Season | 2016β17 |
---|---|
Dates | 6 August 2016 β 29 April 2017 |
Champions |
Linfield 4th Premiership title 52nd Irish title |
Relegated | Portadown |
Champions League | Linfield |
Europa League |
Crusaders Coleraine Ballymena United (via play-offs) |
Matches played | 228 |
Goals scored | 688 (3.02 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Andrew Mitchell ( Dungannon Swifts) (25) |
Biggest home win |
Crusaders 6β0
Ballymena United (6 August 2016) Dungannon Swifts 6β0 Portadown (8 October 2016) |
Biggest away win |
Portadown 0β5
Linfield (26 November 2016) Portadown 0β5 Glentoran (3 January 2017) |
Highest scoring |
Ballymena United 3β4
Ards (20 August 2016) Crusaders 4β3 Cliftonville (1 October 2016) Ballymena United 3β4 Glenavon (3 January 2017) Crusaders 6β1 Glenavon (29 April 2017) |
Highest attendance | 7,504 Linfield 1β1 Glentoran (26 December 2016) [1] |
Lowest attendance | 173 Carrick Rangers 0β3 Dungannon Swifts (24 September 2016) [2] |
Total attendance | 243,738 |
Average attendance | 1,074 |
β
2015β16
2017β18 β |
The 2016β17 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 116th season of Irish league football overall, and the 4th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.
Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 52nd time.
The fixtures were announced on 7 July 2016. [3] The season began on 6 August 2016 and ended on 29 April 2017, with the play-offs taking place in May 2017.
Crusaders were the two-time defending champions after winning the title for the previous two seasons. On 29 April 2017, Linfield beat Cliftonville 3β1 to win their 52nd league title on the final day of the season. [4]
It was an unlikely title win for Linfield, as after a 1β0 home defeat to Coleraine in January 2017, they sat seven points behind defending champions, Crusaders. A 1β1 draw at home against Portadown on 17 February 2017 meant the gap had grown to nine points with nine games left to play. However, Linfield won all nine of their remaining games, going unbeaten in their last 14 games of the season since the Coleraine defeat, winning 13 of them and drawing the other (the 1β1 draw against Portadown). They picked up 40 out of a possible 42 points to capitalise on Crusaders dropping points, and pipped them to the title on the final day of the season by two points.
Linfield qualified for the 2017β18 UEFA Champions League. The runners-up, Crusaders, along with third-placed Coleraine and the play-off winners, Ballymena United, qualified for the 2017β18 UEFA Europa League.
Twelve teams competed in the 2016β17 NIFL Premiership. Warrenpoint Town were relegated after finishing bottom of the 2015β16 NIFL Premiership and after a failed appeal against an IFA ruling not to deduct points from Carrick Rangers after their manager incorrectly served a touchline ban. [5] Warrenpoint Town were replaced by Ards as the winners of the 2015β16 NIFL Championship. [6]
Ballinamallard United finished second from bottom but retained their Premiership place after winning the promotion-relegation play-off against NIFL Championship runners-up Institute 5β4 on aggregate. [7] Portadown started this season with a 12-point deduction, after the IFA found the club guilty of breaching the rules by paying Peter McMahon, despite the player being contracted to the club as an amateur. [8] The club appealed against the decision, but this was rejected in October 2016. [9]
Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity β‘ [10] [11] |
---|---|---|---|
Ards | Clandeboye Park | Bangor | 1,895 (500 seated) |
Ballinamallard United | Ferney Park | Ballinamallard | 2,000 (250 seated) |
Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 3,050 (2,200 seated) |
Carrick Rangers | Taylors Avenue | Carrickfergus | 4,500 (150 seated) |
Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 2,530 (all seated) |
Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 2,496 (1,106 seated) |
Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 3,383 (all seated) |
Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 5,000 (300 seated) |
Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 4,160 (4,000 seated) |
Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 6,054 (4,989 seated) |
Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 18,614 (all seated) |
Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 3,940 (2,765 seated) |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation [a] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Linfield (C) | 38 | 27 | 8 | 3 | 87 | 24 | +63 | 89 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
2 | Crusaders | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 83 | 36 | +47 | 87 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round [b] |
3 | Coleraine | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 56 | 42 | +14 | 65 | |
4 | Ballymena United (O) | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 75 | 73 | +2 | 59 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs [c] |
5 | Cliftonville | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 58 | |
6 | Glenavon | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 52 | |
7 | Dungannon Swifts | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 67 | 59 | +8 | 52 [d] | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs [c] |
8 | Ards | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 61 | 70 | −9 | 47 | |
9 | Glentoran | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 46 | |
10 | Ballinamallard United | 38 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 45 | 72 | −27 | 35 | |
11 | Carrick Rangers (O) | 38 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 31 | 79 | −48 | 22 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
12 | Portadown (R) | 38 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 28 | 75 | −47 | 13 [e] | Relegation to the NIFL Championship |
Matches 1β22During matches 1β22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
|
Matches 23β33During matches 23β33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).
|
During matches 34β38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once. As this was the fourth time that teams played each other this season, home sides were chosen so that they will have played each other twice at home and twice away.
