The Premiership is a men’s league competition in Northern Ireland, with recorded coverage spanning the 2017 to 2025 seasons. Visitors can follow live scores, fixtures, results and standings, alongside player and team statistics, whether checking a fixture, reviewing a result or comparing information across the competition’s recorded seasons in one clear place for season-by-season reference.
Upcoming matches, Premiership
Regular Season - 8
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- Regular Season - 8
Bangor
Portadown
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- Regular Season - 8
Carrick Rangers
Larne
Loughview Leisure Arena -
- Regular Season - 8
Cliftonville FC
Glentoran
Solitude -
- Regular Season - 8
Dungannon Swifts
Ballymena United
Stangmore Park -
- Regular Season - 8
Linfield
Crusaders FC
Windsor Park -
- Regular Season - 8
Coleraine FC
Limavady United
The Showgrounds
Regular Season - 9
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- Regular Season - 9
Coleraine FC
Linfield
The Showgrounds
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- Regular Season - 9
Larne
Dungannon Swifts
Inver Park
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- Regular Season - 9
Ballymena United
Portadown
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- Regular Season - 9
Crusaders FC
Bangor
Seaview
Latest played matches, Premiership
Regular Season - 7
Regular Season - 6
Premiership Standings
IFA Premiership
| Rank | Club | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Last 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Coleraine FC | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 19 | WWWWW |
| 2 |
|
Linfield | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 16 | DWWWW |
| 3 |
|
Larne | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 13 | WWWWD |
| 4 |
|
Cliftonville FC | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 12 | LWWLL |
| 5 |
|
Crusaders FC | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 12 | WLLWW |
| 6 |
|
Dungannon Swifts | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 12 | LLWWW |
| 7 |
|
Carrick Rangers | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 10 | DLLWL |
| 8 |
|
Glentoran | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 7 | LDLLW |
| 9 |
|
Limavady United | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 6 | WWLLL |
| 10 |
|
Ballymena United | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 5 | DLDLL |
| 11 |
|
Bangor | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 16 | -12 | 2 | LDLDL |
| 12 |
|
Portadown | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 14 | -10 | 1 | DLLLL |
Premiership Statistics
Top scorers 2026
| # | Player | Goals |
|---|
Top assists 2026
| # | Player | Assists |
|---|
Top key passes
Top tackles
Top yellow cards
Top red cards
Premiership teams participation since 2017
History
| Team | Nb participations |
|---|---|
| Linfield | 9 |
| Ballymena United | 9 |
| Coleraine FC | 9 |
| Crusaders FC | 9 |
| Cliftonville FC | 9 |
| Glenavon FC | 9 |
| Dungannon Swifts | 9 |
| Glentoran | 9 |
| Carrick Rangers | 8 |
| Larne | 7 |
| Portadown | 5 |
| Warrenpoint Town | 5 |
| Newry City AFC | 3 |
| Institute | 3 |
| Annagh United | 3 |
| Ards | 2 |
| Loughgall | 2 |
| Ballinamallard United | 1 |
| Bangor | 1 |
Premiership top scorer teams
Premiership About
Premiership is Northern Ireland’s top-tier men’s professional football league, a domestic league competition currently known commercially as the Sports Direct Premiership. Organised by the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL), it sits at the summit of the national football pyramid and provides the principal route for Northern Irish clubs into UEFA competition.
Identity and purpose
The Premiership brings together 12 licensed clubs competing for the Gibson Cup and the distinction of becoming Northern Ireland’s champions. Its sporting purpose is twofold: to determine the country’s leading club over a full league season and to provide a sustainable professional platform from which clubs can develop, attract support and qualify for European football.
The modern Premiership structure was established in 2008, although it belongs to a much older football tradition. Northern Ireland’s senior league can trace its direct lineage to the Irish League founded in 1890, placing it among the world’s oldest national league competitions. The modern competition represents the reorganised top level of that historic system, with NIFL responsible for its administration and member clubs operating within the wider framework of Irish football governance.
Clubs, licensing and movement between divisions
Membership is restricted to 12 clubs that satisfy the requirements of the relevant club-licensing system. Licensing addresses areas such as stadium standards, safety, financial viability, administration and personnel, helping ensure that participation at the highest level is supported by appropriate sporting and organisational infrastructure.
The main route into the Premiership is promotion from the NIFL Championship. The Championship winner is normally promoted automatically, provided the club holds the required Premiership Licence. At the other end of the table, the club finishing 12th is relegated. The team in 11th enters a two-legged promotion-relegation play-off against a Championship contender, with the winner taking the Premiership place. This arrangement combines direct access for the strongest eligible second-tier club with a further safeguard for top-flight membership.
How the league season works
The Premiership uses a distinctive split-league format. During the first phase, each of the 12 clubs plays every other club three times, producing 33 matches per team. The table then divides into a top six and a bottom six. Clubs retain the points they have already earned and play five further matches against the other teams in their own section, bringing the season total to 38 matches per club.
The split gives the closing weeks a clear competitive focus. The top section determines the final order among the leading clubs and helps establish European qualification positions, while the bottom section concentrates the fight against relegation and the play-off place. Because points are carried forward rather than reset, the second phase rewards the work completed across the entire campaign while giving clubs additional direct contests against their nearest rivals.
Matches use the standard league scoring system: three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. When clubs finish level on points, standings are separated first by overall goal difference, then by goals scored, followed by head-to-head points and head-to-head goal difference. These criteria provide a structured method for resolving close title, European and relegation races.
European qualification and the season calendar
Winning the Premiership is the competition’s highest domestic achievement and earns the champions the Gibson Cup. The champions also enter the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League, giving the title a direct link to Europe’s leading club competition. Other high-ranking finishers can qualify for the UEFA Conference League, while a European play-off offers an additional route for eligible clubs competing near the top of the final table. The relevant play-off matches are played as single-match knockouts; where a match remains level after 90 minutes, extra time is played and penalties decide the winner if necessary.
The competition generally follows the European winter-football calendar. The season usually begins in August and concludes in late April or May, with the split taking place after the 33-match first phase. Saturday afternoons remain an important part of the traditional match schedule, while festive fixtures on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, together with Easter-period matches, form familiar features of the Northern Irish football calendar.
The Premiership in Northern Irish football
The Premiership combines a compact 12-club structure with a demanding 38-match schedule and a decisive second phase. Its licensing requirements protect the standards expected of the country’s highest division; its promotion and relegation system keeps the Championship connected to the top flight; and its European places give the domestic title and final league positions significance beyond Northern Ireland.
For records and season-by-season statistics, the Premiership has recorded coverage from 2017 through 2025, spanning nine seasons in the available competition history. Across that period, the central identity of the competition remains clear: it is Northern Ireland’s premier league, the principal test of sustained domestic performance and the gateway through which its leading clubs pursue European football.