The Championship is a men’s league competition in Northern Ireland. This page brings together live scores, fixtures, results, standings, and player and team statistics across recorded seasons, helping visitors follow match developments, review completed results, and explore competition performance data in one place, with information organised for straightforward reference across the competition’s recorded season history.
Upcoming matches, Championship
Regular Season - 8
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- Regular Season - 8
Newry City AFC
Annagh United
The Showgrounds -
- Regular Season - 8
Dundela
Strabane Athletic
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- Regular Season - 8
Loughgall
Armagh City
Lakeview Park -
- Regular Season - 8
Institute
Warrenpoint Town
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- Regular Season - 8
H&W Welders
Ballinamallard United
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- Regular Season - 8
Glenavon FC
Newington Youth
Mourneview Park -
- Regular Season - 8
Moyola Park
Ards
-
- Regular Season - 8
Rathfriland
Queen's University
Regular Season - 9
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- Regular Season - 9
Glenavon FC
Loughgall
Mourneview Park
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- Regular Season - 9
Rathfriland
Warrenpoint Town
Latest played matches, Championship
Regular Season - 7
Regular Season - 6
Championship Standings
Championship 1
| Rank | Club | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Last 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Newington Youth | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 17 | DWWWW |
| 2 |
|
Queen's University | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 16 | WWWWL |
| 3 |
|
Annagh United | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 16 | WWWWD |
| 4 |
|
H&W Welders | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 15 | LWWWW |
| 5 |
|
Glenavon FC | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 11 | DLWDW |
| 6 |
|
Newry City AFC | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 13 | -2 | 11 | DDWLW |
| 7 |
|
Warrenpoint Town | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 10 | WLDWL |
| 8 |
|
Ballinamallard United | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 10 | DWLWL |
| 9 |
|
Ards | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 10 | WLLLW |
| 10 |
|
Institute | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 10 | WWLLD |
| 11 |
|
Loughgall | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 9 | LLDWD |
| 12 |
|
Dundela | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 17 | -2 | 7 | DWLLD |
| 13 |
|
Moyola Park | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 7 | LLWLW |
| 14 |
|
Strabane Athletic | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 18 | -10 | 4 | DLLLL |
| 15 |
|
Armagh City | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 3 | LDLDL |
| 16 |
|
Rathfriland | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 19 | -14 | 0 | LLLLL |
Championship Statistics
Top scorers 2026
| # | Player | Goals |
|---|
Top assists 2026
| # | Player | Assists |
|---|
Top key passes
Top tackles
Top yellow cards
Top red cards
Championship teams participation since 2017
History
| Team | Nb participations |
|---|---|
| H&W Welders | 9 |
| Ballinamallard United | 8 |
| Ballyclare Comrades | 8 |
| Dundela | 8 |
| Ards | 7 |
| Dergview | 7 |
| Knockbreda | 7 |
| Loughgall | 7 |
| Institute | 7 |
| Annagh United | 6 |
| Queen's University | 5 |
| Newry City AFC | 4 |
| Portadown | 4 |
| Limavady United | 4 |
| Newington Youth | 4 |
| PSNI | 3 |
| Armagh City | 3 |
| Bangor | 3 |
| Larne | 2 |
| Warrenpoint Town | 2 |
| Carrick Rangers | 1 |
| Lurgan Celtic | 1 |
| Newry City | 1 |
| Ballymacash Rangers | 1 |
Championship top scorer teams
Championship About
Championship, also known as the Northern Irish Championship or NIFL Championship, is a men’s league competition in Northern Ireland and the second tier of the Northern Ireland Football League system. It forms the principal bridge between intermediate football and the NIFL Premiership, giving established clubs and ambitious challengers a route towards the highest level of domestic league football.
Role and identity
The Championship combines sporting development with the pressure of promotion and relegation. It is a professional and semi-professional environment in which clubs compete for a place in the Premiership while building the playing, operational and financial standards required for top-flight football. The league remains strongly rooted in local communities, but its clubs also attract wider interest through international broadcasting, recruitment and scouting.
The competition was formed in 2008 and belongs to a longer history of second-level football in Northern Ireland. Its predecessors and earlier incarnations include the B Division, which operated from 1951 to 1995, followed by several changes of structure and identity. The modern senior Championship identity was consolidated under the NIFL framework in 2016. The competition’s first recorded event in this statistical context took place on 3 August 2019.
Governance and access
The league is organized by the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL), within the regulatory environment of Northern Irish football and the Irish Football Association. NIFL’s role includes administering the league, setting competition standards and maintaining consistent sporting and commercial regulations across its competitions.
Entry is principally determined by sporting merit, but promotion and participation also depend on licensing. The Premier Intermediate League provides the main route into the Championship, with its champion eligible for promotion when the required licence is held. Clubs can also arrive from the Premiership through relegation. To compete successfully at this level and remain eligible for promotion, clubs must satisfy Championship licensing requirements covering matters such as ground standards, facilities, stadium safety, financial sustainability and youth development.
Licensing is therefore more than an administrative condition. It is intended to ensure that a promoted club has the infrastructure and governance needed to operate in the Premiership, rather than relying on results alone to determine movement between divisions.
Competition format
The established 12-club format uses a three-phase league schedule. During the regular phase, every club meets each opponent three times, producing 33 matches per team. The table then divides into two sections:
– Championship A contains the top six clubs and provides the main contest for the title and promotion.
– Championship B contains the bottom six clubs and focuses on avoiding relegation.
Points earned during the first 33 matches are carried into the split. Each club then plays five further matches against the other teams in its section, creating a 38-match campaign. This structure means that the split does not reset the competition: early-season results continue to matter, while the final stage concentrates fixtures against clubs with closely related objectives.
Recent competition material describes an expansion to 16 clubs for the 2026–27 season. That is a confirmed future structural change from the 12-club arrangement on which the 33-match regular phase and 38-match total are based, so the number of fixtures and the precise split format should be understood in relation to the applicable season’s regulations.
Points, rankings and play-offs
The standard league scoring system awards three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. When clubs finish level, the recorded ranking sequence gives priority to overall goal difference, followed by goals scored, head-to-head points and head-to-head goal difference. If a decisive ranking still cannot be established, the regulations provide for a drawing of lots in exceptional circumstances.
The Championship winner earns automatic promotion to the NIFL Premiership, subject to meeting the relevant licensing requirements. The second-placed team has a further route to the top flight through a promotion play-off against the 11th-placed Premiership club. Promotion and relegation play-offs are decided over two legs where applicable; if the aggregate score is level after normal time in the tie, extra time and, if necessary, penalties determine the winner.
At the other end of the table, the bottom club is relegated to the Premier Intermediate League. The club finishing 11th enters a play-off to retain its Championship place, making the lower section more than a formality after the split.
Season calendar and wider stakes
The Championship generally follows the European winter football calendar, running from August to May. Saturday afternoon fixtures form the traditional core of the schedule, with matches also commonly associated with festive and Easter periods, including Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Tuesday.
The league phase is the competition’s central purpose, but Championship clubs also take part in domestic cup football, including the NIFL Cup and the Irish Cup. These matches provide additional opportunities for prestige, revenue and progress against clubs from other levels of the Northern Irish game. Within the league itself, however, the defining attraction is the constant connection between performance and consequence: the title can open the door to the Premiership, while a difficult campaign can lead to a play-off or relegation. That combination gives the Northern Irish Championship its distinctive competitive character.