2023–24 NIFL Championship

The 2023–24 NIFL Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the seventh season of the NIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the Irish League - the national football league in Northern Ireland. The season began on 5 August 2023.

NIFL Championship

Season	2023–24
Dates	5 Aug 2023 –
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; ten teams remaining from the previous season, one team promoted from the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, and one team relegated from the NIFL Premiership. The promoted team from the 2022–23 NIFL Premier Intermediate League was Bangor (replacing the relegated team of Warrenpoint Town). The relegated team from the 2022–23 NIFL Premiership was Portadown (replacing the promoted team of Loughgall).

 

 

Belfast

 

Annagh United

 

Ards

 

Ballinamallard United

 

Ballyclare Comrades

 

Dergview

 

Institute

 

Portadown

 

Belfast teams : Dundela
H&W Welders
Knockbreda
Newington

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Locations of the 2023–24 NIFL Championship teams

 

 

Dundela

 

H&W Welders

 

Knockbreda

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Locations of the Belfast-based 2023–24 NIFL Championship teams

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity^[1]
Annagh United	Tandragee Road	Portadown	1,250 (100 seated)
Ards	Bangor Fuels Arena	Bangor	1,895 (500 seated)
Ballinamallard United	Ferney Park	Ballinamallard	2,000 (250 seated)
Ballyclare Comrades	Dixon Park	Ballyclare	5,333
Bangor	Clandeboye Park	Bangor	1,895 (500 seated)
Dergview	Darragh Park	Castlederg	1,200
Dundela	Wilgar Park	Belfast	2,500
Harland & Wolff Welders	Tillysburn Park	Belfast	3,000
Institute	Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium	Derry	8,200
Knockbreda	Breda Park	Belfast	1,000
Newington	Solitude	Belfast	8,000 (3,000 seated)
Portadown	Shamrock Park	Portadown	3,940 (2,765 seated)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation^[a]
1	Portadown	35	21	4	10	70	50	+20	67	Promotion to NIFL Premiership
2	Dundela	35	21	3	11	70	53	+17	66	Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off
3	Institute	35	19	8	8	58	40	+18	65
4	Bangor	35	19	6	10	73	42	+31	63
5	Annagh United	35	18	7	10	57	49	+8	61
6	Harland & Wolff Welders	33	15	5	13	62	54	+8	50
7	Ballyclare Comrades	34	14	7	13	59	57	+2	49
8	Ballinamallard United	35	14	6	15	49	42	+7	48
9	Newington	35	15	3	17	58	60	−2	48
10	Ards	34	8	8	18	51	64	−13	32
11	Dergview	34	6	7	21	38	72	−34	25	Qualification for the NIFL Championship play-off
12	Knockbreda (Z)	34	4	2	28	28	90	−62	14	Relegation to NIFL Premier Intermediate League

Updated to match(es) played on 9 April 2024. Source: NIFL Championship
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^[2]
(Z) Assured of NIFL Championship play-off at best
Notes:

1. Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league was split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).

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	ANN	ARD	BMD	BCC	BAG	DGV	DUN	HAR	INS	KNB	NEW	POR	ANN	ARD	BMD	BCC	BAG	DGV	DUN	HAR	INS	KNB	NEW	POR
Annagh United	—	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–4	3–0	5–2	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–3	3–1	—	2–0	—	—	—	—	4–0	4–3	0–0	—	2–0	2–2
Ards	2–3	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–2	4–0	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–3	1–2	—	—	0–1	—	—	2–0	—	0–1	2–2	1–2	—	1–3
Ballinamallard United	2–0	1–1	—	1–0	0–3	4–2	0–0	1–2	0–1	3–0	1–2	3–0	1–0	—	—	—	0–4	—	—	4–0	0–0	6–1	—	1–2
Ballyclare Comrades	0–0	6–3	2–1	—	3–2	2–2	0–1	3–1	1–3	3–0	3–0	2–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	—	2–3	—	—	1–4	—	—	2–0	—
Bangor	3–1	1–0	0–3	4–0	—	3–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–1	2–2	2–1	3–1	—	—	—	—	3–0	—	0–1	5–0	—	—
Dergview	0–1	0–3	1–0	1–3	2–1	—	0–1	0–5	2–2	5–0	2–1	2–3	0–1	—	0–0	1–1	1–1	—	—		—	—	—	—
Dundela	6–2	0–1	2–1	4–0	3–2	3–2	—	2–1	1–2	3–1	4–2	2–0	—	4–0	1–0	1–1	—	5–1	—	—	—	—	—	1–1
Harland & Wolff Welders	2–0	0–3	4–2	4–2	0–0	2–3	2–1	—	4–1	2–1	2–2	1–0	—	—	—	—	1–2	—	2–1	—	0–1	4–1	3–1	1–2
Institute	1–3	3–2	1–0	1–0	4–0	2–0	1–2	2–1	—	2–0	1–3	1–0	—	—	—	3–0	—	0–0	2–4	—	—	—	2–0	1–2
Knockbreda	0–1	2–3	1–2	2–4	1–5	2–0	1–3		1–4	—	1–3	0–2	1–4	—	—	2–0	—	1–2	0–1	—	0–3	—	—	—
Newington	3–0	4–1	1–3	1–2	2–1	3–2	3–1	0–2	2–1	2–0	—	0–2	—	1–0	1–2	—	1–3	3–0	1–3	—	—	2–2	—	—
Portadown	4–1	4–2	2–0	2–1	0–1	4–1	1–3	5–2	1–0	3–1	5–1	—	—	—	—	2–2	2–1	3–2	—	—	—	2–0	0–4	—

Updated to match(es) played on 27 March 2024. Source: NIFL Championship
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	ANN	BAG	DUN	HAR	INS	POR
Annagh United	—		—	—	—	—
Bangor	—	—	—	3–0	—	0–3
Dundela	0–1		—		3–4	—
Harland & Wolff Welders		—	—	—	—	—
Institute			—	2–2	—	—
Portadown	2–4	—				—

Updated to match(es) played on 6 April 2024. Source: NIFL Championship
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	ARD	BMD	BCC	DGV	KNB	NEW
Ards	—	—		—	—
Ballinamallard United		—			—	3–1
Ballyclare Comrades	—	—	—	2–1		—
Dergview		—	—	—		1–1
Knockbreda	0–3	2–0	—	—	—
Newington	—	—		—	—	—

Updated to match(es) played on 9 April 2024. Source: NIFL Championship
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.

NIFL Championship play-off

The eleventh-placed club will face the second-placed club from the 2023–24 NIFL Premier Intermediate League for the final place in the following season's Championship.

References

1. "NIFL Championship Venues 2021-2022". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
2. "Rules and Regulations". NIFL. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

External links

• Official website