2018–19 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership 2018–19
Season information
Dates	4 August 2018 – 27 April 2019
Winners	Linfield 53rd Irish title
Relegated	Newry City Ards (via play-off)
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Linfield
Europa League	Ballymena United
Season statistics
Matches played	228
Goals scored	696
Top goalscorer	Joe Gormley (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Ballymena United 6–1 Institute (19 March 2019)
Biggest away win	Warrenpoint Town 1–6 Ballymena (1 September 2018) Warrenpoint Town 0–5 Linfield (7 September 2018) Warrenpoint Town 0–5 Glentoran (9 February 2019) Dungannon Swifts 0–5 Linfield (22 March 2019)
Highest scoring	Institute 6–4 Cliftonville (22 December 2018)
← 2017–18	2019–20 →

The 2018–19 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 118th season of Irish league football overall, and the sixth season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League. The season began on 4 August 2018 and concluded on 27 April 2019, with the play-offs for promotion/relegation and the Europa League then taking place in May 2019.

Crusaders were the defending champions from the previous season. Linfield were the champions, lifting the league title for the second time in three seasons, and a record 53rd time overall. The title win was confirmed on 13 April 2019, following a 0–0 draw at home against the outgoing champions, Crusaders, which left them 12 points clear with three games remaining.

Linfield entered the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, while runners-up Ballymena United qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, along with the play-off winners and 2018–19 Irish Cup winners.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the 2018–19 NIFL Premiership, ten of which retained their Premiership status from the previous season. Ballinamallard United were relegated to the 2018–19 NIFL Championship after finishing bottom of the 2017–18 NIFL Premiership, and were replaced by Institute as winners of the 2017–18 NIFL Championship.

Carrick Rangers finished in the promotion-relegation play-off place, and lost their Premiership place after losing the play-off 6–3 on aggregate against Championship runners-up Newry City.

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity
Ards	Clandeboye Park	Bangor	1,895 (500 seated)
Ballymena United	The Showgrounds	Ballymena	3,050 (2,280 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)
Institute	Brandywell Stadium	Derry	7,700 (2,900 seated)
Linfield	Windsor Park	Belfast	18,167 (all seated)
Newry City	The Showgrounds	Newry	2,275 (1,080 seated)
Warrenpoint Town	Milltown	Warrenpoint	1,280 (150 seated)

League table

2018–19 NIFL Premiership table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Linfield  (C)	38	26	7	5	77	27	+50	85	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Ballymena United	38	24	6	8	83	47	+36	78	Qualification for the Europa League preliminary round
3	Glenavon	38	20	10	8	74	46	+28	70	Qualification for the Europa League play-offs
4	Crusaders	38	20	5	13	68	55	+13	65	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
5	Cliftonville  (O)	38	19	4	15	70	66	+4	61	Qualification for the Europa League play-offs
6	Coleraine	38	15	11	12	59	55	+4	56
7	Glentoran	38	13	10	15	58	53	+5	49
8	Institute	38	13	5	20	50	72	−22	44
9	Dungannon Swifts	38	11	9	18	44	65	−21	42
10	Warrenpoint Town	38	10	9	19	51	79	−28	39
11	Ards  (R)	38	6	9	23	31	63	−32	27	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12	Newry City  (R)	38	6	5	27	31	68	−37	23	Relegation to the NIFL Championship

Source: NIFL Premiership, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Play-offs

UEFA Europa League play-offs

Four of the teams (Crusaders qualified for the Europa League directly as 2018–19 Irish Cup winners) that finished in the play-off places (3rd–7th position) participated in the Europa League play-offs to decide which team would qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League preliminary round. After victories over Coleraine and Glenavon in the semi-finals respectively, Cliftonville and Glentoran once again contested the final, with Cliftonville securing the last remaining place in next season's Europa League after a 2–0 win. This was a repeat of the 2016 and 2018 play-off finals, with Cliftonville winning 3–2 on both previous occasions.

Semi-finals

7 May 2019 (2019-05-07) 19:45 BST Semi-final	Glenavon (3rd)	2 – 4	Glentoran (7th)	Mourneview Park, Lurgan Referee: Lee Tavinder
	Marron  45' Mitchell  54'	BBC Sport NIFL	Murray  27', 76' Allen  48' McDaid  55'

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7 May 2019 (2019-05-07) 19:45 BST Semi-final	Cliftonville (5th)	5 – 3 (a.e.t.)	Coleraine (6th)	Solitude, Belfast Referee: Steven Gregg
	Gormley  34' McMenamin  76', 113' Curran  90+7' (pen.) Ives  92'	BBC Sport NIFL	McLaughlin  9', 28', 72'

Final

11 May 2019 (2019-05-11) 17:30 BST Final	Cliftonville (5th)	2 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Glentoran (7th)	Solitude, Belfast Referee: Andrew Davey
	Gormley  105+1' McMenamin  119'	BBC Sport NIFL

Cliftonville won the Europa League play-offs, and qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League preliminary round.

NIFL Premiership play-offs

Pre-play-off

The 2018–19 NIFL Championship runners-up, Carrick Rangers, took part in a Championship promotion pre-play-off match against the 3rd-placed team, Portadown, with Carrick Rangers given home advantage as the higher-ranked of the two clubs. Carrick Rangers won the match 2–0 and advanced to the two-legged play-off against the 11th-placed NIFL Premiership team, Ards, for the last remaining place in the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership. The pre-play-off match was played on 30 April 2019.

30 April 2019 (2019-04-30) 19:45 BST	Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)	2 – 0	Portadown (Ch. 3rd)	Taylors Avenue, Carrickfergus Referee: Declan Hassan
	McCallum  74' (o.g.) Nixon  90+2'	BBC Sport NIFL

Play-off

The 11th-placed Premiership team, Ards, played a two-legged tie against the pre play-off winners, Carrick Rangers, with Ards given the advantage of playing the second leg at home as the Premiership club. Carrick Rangers won the tie 3–1 on aggregate to secure promotion to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership, with Ards being relegated to the Championship. The matches took place on 3 May and 6 May 2019.

3 May 2019 (2019-05-03) 19:45 BST First leg	Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)	1 – 0	Ards (Pr. 11th)	Hotel Loughshore Arena, Carrickfergus Referee: Tony Clarke
	Smith  11'	BBC Sport NIFL

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6 May 2019 (2019-05-06) 19:45 BST Second leg	Ards (Pr. 11th)	1 – 2	Carrick Rangers (Ch. 2nd)	Bangor Fuels Arena, Bangor Referee: Evan Boyce
	Taylor  37'	BBC Sport NIFL	Surgenor  4' Strain  29'

Carrick Rangers won 3–1 on aggregate, and were promoted to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership. Ards were relegated to the 2019–20 NIFL Championship.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Joe Gormley	Cliftonville	20
2	Michael McCrudden	Institute	19
3	Andrew Waterworth	Linfield	17
4	Cathair Friel	Ballymena United	16
5	Stephen Murray	Glenavon	15
6	Paul Heatley	Crusaders	14
7	Ryan Curran	Cliftonville	13
	Robbie McDaid	Glentoran	13
9	Rory Donnelly	Cliftonville	12
	Paul McElroy	Dungannon Swifts	12
	Andrew Mitchell	Glenavon	12

External links

• Official website

2018–19 in Northern Irish football
Domestic leagues
NIFL Premiership · NIFL Championship
Domestic cups
Irish Cup · Northern Ireland Football League Cup · Northern Ireland Super Cup
European competitions
Champions League (Final) · Europa League (Final)
National teams
National team
2017-18                                                        2019-20