2025–26 NIFL Premiership
| Season | 2025–26 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 9 August 2025 – |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 18 (3 per match) |
← 2024–25 2026–27 → | |
The 2025–26 NIFL Premiership (known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 18th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland and the 125th season of Irish League football overall.
Teams
The league consisted of twelve teams; the top eleven teams from the previous season, and one team promoted from the NIFL Championship. Linfield entered the season as defending champions.[1]
The promoted team was the 2024–25 NIFL Championship champions Bangor (returning to the top flight after a sixteen-year absence). They replaced the 2024–25 NIFL Premiership bottom-placed team Loughgall (relegated from the top flight after two years).
Stadia and locations
| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity[2][3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 3,824 (all seated) |
| Bangor | Clandeboye Park | Bangor | 1,895 (500 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) |
| Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 3,940 (2,765 seated) |
Regular season
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carrick Rangers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | Qualification for Section A |
| 2 | Glentoran | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Coleraine | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Linfield | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 3 | |
| 5 | Portadown | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | |
| 6 | Ballymena United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 | |
| 7 | Bangor | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | Qualification for Section B |
| 8 | Cliftonville | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | |
| 9 | Crusaders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 0 | |
| 10 | Larne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |
| 11 | Glenavon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0 | |
| 12 | Dungannon Swifts | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
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[4]
Results
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).
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.
Play-offs
Conference League play-off
Teams placed 3rd–7th qualify for one-off play-off matches, with the winners earning the second spot in the 2026–27 UEFA Conference League first qualifying round; the higher-placed team per game receive home advantage. Teams finishing 4th-7th qualify for the quarter-finals; the 3rd-placed team qualify for the final. If the 2025–26 Irish Cup winners finish in the top seven, a spot will be vacated.
NIFL Premiership play-off
The eleventh-placed team will face the second-placed team of the 2025–26 NIFL Championship in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the 2026–27 NIFL Premiership.
References
- ^ "Linfield lift Irish Premiership after Glentoran win". BBC Sport. 5 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ "AQW 1178/11". Northern Ireland Assembly. 18 October 2010.
- ^ "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013.
- ^ "NIFL Premiership Rules 2024–25" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
External links
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