2021–22 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership 2021–22
Season information
Dates	27 Aug 2021–May 2022
Winners	Linfield 8th Premiership title 56th Irish title
Relegated	Warrenpoint Town
Continental cup qualifiers
UEFA Champions League	Linfield
UEFA Europa Conference League	Crusaders (via Irish Cup) Cliftonville Larne (via play-offs)
Season statistics
Matches played	228
Goals scored	621
Top goalscorer	Jay Donnelly (9 goals)
Biggest home win	Linfield 5–0 Dungannon (19 March 2022)
Biggest away win	Warrenpoint 1–6 Glenavon (4 September 2021) Dungannon 0–5 Coleraine (11 September 2021)
Highest scoring	Glentoran 6–2 Carrick (28 March 2022)
← 2020–21	2022–23 →

The 2021–22 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 121st season of the Irish League overall, and the ninth season since the creation of the Northern Ireland Football League. The season normally began in early August, however, due to the previous season finishing a few weeks later than usual in late May 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, the start of this season was pushed back. The 38-game season commenced on 27 August 2021 and concluded on 30 April 2022, with the play-offs taking place during the first two weeks in May 2022.

Linfield were the three-time defending champions, having been league winners in the previous three seasons - the 2020–21 season seeing them win a then world record-equalling 55th league title. This season Linfield once again retained their title, securing a world record 56th league crown on the final day of the season. A 2–0 win over Coleraine meant that the Blues pipped runners-up Cliftonville to the title by a single point. This was the first time in 35 years that a club had won four consecutive titles, with Linfield winning the last of their six consecutive titles in the 1986–87 season. It was also the narrowest title-winning margin since the 2008–09 season, when Glentoran won the title by a single point ahead of Linfield. At the bottom end of the table, Warrenpoint Town were relegated to the NIFL Championship after five years as a Premiership club, with Championship winners Newry City promoted to replace them for the following season. Portadown retained their Premiership status after defeating Annagh United 4–2 on aggregate in the Premiership play-off.

League winners Linfield entered the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, while Larne (play-off winners) and Crusaders (Irish Cup winners) joined Cliftonville (league runners-up) in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership, the same twelve teams from the previous season. No relegation took place from the previous season's Premiership, after a majority of second-tier NIFL Championship clubs voted to cancel their 2020–21 season. The second and third tiers had not been granted 'elite' sporting status by the IFA which was required in order to continue playing matches during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, with lower division clubs not having played any league fixtures since the 2019–20 season had initially been suspended in March 2020.

Dungannon Swifts finished bottom of the table the previous season, but were reprieved from relegation. Carrick Rangers were also reprieved, having finished in 11th place. This would normally have required them to take part in the NIFL Premiership play-off against the qualifier from the NIFL Championship.

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity
Ballymena United	The Showgrounds	Ballymena	3,600 (all seated)
Carrick Rangers	Loughshore Hotel Arena	Carrickfergus	2,500 (250 seated)
Cliftonville	Solitude	Belfast	2,530 (all seated)
Coleraine	The Showgrounds	Coleraine	3,500 (1,106 seated)
Crusaders	Seaview	Belfast	3,383 (all seated)
Dungannon Swifts	Stangmore Park	Dungannon	2,000 (300 seated)
Glenavon	Mourneview Park	Lurgan	4,160 (3,200 seated)
Glentoran	The Oval	Belfast	6,054 (4,989 seated)
Larne	Inver Park	Larne	2,000 (1,250 seated)
Linfield	Windsor Park	Belfast	18,614 (all seated)
Portadown	Shamrock Park	Portadown	3,940 (2,765 seated)
Warrenpoint Town	Milltown	Warrenpoint	1,280 (150 seated)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Linfield (C)	38	24	11	3	67	24	+43	83	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Cliftonville	38	24	10	4	61	29	+32	82	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3	Glentoran	38	21	8	9	68	44	+24	71	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs
4	Crusaders	38	21	5	12	60	36	+24	68	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
5	Larne (O)	38	17	11	10	61	39	+22	62	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs
6	Coleraine	38	14	9	15	55	45	+10	51
7	Glenavon	38	15	9	14	54	50	+4	54	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs
8	Ballymena United	38	16	5	17	46	52	−6	53
9	Dungannon Swifts	38	11	2	25	46	86	−40	35
10	Carrick Rangers	38	9	7	22	41	67	−26	34
11	Portadown (O)	38	5	10	23	29	72	−43	25	Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off
12	Warrenpoint Town (R)	38	6	3	29	35	79	−44	21	Relegation to the NIFL Championship

