2022–23 NIFL Premiership

The 2022–23 NIFL Irish Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 15th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 122nd season of the Irish League overall. The 38-game season commenced on 12 August 2022 and is due to conclude on 29 April 2023.

NIFL Premiership

Season	2022–23
Dates	12 Aug 2022 – 29 Apr 2023
Matches played	57
Goals scored	176 (3.09 per match)
Biggest home win	Crusaders 5–1 Dungannon Swifts (13 August 2022)
Biggest away win	Portadown 1–6 Linfield (28 January 2023)
Highest scoring	Carrick Rangers 4–3 Crusaders (1 October 2022)
Highest attendance	7,134 Linfield 0-3 Glentoran (14 October 2022)
Lowest attendance	274 Carrick Rangers 3-0 Dungannon Swifts (15 October 2022)
← 2021–22 2023-24 → All statistics correct as of 11 March 2023.

Linfield are the four-time defending champions, having been league winners in the previous four seasons - the 2021–22 season seeing them win a world record 56th league crown.

The winners will enter the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, while the runners-up will join the Irish Cup winners and the play-off winners in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

Teams

 

 

Belfast

 

Ballymena United

 

Coleraine

 

Dungannon Swifts

 

Glenavon

 

Portadown

 

Larne

 

Carrick Rangers

 

Newry City

 

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Locations of the 2022–23 NIFL Irish Premiership teams

 

 

Cliftonville

 

Crusaders

 

Glentoran

 

Linfield

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Locations of the Belfast-based 2022–23 NIFL Irish Premiership teams

Twelve teams will compete in this season's Premiership, eleven of which return from the previous season. Warrenpoint Town finished bottom of the table the previous season, and were relegated to the NIFL Championship after five years as a Premiership club, with Championship winners Newry City promoted to replace them for this season's Premiership. 11th-placed Portadown retained their Premiership status after defeating Annagh United 4–2 on aggregate in the Premiership play-off.

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity^[1]^[2]
Ballymena United	The Showgrounds	Ballymena	3,824 (all seated)
Carrick Rangers	Loughshore Hotel Arena	Carrickfergus	2,100 (380 seated)
Cliftonville	Solitude	Belfast	3,054 (all seated)
Coleraine	The Showgrounds	Coleraine	4,843 (1,607 seated)
Crusaders	Seaview	Belfast	3,208 (all seated)
Dungannon Swifts	Stangmore Park	Dungannon	2,000 (300 seated)
Glenavon	Mourneview Park	Lurgan	3,302 (all seated)
Glentoran	The Oval	Belfast	6,054 (3,991 seated)
Larne	Inver Park	Larne	2,732 (1,632 seated)
Linfield	Windsor Park	Belfast	18,434 (all seated)
Newry City	The Showgrounds	Newry	2,275 (1,080 seated)
Portadown	Shamrock Park	Portadown	3,940 (2,765 seated)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation^[a]
1	Larne (X)	31	21	6	4	56	18	+38	69	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Linfield (X)	31	19	5	7	58	25	+33	62	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round^[b]
3	Cliftonville (X)	30	19	5	6	56	36	+20	62	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs^[c]
4	Crusaders (X)	30	17	6	7	58	33	+25	57
5	Coleraine (X)	31	17	6	8	52	28	+24	57
6	Glentoran (X)	29	17	4	8	58	21	+37	55
7	Carrick Rangers (Y)	30	10	4	16	40	58	−18	34
8	Glenavon (Y)	30	8	8	14	45	56	−11	32
9	Ballymena United (Y)	30	9	5	16	30	46	−16	32
10	Newry City (Y)	30	7	2	21	27	53	−26	23
11	Dungannon Swifts (Y)	30	6	2	22	20	69	−49	20	Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off
12	Portadown (Y)	30	3	3	24	16	73	−57	12	Relegation to the NIFL Championship

Updated to match(es) played on 7 March 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]
(X) Assured of a top six place; (Y) Assured of a bottom six place
Notes:

1. Teams will play each other three times (33 matches), before the league splits into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
2. The 2022–23 Irish Cup winners and the play-off winners will also enter the Europa Conference League first qualifying round.
3. One play-off place will be vacated if the 2022–23 Irish Cup winners finish 7th or higher, as the cup winners (or the 3rd-placed team if the cup winners finish 1st or 2nd) will qualify for the Europa Conference League directly.