Teams finishing fourth to seventh took part in Europa League play-offs to decide which team would qualify for next season's Europa League first qualifying round.
Ballymena United (4th) | 5β2 | Dungannon Swifts (7th) |
---|---|---|
Kane 3', 40' McKinney 36' McMurray 70' Owens 82' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Lowe 64' Glackin 74' |
Cliftonville (5th) | 3β5 | Glenavon (6th) |
---|---|---|
Winchester 7' Curran 33' J. Donnelly 42' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Marshall 3' Moorhouse 40' Singleton 49' Gray 69' McGrory 72' ( pen.) |
Ballymena United (4th) | 2β1 | Glenavon (6th) |
---|---|---|
Friel 53' Braniff 80' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Marshall 67' |
The runners-up and third-placed teams from the Championship, Institute and Ballyclare Comrades respectively, took part (over two legs) in a pre-play-off.
Ballyclare Comrades | 1β0 | Institute |
---|---|---|
McMullan 81' | Report |
Institute won 3β2 on aggregate.
The eleventh-placed team from the Premiership, Carrick Rangers, played the winners of the pre-play-off, Institute, over two legs for one spot in the 2017β18 NIFL Premiership.
Institute | 1β1 | Carrick Rangers |
---|---|---|
McCrudden 41' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Murray 43' ( pen.) |
Carrick Rangers | 4β1 | Institute |
---|---|---|
McVey 11' McCullough 25' O'Brien 71', 80' ( pen.) |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Morrow 12' |
Carrick Rangers won 5β2 on aggregate and retained their spot in the NIFL Premiership for the 2017β18 season; Institute remained in the NIFL Championship.
Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals [16] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrew Mitchell | Dungannon Swifts | 25 |
2 | Paul Heatley | Crusaders | 21 |
3 | Andrew Waterworth | Linfield | 20 |
Jordan Owens | Crusaders | 20 | |
5 | Cathair Friel | Ballymena United | 17 |
6 | Curtis Allen | Glentoran | 16 |
7 | Tony Kane | Ballymena United | 14 |
Aaron Burns | Linfield | 14 | |
Jamie McGonigle | Coleraine | 14 | |
10 | Johnny McMurray | Ballymena United | 12 |
11 | Adam Lecky | Ballinamallard United | 11 |
Michael Ruddy | Ards | 11 | |
13 | Greg Moorhouse | Glenavon | 10 |
Gavin Whyte | Crusaders | 10 | |
James Mclaughlin | Coleraine | 10 |
Season | 2016β17 |
---|---|
Dates | 6 August 2016 β 29 April 2017 |
Champions |
Linfield 4th Premiership title 52nd Irish title |
Relegated | Portadown |
Champions League | Linfield |
Europa League |
Crusaders Coleraine Ballymena United (via play-offs) |
Matches played | 228 |
Goals scored | 688 (3.02 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Andrew Mitchell ( Dungannon Swifts) (25) |
Biggest home win |
Crusaders 6β0
Ballymena United (6 August 2016) Dungannon Swifts 6β0 Portadown (8 October 2016) |
Biggest away win |
Portadown 0β5
Linfield (26 November 2016) Portadown 0β5 Glentoran (3 January 2017) |
Highest scoring |
Ballymena United 3β4
Ards (20 August 2016) Crusaders 4β3 Cliftonville (1 October 2016) Ballymena United 3β4 Glenavon (3 January 2017) Crusaders 6β1 Glenavon (29 April 2017) |
Highest attendance | 7,504 Linfield 1β1 Glentoran (26 December 2016) [1] |
Lowest attendance | 173 Carrick Rangers 0β3 Dungannon Swifts (24 September 2016) [2] |
Total attendance | 243,738 |
Average attendance | 1,074 |
β
2015β16
2017β18 β |
The 2016β17 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 116th season of Irish league football overall, and the 4th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.
Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 52nd time.
The fixtures were announced on 7 July 2016. [3] The season began on 6 August 2016 and ended on 29 April 2017, with the play-offs taking place in May 2017.
Crusaders were the two-time defending champions after winning the title for the previous two seasons. On 29 April 2017, Linfield beat Cliftonville 3β1 to win their 52nd league title on the final day of the season. [4]
It was an unlikely title win for Linfield, as after a 1β0 home defeat to Coleraine in January 2017, they sat seven points behind defending champions, Crusaders. A 1β1 draw at home against Portadown on 17 February 2017 meant the gap had grown to nine points with nine games left to play. However, Linfield won all nine of their remaining games, going unbeaten in their last 14 games of the season since the Coleraine defeat, winning 13 of them and drawing the other (the 1β1 draw against Portadown). They picked up 40 out of a possible 42 points to capitalise on Crusaders dropping points, and pipped them to the title on the final day of the season by two points.
Linfield qualified for the 2017β18 UEFA Champions League. The runners-up, Crusaders, along with third-placed Coleraine and the play-off winners, Ballymena United, qualified for the 2017β18 UEFA Europa League.
