2015–16 NIFL Championship

NIFL Championship
Season 2015–16

The 2015–16 NIFL Championship (known as the Belfast Telegraph Championship for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the eighth and final season of the competition in this format since its establishment after a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland, and the third season of the league as part of the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL), which took over from the Irish Football Association (IFA) for the 2013–14 season onwards.[2] The season began on 8 August 2015 and will end in May 2016.

Changes from 2014–15

Competition changes

League restructure proposals to be introduced over a three-season period were approved by the NIFL on 25 June 2014. The second phase, coming into effect this season, amended the Championship rules:

Team changes

Carrick Rangers won the previous season's Championship 1 title, winning promotion back to the top flight for the first time since their relegation in the 2011–12 season.[3] In the bottom two, Dundela and PSNI were relegated to this season's Championship 2, while Lurgan Celtic and Annagh United went in the opposite direction after finishing first and second in Championship 2. For the second successive season, a club was relegated to regional football. Ballymoney United finished bottom of Championship 2 and were relegated to a regional division for the following season. As a result, Championship 2 reduced in size to 14 clubs.

Promoted from Championship 1 to the Premiership

Relegated from the Premiership to Championship 1

Promoted from Championship 2 to Championship 1

Relegated from Championship 1 to Championship 2

Relegated from Championship 2 to Level 4 Regional League

Championship 1

NIFL Championship 1
Matches played 98
Goals scored 346 (3.53 per match)
Biggest home win Armagh City 6–0 Lurgan Celtic
(7 November 2015)
Biggest away win Lisburn Distillery 0–7 Larne
(22 August 2015)
Highest scoring Loughgall 3–7 Larne
(17 October 2015)

Stadia and locations

Club Stadium Location Capacity
Annagh United Tandragee Road Portadown 1,250 (100 seated)
Ards Clandeboye Park Bangor 2,850 (500 seated)
Armagh City Holm Park Armagh 3,000 (330 seated)
Ballyclare Comrades Dixon Park Ballyclare 1,800 (500 seated)
Bangor Clandeboye Park Bangor 2,850 (500 seated)
Dergview Darragh Park Castlederg 1,200 (100 seated)
Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Park Belfast 2,330 (650 seated)
Harland & Wolff Welders Tillysburn Park Belfast 3,000 (100 seated)
Institute Riverside Stadium Drumahoe 3,110 (1,540 seated)
Knockbreda Breda Park Knockbreda 1,000 (100 seated)
Larne Inver Park Larne 1,100 (656 seated)
Lisburn Distillery New Grosvenor Stadium Ballyskeagh 7,000 (540 seated)
Loughgall Lakeview Park Loughgall 3,000 (180 seated)
Lurgan Celtic Knockrammer Park Lurgan 1,000 (100 seated)

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ards 15 11 1 3 35 17 +18 34 Promotion to NIFL Premiership
2 Harland & Wolff Welders 14 9 3 2 34 14 +20 30 Qualification to NIFL Premiership play-off
3 Loughgall 15 7 4 4 32 27 +5 25
4 Larne 13 6 4 3 36 27 +9 22
5 Bangor 16 6 4 6 23 24 −1 22
6 Dergview 13 6 3 4 27 22 +5 21
7 Knockbreda 13 6 3 4 21 17 +4 21
8 Annagh United 15 6 3 6 23 29 −6 21
9 Lurgan Celtic 12 5 3 4 18 21 −3 18
10 Ballyclare Comrades 16 3 7 6 22 27 −5 16
11 Armagh City 12 4 3 5 27 20 +7 15 Qualification to relegation play-off
12 Institute 13 4 3 6 15 14 +1 15 Relegation to NIFL Premier Intermediate League
13 Lisburn Distillery 15 2 2 11 13 36 −23 8
14 Donegal Celtic 14 0 3 11 20 51 −31 3
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2016. Source: Northern Ireland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference

Results

Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games.

Home ╲ Away ANN ARD ARMBCCBGRDGVDGCHARINSKNBLRNLISLGLLGC
Annagh United 1–3 2–1 1–1 1–3 3–3 1–2 3–2
Ards 4–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–0 5–2 1–1
Armagh City 3–4 3–1 2–2 3–1 0–1 6–0
Ballyclare Comrades 0–2 2–1 1–1 3–3 1–3 1–1 1–3
Bangor 1–3 0–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 2–2 0–3
Dergview 4–4 1–0 1–2 1–0 3–0 2–4
Donegal Celtic 0–1 2–3 0–4 1–3 2–6 1–4 1–6 1–4
Harland & Wolff Welders 3–0 3–4 1–1 3–0 3–0 6–2 3–0 1–0 2–0
Institute 0–1 1–1 0–0 3–1 1–1 3–0
Knockbreda 1–3 2–2 1–0 3–3 1–0 2–2
Larne 2–0 1–6 4–4 1–1 2–1 0–3 2–2
Lisburn Distillery 0–2 1–1 2–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–7 1–5
Loughgall 2–0 3–2 3–1 1–0 3–7 2–1 0–1
Lurgan Celtic 0–2 3–3 1–1 2–1 2–3 2–0

Updated to games played on 6 February 2016.
Source: NI Football League
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

NIFL Championship play-off

The club that finishes in 11th place will play the Championship 2 runners-up over two legs for a place in the 2016–17 NIFL Championship – the inaugural season in which the Championship will hold senior status. The play-off losers will enter the 2016–17 NIFL Premier Intermediate League, which will replace Championship 2 and will remain intermediate. The 11th-placed Championship 1 club will play the first leg away from home, with home advantage for the second leg.


