2021–22 NIFL Premiership

The 2021–22 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 14th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 121st season of the Irish League overall, and the ninth season since the creation of the Northern Ireland Football League. The season normally begins in early August, however, due to the previous season finishing a few weeks later than usual in late May 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, the start of this season was pushed back. The 38-game season commenced on 27 August 2021 and concluded on 30 April 2022, with the European play-offs due to take place in the second week of May.[2]

NIFL Premiership
Season2021–22
Dates27 Aug 2021 – 30 Apr 2022
ChampionsLinfield
8th Premiership title
56th Irish title
RelegatedWarrenpoint Town
UEFA Champions LeagueLinfield
UEFA Europa Conference LeagueCliftonville
Matches played228
Goals scored621 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorerJay Donnelly (25 goals)
Biggest home winLinfield 5–0 Dungannon Swifts
(19 March 2022)
Biggest away winWarrenpoint Town 1–6 Glenavon
(4 September 2021)
Dungannon Swifts 0–5 Coleraine
(11 September 2021)
Dungannon Swifts 1–6 Linfield
(1 January 2022)
Portadown 0–5 Carrick Rangers
(30 April 2022)
Highest scoringGlentoran 6–2 Carrick Rangers
(28 March 2022)
Highest attendance8,007
Linfield 1–1 Glentoran
(27 December 2021)[1]
Lowest attendance98
Carrick Rangers 1–2 Dungannon Swifts
(4 December 2021)[1]
2022–23 →

Linfield were the three-time defending champions, having been league winners in the previous three seasons - the 2020–21 season seeing them win a then world record-equalling 55th league title. This season Linfield once again retained their title, securing a world record 56th league crown on the final day of the season. A 2–0 win over Coleraine meant that the Blues pipped runners-up Cliftonville to the title by a single point. This was the first time in 35 years that a club had won four consecutive titles, with Linfield winning the last of their six consecutive titles in the 1986–87 season. It was also the narrowest title-winning margin since the 2008–09 season, when Glentoran won the title by a single point ahead of Linfield.

Linfield entered the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, while the play-off winners and the 2021–22 Irish Cup winners will join Cliftonville in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

Teams
Locations of the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2021–22 NIFL Premiership teams

Twelve teams competed in the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership, the same twelve teams from the previous season. No relegation took place from the previous season's Premiership, after a majority of second-tier NIFL Championship clubs voted to cancel their 2020–21 season. The second and third tiers had not been granted 'elite' sporting status by the IFA which was required in order to continue playing matches during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, with lower division clubs not having played any league fixtures since the 2019–20 season had initially been suspended in March 2020.[3]

Dungannon Swifts finished bottom of the table the previous season, but were reprieved from relegation. Carrick Rangers were also reprieved, having finished in 11th place. This would normally have required them to take part in the NIFL Premiership play-off against the qualifier from the NIFL Championship.

Stadia and locations
Club Stadium Location Capacity[4][5]
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,824 (all seated)
Carrick RangersLoughshore Hotel ArenaCarrickfergus2,100 (380 seated)
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast3,054 (all seated)
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine4,843 (1,607 seated)
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,208 (all seated)
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon2,000 (300 seated)
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan3,302 (all seated)
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast6,054 (3,991 seated)
LarneInver ParkLarne2,732 (1,632 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,434 (all seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint2,000 (150 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Linfield (C) 38 24 11 3 67 24 +43 83 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Cliftonville 38 24 10 4 61 29 +32 82 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
3 Glentoran 38 21 8 9 68 44 +24 71 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
4 Crusaders (Y) 38 21 5 12 60 36 +24 68
5 Larne 38 17 11 10 61 39 +22 62
6 Coleraine 38 14 9 15 55 45 +10 51
7 Glenavon 38 15 9 14 54 50 +4 54 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
8 Ballymena United (Y) 38 16 5 17 46 52 −6 53
9 Dungannon Swifts 38 11 2 25 46 86 −40 35
10 Carrick Rangers 38 9 7 22 41 67 −26 34
11 Portadown 38 5 10 23 29 72 −43 25 Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off
12 Warrenpoint Town (R) 38 6 3 29 35 79 −44 21 Relegation to the NIFL Championship
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; 6) Drawing of lots[6]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated; (Y) May still qualify directly for the Europa Conference League by winning the 2021–22 Irish Cup
Notes:
  1. Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
  2. The 2021–22 Irish Cup winners will also enter the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
  3. The play-off place allocated to Crusaders will be vacated if they win the 2021–22 Irish Cup, as they will enter the Europa Conference League first qualifying round directly.

Results

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches the table was then split into two halves, with teams ranked 1st–6th in Section A and teams ranked 7th–12th in Section B. During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures were reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams had played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

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 2022–23 Europa Conference League first qualifying round, subject to holding a UEFA licence. 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. 4th v. 7th and 5th v. 6th) in the semi-finals. The higher-ranked of the two semi-final winners also has home advantage in the final.

The number of teams in the play-offs will be determined by the outcome of the 2021–22 Irish Cup final:

  • If Crusaders win the Irish Cup: one of the five play-off places will be vacated as Crusaders will enter the Europa Conference League first qualifying round directly. Glentoran (3rd), Larne (5th), Coleraine (6th) and Glenavon (7th) will enter the play-off semi-finals.
  • If Ballymena United win the Irish Cup: all five clubs will compete in the play-offs. An initial quarter-final tie will be played between Coleraine (6th) and Glenavon (7th) with the winner joining Glentoran (3rd), Crusaders (4th) and Larne (5th) in the semi-finals.

Semi-finals
Semi-final
3rd/4th-placed teamv6th/7th-placed team
Semi-final
4th/5th-placed teamv5th/6th-placed team

Final
Final
Higher-ranked semi-final winnervLower-ranked semi-final winner

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club, Portadown, will face the second-placed club from the 2021–22 NIFL Championship, Annagh United, for one place in the following season's Premiership.

First leg
Annagh United2–3Portadown
BMG Arena, Portadown
Second leg
PortadownvAnnagh United

Statistics

Top goalscorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals[7]
1 Jay Donnelly Glentoran 25
2 Conor McMenamin Glentoran 20
3 Ryan Curran Cliftonville 19
4 Christy Manzinga Linfield 17
5 Matthew Fitzpatrick Glenavon 13
Joe Gormley Cliftonville
Matthew Shevlin Coleraine
8 Peter Campbell Glenavon 12
Ben Kennedy Crusaders
David McDaid Larne

References
  1. "NIFL Premiership results 2021-2022". Northern Ireland Football League.
  2. "Irish Premiership: New season to start on 28 August following feedback from managers". BBC. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. "NIFL Championship: 2020/2021 season declared null and void after clubs vote". BBC. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  4. "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  5. "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  6. "NIFL Premiership Rules 2020–21" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  7. "Irish Premiership Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
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