Source: Northern Ireland Football League
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
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–22 During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away). Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN POR WPT Ballymena United — 0–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 4–3 1–1 1–1 0–3 0–2 4–0 1–0 Carrick Rangers 2–1 — 2–3 0–3 0–2 1–2 2–2 0–2 1–3 1–2 1–0 1–0 Cliftonville 1–0 2–1 — 2–1 0–2 3–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–2 4–0 1–0 Coleraine 3–0 3–0 0–0 — 0–0 2–0 0–0 0–2 3–1 1–2 2–0 2–0 Crusaders 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 — 4–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 4–0 2–1 Dungannon Swifts 0–2 2–0 1–3 0–5 0–2 — 0–2 2–3 2–4 1–6 4–2 2–2 Glenavon 0–1 0–4 0–2 1–0 1–0 4–2 — 1–2 0–1 0–0 3–0 2–2 Glentoran 4–1 6–2 0–1 2–2 0–3 3–0 2–0 — 2–3 0–3 2–2 2–1 Larne 1–3 0–0 1–1 4–2 1–0 0–1 3–2 1–1 — 1–1 4–0 3–0 Linfield 1–0 4–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 — 1–0 1–1 Portadown 0–1 2–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–4 1–1 1–1 2–3 2–3 — 1–0 Warrenpoint Town 2–1 4–2 2–4 2–5 2–4 1–2 1–6 0–3 0–3 0–3 2–3 — Source: Northern Ireland Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 23–33 During matches 23–33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN POR WPT Ballymena United — — 2–2 — 2–0 1–0 3–3 — 2–1 — — — Carrick Rangers 3–0 — — 0–0 — — — 0–3 1–1 — 2–2 1–2 Cliftonville — 2–0 — 2–0 3–1 — — 1–2 — — — 1–0 Coleraine 1–1 — — — — 2–0 2–3 — 1–1 3–0 — 2–1 Crusaders — 2–1 — 1–0 — — 0–0 1–2 — — 2–0 — Dungannon Swifts — 3–2 0–1 — 2–4 — — 0–1 0–2 — 3–1 — Glenavon — 2–0 0–2 — — 3–1 — 2–4 — 0–3 — — Glentoran 4–0 — — 2–1 — — — — — 1–0 3–1 1–0 Larne — — 0–1 — 1–2 — 1–1 2–1 — 0–1 — 3–0 Linfield 1–0 2–0 1–0 — 3–2 5–0 — — — — — — Portadown 1–0 — 0–2 2–0 — — 0–1 — 2–2 0–0 — — Warrenpoint Town 1–2 — — — 0–1 2–3 0–3 — — 1–2 0–1 — Source: Northern Ireland Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches the table was then split 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 played every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures were reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams had played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

Section A Home \ Away CLF COL CRU GLT LAR LIN Cliftonville — — — — 0–0 0–0 Coleraine 1–2 — 1–4 3–2 — — Crusaders 3–3 — — — 1–2 1–2 Glentoran 1–2 — 0–4 — 0–0 — Larne — 3–0 — — — — Linfield — 2–0 — 1–1 0–0 — Source: Northern Ireland Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Section B Home \ Away BYM CRK DUN GLA POR WPT Ballymena United — 3–0 — — 2–1 0–1 Carrick Rangers — — 1–0 0–1 — — Dungannon Swifts 1–2 — — 3–2 — 2–0 Glenavon 3–1 — — — 1–0 1–2 Portadown — 0–5 0–0 — — 0–1 Warrenpoint Town — 1–2 — — — — Source: Northern Ireland Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Play-offs

UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs

Four of the clubs that finished in 3rd–7th place competed for one place in the 2022–23 Europa Conference League first qualifying round, with 4th-placed Crusaders vacating their play-off place as they qualified for Europe directly by winning the Irish Cup. The play-offs were one-off matches with extra time and penalties used to determine the winner if necessary, with the higher-ranked teams given home advantage against the lower-ranked teams (i.e. 3rd v. 7th and 5th v. 6th) in the semi-finals. The higher-ranked of the two semi-final winners also had home advantage in the final.

Semi-finals

10 May 2022 19:45 BST Semi-final	Glentoran (3rd)	2–0	Glenavon (7th)	The Oval, Belfast
	McMenamin  48' Donnelly  72'	Report

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10 May 2022 19:45 BST Semi-final	Larne (5th)	2–0	Coleraine (6th)	Inver Park, Larne
	Brown  12' (o.g.) Randall  90+5'	Report

Final

13 May 2022 19:45 BST Final	Glentoran (3rd)	2–4 (a.e.t.)	Larne (5th)	The Oval, Belfast Referee: Raymond Crangle
	McMenamin  9' Donnelly  51'	Report	Hale  75', 84' (pen.), 100', 120+1'

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club, Portadown, faced the second-placed club from the 2021–22 NIFL Championship, Annagh United, for one place in the following season's Premiership.

3 May 2022 19:45 BST First leg	Annagh United	2–3	Portadown	BMG Arena, Portadown
	Upton  22' Murray  27'	Report	Beverland  13' Teggart  71' Stedman  73'

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6 May 2022 19:45 BST Second leg	Portadown	1–0	Annagh United	Shamrock Park, Portadown
	Upton  88' (o.g.)	Report

Portadown won 4–2 on aggregate.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Jay Donnelly	Glentoran	25
2	Conor McMenamin	Glentoran	20
3	Ryan Curran	Cliftonville	19
4	Christy Manzinga	Linfield	17
5	Matthew Fitzpatrick	Glenavon	13
	Joe Gormley	Cliftonville
	Matthew Shevlin	Coleraine
8	Peter Campbell	Glenavon	12
	Ben Kennedy	Crusaders
	David McDaid	Larne

External links

• Official website

Template:2021–22 in Northern Irish association football