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 Irish league football 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. It commenced on 27 August 2021 and will conclude in May 2022.[1]

NIFL Premiership
Season2021–22
Dates27 Aug 2021 – May 2022
Matches played104
Goals scored292 (2.81 per match)
Top goalscorerJay Donnelly (16 goals)
Biggest home winCrusaders 4–0 Portadown
(31 August 2021)
Linfield 4–0 Carrick Rangers
(9 October 2021)
Cliftonville 4–0 Portadown
(2 November 2021)
Glentoran 4–0 Ballymena United
(13 November 2021)
Crusaders 4–0 Dungannon Swifts
(11 December 2021)
Biggest away winWarrenpoint Town 1–6 Glenavon
(4 September 2021)
Dungannon Swifts 0–5 Coleraine
(11 September 2021)
Highest scoringWarrenpoint Town 1–6 Glenavon
(4 September 2021)
Ballymena United 4–3 Dungannon Swifts
(28 September 2021)
2022–23 →
All statistics correct as of 11 December 2021.

Linfield are the three-time defending champions, having been league winners in the previous three seasons - the 2020–21 season seeing them win a world record-equalling 55th league title.

The champions will enter the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, while the runners-up and the play-off winners will join the 2021–22 Irish Cup winners 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 will compete 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.[2]

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[3][4]
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,600 (all seated)
Carrick RangersLoughshore Hotel ArenaCarrickfergus2,500 (250 seated)
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast2,530 (all seated)
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine3,500 (1,106 seated)
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,383 (all seated)
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon2,000 (300 seated)
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan4,160 (3,200 seated)
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast6,054 (4,989 seated)
LarneInver ParkLarne3,250 (2,250 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,614 (all seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint1,280 (150 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Cliftonville 18 11 5 2 29 13 +16 38 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Linfield 17 10 6 1 31 9 +22 36 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
3 Glentoran 17 11 3 3 35 18 +17 36 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
4 Larne 18 9 5 4 33 21 +12 32
5 Crusaders 17 10 1 6 26 13 +13 31
6 Coleraine 17 8 5 4 29 13 +16 29
7 Glenavon 17 6 4 7 23 21 +2 22
8 Ballymena United 17 7 1 9 17 27 −10 22
9 Carrick Rangers 18 5 3 10 14 27 −13 18
10 Dungannon Swifts 17 4 0 13 22 46 −24 12
11 Portadown 18 1 6 11 19 41 −22 9 Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off
12 Warrenpoint Town 17 2 1 14 14 43 −29 7 Relegation to the NIFL Championship
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2021. 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[5]
Notes:
  1. Teams will play each other three times (33 matches), before the league splits 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. One of the five play-off places will be vacated if the 2021–22 Irish Cup winners finish 7th or higher, as the cup winners (or the 3rd-placed team if the cup winners also finish 1st or 2nd) will enter the Europa Conference League first qualifying round directly.

Results

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches the table then splits 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 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

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:

  • If the Irish Cup winners finish 7th or higher: one of the five play-off places will be vacated as the cup winners (or the 3rd-placed team if the cup winners also finish 1st or 2nd) will qualify for the Europa Conference League directly.
  • If the Irish Cup winners finish lower than 7th: all five clubs will compete in the play-offs, with an extra quarter-final tie being played between the 6th and 7th-placed clubs to decide which club will join the other three clubs 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 will face the club that qualifies from the 2021–22 NIFL Championship for one place in the following season's Premiership.

Statistics

Top goalscorers
As of 11 December 2021
Rank Scorer Club Goals[6]
1 Jay Donnelly Glentoran 16
2 Christy Manzinga Linfield 13
3 Ryan Curran Cliftonville 9
Conor McMenamin Glentoran
Matthew Shevlin Coleraine
6 Matthew Fitzpatrick Glenavon 8
7 Joe Gormley Cliftonville 7
Ben Kennedy Crusaders
David McDaid Larne
10 Lee Lynch Larne 6

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