 | 12 -4-0 | 40 | 31 | 7 | 24 | 17 | 10 -4-3 | 34 | 31 | 15 | 16 |
| 2 | Cliftonville | 33 | 22 -7-4 | 73 | - | 54 | 24 | 30 | 16 | 13 -1-2 | 40 | 29 | 11 | 18 | 17 | 9 -6-2 | 33 | 25 | 13 | 12 |
| 3 | Glentoran FC | 33 | 21 -6-6 | 69 | - | 64 | 34 | 30 | 16 | 10 -2-4 | 32 | 34 | 20 | 14 | 17 | 11 -4-2 | 37 | 30 | 14 | 16 |
| 4 | Crusaders FC | 33 | 19 -4-10 | 61 | - | 47 | 28 | 19 | 16 | 9 -3-4 | 30 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 17 | 10 -1-6 | 31 | 25 | 17 | 8 |
| 5 | Larne FC | 33 | 15 -8-10 | 53 | - | 56 | 38 | 18 | 17 | 7 -5-5 | 26 | 26 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 8 -3-5 | 27 | 30 | 21 | 9 |
| 6 | Coleraine FC | 33 | 13 -9-11 | 48 | - | 50 | 32 | 18 | 17 | 9 -5-3 | 32 | 27 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 4 -4-8 | 16 | 23 | 21 | 2 |
| 7 | Glenavon FC | 33 | 12 -9-12 | 45 | - | 46 | 44 | 2 | 16 | 6 -2-8 | 20 | 19 | 24 | -5 | 17 | 6 -7-4 | 25 | 27 | 20 | 7 |
| 8 | Ballymena United FC | 33 | 13 -5-15 | 44 | - | 38 | 46 | -8 | 16 | 8 -4-4 | 28 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 17 | 5 -1-11 | 16 | 14 | 27 | -13 |
| 9 | Dungannon Swifts FC | 33 | 9 -1-23 | 28 | - | 40 | 81 | -41 | 17 | 4 -1-12 | 13 | 22 | 42 | -20 | 16 | 5 -0-11 | 15 | 18 | 39 | -21 |
| 10 | Carrick Rangers FC | 33 | 6 -7-20 | 25 | - | 33 | 62 | -29 | 17 | 4 -4-9 | 16 | 18 | 28 | -10 | 16 | 2 -3-11 | 9 | 15 | 34 | -19 |
| 11 | Portadown FC | 33 | 5 -9-19 | 24 | - | 28 | 63 | -35 | 17 | 3 -7-7 | 16 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 16 | 2 -2-12 | 8 | 12 | 41 | -29 |
| 12 | Warrenpoint Town FC | 33 | 3 -3-27 | 12 | - | 30 | 74 | -44 | 17 | 2 -0-15 | 6 | 20 | 48 | -28 | 16 | 1 -3-12 | 6 | 10 | 26 | -16 |
Championship Group Relegation Group | ||||||||||||||||||||
Results
| 05 | Carrick Rangers FC | Shamrock Park |
| 12 | Warrenpoint Town FC | Mourneview Park |
 | 12 | Ballymena United FC | Stangmore Park |
 | 20 | Coleraine FC | Windsor Park (Belfast) |
| 12 | Cliftonville | BetMcLean Oval |
 | 12 | Larne FC | Seaview (Belfast) |
| 00 | Larne FC | Windsor Park (Belfast) |
| 33 | Cliftonville | Seaview (Belfast) |
| 20 | Warrenpoint Town FC | Stangmore Park |
| 10 | Portadown FC | Mourneview Park |
| 30 | Carrick Rangers FC | The Showgrounds (Ballymena) |
| 32 | Glentoran FC | The Showgrounds (Coleraine) |
| 00 | Dungannon Swifts FC | Shamrock Park |
| 01 | Glenavon FC | Loughview Leisure Arena |
| 01 | Warrenpoint Town FC | The Showgrounds (Ballymena) |
| 00 | Larne FC | BetMcLean Oval |
| 12 | Linfield FC | Seaview (Belfast) |
| 12 | Cliftonville | The Showgrounds (Coleraine) |
| 12 | Carrick Rangers FC | Milltown Playing Fields |
| 32 | Glenavon FC | Stangmore Park |