2015–16 NIFL Premiership
| Season | 2015–16 |
|---|---|
|
← 2014–15
All statistics correct as of pre-season. | |
The 2015–16 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) will be the eighth season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 115th season of Irish league football overall, and the third season of the league under the control of the Northern Ireland Football League, which took over from the Irish Football Association (IFA) in 2013.[1] The season will begin on 8 August 2015, and will conclude with the final round of fixtures on 23 April 2016.
Crusaders are the defending champions, after securing last season's title for the fifth time in the club's history on 18 April 2015 – their first title since the 1996–97 season.[2]
Competition changes
- Finishing in 3rd position no longer results in automatic qualification for the UEFA Europa League. At the end of the regular 38-game season, the clubs finishing from 3rd to 7th position will participate in a series of play-offs. The winner of these play-offs will qualify for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round, along with the league runners-up and the 2015–16 Irish Cup winners.
- Clubs will now be permitted to register a maximum of 20 (twenty) players aged 21 and over, but are permitted to register an unlimited number of players under the age of 21.
Teams
On their return to the top flight after a four year absence in the 2014–15 season, Institute were relegated back to Championship 1 after only one season. This was confirmed after they lost 2–1 against Ballymena United on 11 April 2015, leaving them bottom of the table by nine points with only two fixtures remaining.[3] Carrick Rangers replaced them in the Premiership, after securing the 2014–15 Championship 1 title. Carrick Rangers returned to the top flight for the first time in the three years since they were relegated in the 2011–12 season.[4]
Warrenpoint Town finished in 11th place – the Promotion/relegation play-off place – and will face Bangor from Championship 1 for the final place in this season's Premiership.[5]
Stadia and locations
| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity[6][7] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinamallard United | Ferney Park | Ballinamallard | 2,000 (250 seated) |
| Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 3,050 (2,200 seated) |
| Carrick Rangers | Seaview | Belfast | 3,383 (all seated) |
| Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 2,530 (all seated) |
| Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 2,496 (1,106 seated) |
| Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 3,383 (all seated) |
| Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 5,000 (300 seated) |
| Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 4,160 (4,000 seated) |
| Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 6,054 (4,989 seated) |
| Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 10,500 (all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinamallard United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Ballymena United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1] |
| 3 | Carrick Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qualification to Europa League play-offs |
| 4 | Cliftonville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Coleraine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Dungannon Swifts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Glenavon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Glentoran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Linfield | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Portadown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qualification to Promotion/relegation play-off |
| 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegation to 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
Notes:
- ↑ The 2015–16 Irish Cup winners will also qualify for the Europa League first qualifying round.
Results
Matches 1–22During matches 1–22 each team will play every other team twice (home and away). Updated to games played on pre-season. |
Matches 23–33During matches 23–33 each team will play every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). Updated to games played on pre-season. |
Matches 34–38
During matches 34–38 each team will play every other team in their half of the table once. As this will be the fourth time that teams play each other this season, home sides will be chosen so that they will have played each other twice at home and twice away.
Section A
Updated to games played on pre-season. |
Section B
Updated to games played on pre-season. |
UEFA Europa League play-offs
Newly introduced for this season, the five clubs that finish in 3rd to 7th positions will compete in a series of play-offs for a place in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.[8] The two lowest-placed qualifiers will face each other in the quarter-final, with the winner joining the other three clubs in the semi-finals. The higher-ranked clubs will have home advantage in each tie.[9]
Quarter-final
Quarter-final |
| 6th-placed club | v | 7th-placed club |
|---|---|---|
Semi-finals
Semi-final 1 |
| 3rd-placed club | v | Winner of quarter-final |
|---|---|---|
Semi-final 2 |
| 4th-placed club | v | 5th-placed club |
|---|---|---|
Final
Final |
| Winner of semi-final 1 | v | Winner of semi-final 2 |
|---|---|---|
Promotion/relegation play-off
The club that finishes this season in 11th place will play the play-off qualifier from the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 1 over two legs for a place in next season's Premiership. The Premiership club will play the first leg away from home, with home advantage for the second leg.
NIFL Premiership clubs in Europe 2015–16
UEFA coefficient and ranking
For the 2015–16 UEFA competitions, the associations were allocated places according to their 2014 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2009–10 to 2013–14. In the 2014 rankings used for the 2015–16 European competitions, Northern Ireland's coefficient points total was 3.625. After earning a score of 0.875 during the 2013–14 European campaign, Northern Ireland was ranked by UEFA as the 47th best association in Europe out of 54 for the second consecutive season.
- 45
Malta 4.833 - 46
Liechtenstein 4.500 - 47
Northern Ireland 3.625 - 48
Wales 3.000 - 49
Armenia 2.875
References
- ↑ "NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE". NIFL Premiership.
- ↑ "Irish Premiership: Crusaders 2-0 Glentoran". BBC Sport (BBC). 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ↑ "Irish Premiership: Institute 1-2 Ballymena Utd". BBC Sport (BBC). 11 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ↑ "Carrick Rangers are promoted to Irish Premiership". BBC Sport (BBC). 25 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ↑ "Irish Premiership: Dungannon Swifts 1-1 Warrenpoint Town". BBC Sport (BBC). 11 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ↑ "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ↑ "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ↑ "Northern Ireland clubs to play-off for Europa League place". BBC Sport (BBC). 25 June 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ↑ "NI FOOTBALL LEAGUE - RESTRUCTURE PROPOSAL". BBC Sport (BBC). 14 June 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
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