2021–22 NIFL Championship

The 2021–22 NIFL Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the fifth season of the NIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the Northern Ireland Football League - the national football league in Northern Ireland. The season began on 7 August 2021 and will conclude in April 2022.

NIFL Championship
Season2021–22
Dates7 Aug 2021 – April 2022
Matches played120
Goals scored368 (3.07 per match)
Biggest home winDergivew 5–0 Institute
(7 August 2021)
Biggest away winKnockbreda 1–6 Loughgall
(11 September 2021)
Highest scoringH&W Welders 5–3 Ballinamallard United
(30 October 2021)
2022–23 →
All statistics correct as of 04 December 2021.

The Championship returned after a one-year hiatus, following the cancellation of the 2020–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

Portadown are the current champions from the 2019–20 season. However, as they won promotion and are competing in the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership they cannot defend their title.

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

The 2021–22 NIFL Championship is being contested by 12 teams, ten of which retained their Championship status from the 2019–20 season. Portadown were champions in the previous season, and were promoted to the 2020–21 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by the bottom team in the NIFL Premiership, Institute. Runners-up Ballinamallard United missed out on promotion, as the NIFL Premiership play-off was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

The bottom Championship team from the previous season, PSNI, were relegated to the third-tier NIFL Premier Intermediate League. They were replaced by Annagh United, winners of the Premier Intermediate League. The eleventh-placed Championship team from the previous season, Knockbreda, had a reprieve, as the NIFL Championship play-off was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

Stadia and locations
Club Stadium Location Capacity[1]
Annagh UnitedTandragee RoadPortadown1,250 (100 seated)
ArdsBangor Fuels ArenaBangor1,895 (500 seated)
Ballinamallard UnitedFerney ParkBallinamallard2,000 (250 seated)
Ballyclare ComradesDixon ParkBallyclare5,333
DergviewDarragh ParkCastlederg1,200
DundelaWilgar ParkBelfast2,500
Harland & Wolff WeldersTillysburn ParkBelfast3,000
InstituteRyan McBride Brandywell StadiumDerry8,200
KnockbredaBreda ParkBelfast1,000
LoughgallLakeview ParkLoughgall3,000
Newry CityThe ShowgroundsNewry2,275 (1,080 seated)
Queen's UniversityUpper MaloneBelfast1,000 (330 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Newry City 20 13 4 3 39 18 +21 43 Promotion to the NIFL Premiership
2 Loughgall 20 10 4 6 33 18 +15 34 Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off[lower-alpha 2]
3 Ards 20 10 3 7 33 22 +11 33
4 Ballinamallard United 20 10 5 5 39 28 +11 35
5 Annagh United 20 11 2 7 41 32 +9 35
6 Harland & Wolff Welders 20 11 2 7 34 29 +5 35
7 Ballyclare Comrades 20 8 3 9 27 33 −6 27
8 Knockbreda 20 7 5 8 37 47 −10 26
9 Dergview 20 8 4 8 29 26 +3 28
10 Institute 20 4 4 12 16 42 −26 16
11 Dundela 20 4 5 11 28 34 −6 17 Qualification for the NIFL Championship play-off
12 Queen's University 20 2 3 15 13 40 −27 9 Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League
Updated to match(es) played on 04 December 2021. Source: 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; 6) Drawing of lots[2]
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. If the runners-up do not attain a promotion licence, the next highest-placed team eligible for promotion that finishes 6th or higher will enter the play-off against the 11th-placed NIFL Premiership club. If no team finishing 2nd to 6th attains a promotion licence the play-off will not take place.

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.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 B.J Banda Ballinamallard United 13
2 Benny Igiehon Dergview 11
3 Michael McLellan H&W Welders 10
4 Nedas Maciulaitis Loughgall 9
5 Joshua McIlwaine Ballinamallard United 8
6 Liam McKenna Ballyclare Comrades 7
Ethan Devine Knockbreda
James Teelan Newry City

References
  1. "NIFL Championship Venues 2021-2022". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  2. "Rules and Regulations". NIFL. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
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