Results

Matches 1–22 During matches 1–22 each team plays every other team twice (home and away). Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN NEW POR Ballymena United — 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 2–0 2–2 2–0 0–3 0–4 3–0 2–0 Carrick Rangers 0–2 — 3–3 2–4 4–3 3–0 1–1 1–5 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 Cliftonville 4–0 3–2 — 2–2 0–0 4–2 2–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 4–0 4–1 Coleraine 2–0 1–0 3–1 — 1–2 2–0 1–3 0–0 0–0 2–0 4–0 Crusaders 3–0 3–0 2–0 — 5–1 3–2 3–2 1–1 2–1 4–0 2–1 Dungannon Swifts 0–2 4–1 0–2 0–5 0–2 — 1–0 0–1 0–3 0–1 2–0 2–0 Glenavon 3–2 2–2 0–1 0–0 4–2 5–0 — 2–1 1–2 1–6 1–5 2–1 Glentoran 5–0 0–1 1–0 3–1 3–1 0–0 — 4–0 1–2 3–0 Larne 3–0 0–0 4–0 2–0 4–1 4–0 3–0 0–0 — 0–0 2–0 2–0 Linfield 3–0 3–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 4–0 3–2 0–3 2–4 — 4–0 Newry City 3–2 4–1 1–2 1–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 — 3–0^[a] Portadown 1–0 1–3 1–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 0–3 0–1 0–3 1–3 — Updated to match(es) played on 7 March 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. Notes: Originally a 1–3 win for Portadown; Newry City awarded a 3–0 win after Portadown fielded an ineligible player.

Matches 23–33 During 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 NEW POR Ballymena United — — 4–1 — — — 1–3 — 0–2 0–0 0–0 Carrick Rangers 1–0 — — 0–1 0–3 — — 2–3 — — 2–0 Cliftonville — 1–0 — — — — 2–1 — — 2–0 3–0 Coleraine 3–1 — 2–4 — 2–0 — — 2–2 — — 1–0 4–1 Crusaders 0–1 — a — — 3–0 — — — 2–0 3–1 4–0 Dungannon Swifts 1–1 — 0–3 — — 2–1 — — — — Glenavon — 4–2 1–3 2–2 — — — 0–1 — 0–2 — Glentoran — — — — 2–0 6–0 — 0–1 3–0 — — Larne — 2–1 0–2 0–0 2–1 — — — — — — Linfield — 2–0 1–0 2–0 — — 2–1 — 1–0 — — — Newry City — 0–2 — — — 0–2 — 1–3 0–0 1–3 — Portadown — — — — — 3–1 3–1 0–2 0–5 1–6 — — Updated to match(es) played on 7 March 2023. Source: Northern Ireland Football League 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.

Section A Home \ Away CLF COL CRU GLT LAR LIN Cliftonville — a — Coleraine — — — — Crusaders — — — Glentoran — — — — Larne — — — — Linfield — — a — — Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Northern Ireland Football League 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.

Section B Home \ Away BYM CRK DUN GLA NEW POR Ballymena United — — — — Carrick Rangers — — — Dungannon Swifts — — — — Glenavon — — — Newry City — — — — Portadown — — — Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Northern Ireland Football League 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.

Play-offs

UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs

Four or five of the clubs that finish in 3rd–7th place will compete for one place in the 2023–24 Europa 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 will also have home advantage in the final.

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club will face the second-placed club from the 2022–23 NIFL Championship for one place in the following season's Premiership.

References

1. "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
2. (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.

External links

• Official website