First Leg
Championship 2 runners-up v 11th-placed Championship 1 team


Second Leg
11th-placed Championship 1 team v Championship 2 runners-up

Championship 2

NIFL Championship 2
Matches played 100
Goals scored 320 (3.2 per match)
Biggest home win Tobermore United 5–0 Dundela
(10 October 2015)
Moyola Park 6–1 Dollingstown
(6 February 2016)
Biggest away win Banbridge Town 0–6 Sport & Leisure Swifts
(5 September 2015)
Highest scoring Queen's University 4–5 Portstewart
(28 November 2015)

Stadia and locations

Club Stadium Location Capacity
Banbridge Town Crystal Park Banbridge 1,500 (100 seated)
Coagh United Hagan Park Coagh 2,000 (179 seated)
Dollingstown Planters Park Lurgan 1,000 (100 seated)
Dundela Wilgar Park Belfast 2,500 (100 seated)
Glebe Rangers Riada Stadium Ballymoney 5,752 (218 seated)
Limavady United The Showgrounds Limavady 1,000 (174 seated)
Moyola Park Mill Meadow Castledawson 1,000 (200 seated)
Newington YC Seaview Belfast 3,383 (all seated)
Portstewart Seahaven Portstewart 1,000 (100 seated)
PSNI Newforge Lane Belfast 500 (112 seated)
Queen's University Dub Stadium Belfast 1,000 (100 seated)
Sport & Leisure Swifts Glen Road Heights Belfast 500 (215 seated)
Tobermore United Fortwilliam Park Tobermore 1,500 (100 seated)
Wakehurst Mill Meadow Castledawson 1,000 (200 seated)

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Limavady United 16 10 5 1 43 16 +27 35 Promotion to NIFL Championship[lower-alpha 1]
2 PSNI 14 9 2 3 28 19 +9 29 Qualification to NIFL Championship play-off[lower-alpha 1]
3 Tobermore United 14 8 1 5 21 15 +6 25
4 Queen's University 15 7 3 5 25 23 +2 24
5 Banbridge Town 16 6 5 5 22 22 0 23
6 Dollingstown 15 6 4 5 29 31 −2 22
7 Sport & Leisure Swifts 11 6 2 3 29 15 +14 20
8 Moyola Park 15 6 2 7 24 20 +4 20
9 Dundela 15 6 1 8 21 31 −10 19
10 Newington YC 15 4 5 6 17 20 −3 17 Relegation to level 4 regional league[lower-alpha 2]
11 Glebe Rangers 14 4 5 5 16 23 −7 17
12 Coagh United 14 3 3 8 14 26 −12 12
13 Portstewart 12 3 2 7 17 25 −8 11
14 Wakehurst 14 1 2 11 14 34 −20 5
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2016. Source: Northern Ireland Football League
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:
  1. 1 2 Eligibility for promotion is subject to the club gaining the compulsory IFA club licence.
  2. ↑ The bottom five clubs will be relegated if a level 4 regional league champion is eligible for promotion and applies for NIFL membership, otherwise only four clubs will be relegated, with the 10th-placed club reprieved from relegation.

Results

Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games.

Home ╲ Away BBT COA DOLDNDGBELIMMOYNTNPSTPSNQUESLSTOBWAK
Banbridge Town 1–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 0–6 3–4 1–0
Coagh United 1–1 0–0 2–5 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1
Dollingstown 3–1 4–0 2–2 1–0 3–3 1–2 2–2
Dundela 3–1 2–3 0–2 0–3 1–0 3–1 2–5 4–0
Glebe Rangers 0–4 1–3 1–1 1–3 1–2 0–4 2–1
Limavady United 2–2 4–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 4–2 1–1 2–2
Moyola Park 0–0 3–0 6–1 0–4 0–1 1–1 4–1
Newington YC 0–0 5–2 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0
Portstewart 1–3 0–2 2–2 3–0 0–3 2–2
PSNI 3–3 3–2 3–0 4–2 2–0 2–0
Queen's University 3–2 0–2 0–0 0–3 3–2 1–0 4–5 4–0 1–2 0–2 3–1
Sport & Leisure Swifts 1–2 0–2
Tobermore United 2–0 5–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–1
Wakehurst 1–2 1–2 2–3 2–2 1–5 2–3 0–4

Updated to games played on 6 February 2016.
Source: NI Football League
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

  1. ↑ BELFAST TELEGRAPH SPONSOR THE IFA CHAMPIONSHIP
  2. ↑ "NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE". NIFL Premiership.
  3. ↑ "Carrick Rangers are promoted to Irish Premiership". BBC Sport (BBC). 25 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
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