Twelve teams competed in the 2016β17 NIFL Premiership. Warrenpoint Town were relegated after finishing bottom of the 2015β16 NIFL Premiership and after a failed appeal against an IFA ruling not to deduct points from Carrick Rangers after their manager incorrectly served a touchline ban. [5] Warrenpoint Town were replaced by Ards as the winners of the 2015β16 NIFL Championship. [6]
Ballinamallard United finished second from bottom but retained their Premiership place after winning the promotion-relegation play-off against NIFL Championship runners-up Institute 5β4 on aggregate. [7] Portadown started this season with a 12-point deduction, after the IFA found the club guilty of breaching the rules by paying Peter McMahon, despite the player being contracted to the club as an amateur. [8] The club appealed against the decision, but this was rejected in October 2016. [9]
Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity β‘ [10] [11] |
---|---|---|---|
Ards | Clandeboye Park | Bangor | 1,895 (500 seated) |
Ballinamallard United | Ferney Park | Ballinamallard | 2,000 (250 seated) |
Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 3,050 (2,200 seated) |
Carrick Rangers | Taylors Avenue | Carrickfergus | 4,500 (150 seated) |
Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 2,530 (all seated) |
Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 2,496 (1,106 seated) |
Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 3,383 (all seated) |
Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 5,000 (300 seated) |
Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 4,160 (4,000 seated) |
Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 6,054 (4,989 seated) |
Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 18,614 (all seated) |
Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 3,940 (2,765 seated) |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation [a] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Linfield (C) | 38 | 27 | 8 | 3 | 87 | 24 | +63 | 89 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
2 | Crusaders | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 83 | 36 | +47 | 87 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round [b] |
3 | Coleraine | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 56 | 42 | +14 | 65 | |
4 | Ballymena United (O) | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 75 | 73 | +2 | 59 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs [c] |
5 | Cliftonville | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 58 | |
6 | Glenavon | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 52 | |
7 | Dungannon Swifts | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 67 | 59 | +8 | 52 [d] | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs [c] |
8 | Ards | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 61 | 70 | −9 | 47 | |
9 | Glentoran | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 46 | |
10 | Ballinamallard United | 38 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 45 | 72 | −27 | 35 | |
11 | Carrick Rangers (O) | 38 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 31 | 79 | −48 | 22 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
12 | Portadown (R) | 38 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 28 | 75 | −47 | 13 [e] | Relegation to the NIFL Championship |
Matches 1β22During matches 1β22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
|
Matches 23β33During matches 23β33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).
|
During matches 34β38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once. As this was the fourth time that teams played each other this season, home sides were chosen so that they will have played each other twice at home and twice away.
Teams finishing fourth to seventh took part in Europa League play-offs to decide which team would qualify for next season's Europa League first qualifying round.
Ballymena United (4th) | 5β2 | Dungannon Swifts (7th) |
---|---|---|
Kane 3', 40' McKinney 36' McMurray 70' Owens 82' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Lowe 64' Glackin 74' |
Cliftonville (5th) | 3β5 | Glenavon (6th) |
---|---|---|
Winchester 7' Curran 33' J. Donnelly 42' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Marshall 3' Moorhouse 40' Singleton 49' Gray 69' McGrory 72' ( pen.) |
Ballymena United (4th) | 2β1 | Glenavon (6th) |
---|---|---|
Friel 53' Braniff 80' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Marshall 67' |
The runners-up and third-placed teams from the Championship, Institute and Ballyclare Comrades respectively, took part (over two legs) in a pre-play-off.
Ballyclare Comrades | 1β0 | Institute |
---|---|---|
McMullan 81' | Report |
Institute won 3β2 on aggregate.
The eleventh-placed team from the Premiership, Carrick Rangers, played the winners of the pre-play-off, Institute, over two legs for one spot in the 2017β18 NIFL Premiership.
Institute | 1β1 | Carrick Rangers |
---|---|---|
McCrudden 41' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Murray 43' ( pen.) |
Carrick Rangers | 4β1 | Institute |
---|---|---|
McVey 11' McCullough 25' O'Brien 71', 80' ( pen.) |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Morrow 12' |
Carrick Rangers won 5β2 on aggregate and retained their spot in the NIFL Premiership for the 2017β18 season; Institute remained in the NIFL Championship.
Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals [16] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrew Mitchell | Dungannon Swifts | 25 |
2 | Paul Heatley | Crusaders | 21 |
3 | Andrew Waterworth | Linfield | 20 |
Jordan Owens | Crusaders | 20 | |
5 | Cathair Friel | Ballymena United | 17 |
6 | Curtis Allen | Glentoran | 16 |
7 | Tony Kane | Ballymena United | 14 |
Aaron Burns | Linfield | 14 | |
Jamie McGonigle | Coleraine | 14 | |
10 | Johnny McMurray | Ballymena United | 12 |
11 | Adam Lecky | Ballinamallard United | 11 |
Michael Ruddy | Ards | 11 | |
13 | Greg Moorhouse | Glenavon | 10 |
Gavin Whyte | Crusaders | 10 | |
James Mclaughlin | Coleraine | 10 |