2013–14 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership 2013–14 Cliftonville2nd Premiership title5th Irish title Ards Champions League Cliftonville Europa League Glenavon (via Irish Cup)LinfieldCrusaders Joe Gormley (27 goals) Portadown 11–0 Ballinamallard United(7 September 2013) Dungannon Swifts 0–5 Portadown(26 October 2013) Portadown 11–0 Ballinamallard United(7 September 2013) 228 712 5,389http://www.irishleaguesupporters.com/attendances.php?attseason=1314 Irish League Supporters Forum - Attendances Irish League Supporters Forum 22 August 2013Glentoran 1–2 Linfield(26 December 2013) 63Warrenpoint Town 0–2 Ards(8 March 2014) 867 2012–13 2014–15 The 2013–14 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 113th season of Irish league football overall, and the 1st season of the league operating as part of the newly created Northern Ireland Football League.http://www.ifapremiership.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=870&catid=3&Itemid=12 NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE NIFL Premiership Cliftonville were champions, winning the league for the 5th time and the 2nd consecutive season. Summary The season began on 10 August 2013 and concluded on 26 April 2014. During the sixth round of fixtures, which were played on 7 September 2013, Portadown defeated Ballinamallard United 11–0 at Shamrock Park. This equalled the post-war record for the biggest win in the top-flight, which was set 47 years earlier in the 1966–67 season when Distillery defeated Bangor by the same scoreline in November 1966.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/24002625 Irish Premiership: Portadown 11-0 Ballinamallard Utd 7 September 2013 BBC Sport BBC 8 September 2013 In their first season back in the top flight since 2005–06, Ards finished bottom of the table. This was confirmed on 12 April 2014, after Warrenpoint Town defeated Dungannon Swifts 4–0 to leave Ards 10 points adrift in 12th place with only three fixtures remaining.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/26995097 Irish Premiership: Dungannon Swifts 0-4 Warrenpoint Town 12 April 2014 BBC Sport BBC 16 April 2014 Their relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season, when Institute won the 2013–14 NIFL Championship 1 title.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27154450 Ards relegated as Bangor draw gifts promotion to Institute 26 April 2014 BBC Sport BBC 26 April 2014 Cliftonville were the defending champions after winning their fourth league title last season – their first since the 1997–98 season.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22135270 Cliftonville beat Linfield to secure Irish Premiership title 13 April 2013 BBC Sport BBC 27 April 2013 They went on to retain the title for the first time in the club's history - their fourth outright league title and fifth overall.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27113832 Cliftonville retain Irish Premiership title for first time 22 April 2014 BBC Sport BBC 22 April 2014 They were entered into the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, with the league runners-up Linfield, 3rd-placed Crusaders, and the 2013–14 Irish Cup winners, Glenavon, entered into the first qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. Teams After successfully gaining the required Championship Club Licence from the IFA, 2012–13 Championship 1 winners Ards were promoted to this season's Premiership. The club returned to the top flight for the first time since they were relegated in the 2005–06 season.http://www.irishfa.com/domestic/item/8228/club-licensing-decisions-announced/ CLUB LICENSING DECISIONS ANNOUNCED 26 April 2013 Irish Football Association irishfa.com 27 April 2013 After 11 years in the top flight, last season's bottom-placed Premiership club Lisburn Distillery were relegated to intermediate football for the first time in their history, bringing to an end their record of being one of only four clubs to have retained membership of the senior Irish League since its inception in 1890.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22174389 Tim McCann sacked as manager as Lisburn Distillery are relegated 16 April 2013 BBC Sport BBC 27 April 2013 The runners-up of Championship 1, Warrenpoint Town, faced last season's 11th-placed club Donegal Celtic in the promotion/relegation play-off to decide which club would take the final place in this season's Premiership. The tie ended 2–2 on aggregate, with Warrenpoint Town winning on the away goals rule to secure promotion to the top flight of national football for the first time in their history – the club's third promotion in four years.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22469736 Warrenpoint Town overcome Donegal Celtic in Premiership play-off 10 May 2013 BBC Sport BBC 10 May 2013 Stadia and locations UK Northern Ireland right 350 Location of teams in the 2013–14 NIFL Premiership UK Northern Ireland 12 54.602945 -5.891278 Belfast top UK Northern Ireland 54.65179 -5.684674 right Ards UK Northern Ireland 54.414427 -7.599786 bottom Ballinamallard United UK Northern Ireland 54.87016 -6.265211 top Ballymena United UK Northern Ireland 55.13287 -6.659904 bottom Coleraine UK Northern Ireland 54.489581 -6.745935 top Dungannon Swifts UK Northern Ireland 54.453889 -6.336389 top Glenavon UK Northern Ireland 54.41306 -6.457686 bottom Portadown UK Northern Ireland 54.11786 -6.263430 bottom Warrenpoint Town UK Northern Ireland 55.32 -8.2 TransparentPlaceholder.png Belfast teams : CliftonvilleCrusadersGlentoranLinfield Greater Belfast 350 right Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2013–14 NIFL Premiership Greater Belfast 54.619250 -5.947383 left Cliftonville Greater Belfast 54.62428 -5.922017 top Crusaders Greater Belfast 54.60270 -5.893478 right Glentoran Greater Belfast 54.57083 -5.963302 bottom Linfield ClubStadiumLocationCapacityhttp://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/questions/printquestionsummary.aspx?docid=79814 AQW 1178/11 18 October 2010 niassembly.gov.uk 21 December 2011http://www.sportni.net/NR/rdonlyres/5854FC89-D9B6-4B17-9C60-34D977CEBEB0/0/AnnualReview200809.pdf Sport NI Annual review 2008/09 18 sportni.net 14 May 2013 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20130928175439/http://www.sportni.net/NR/rdonlyres/5854FC89-D9B6-4B17-9C60-34D977CEBEB0/0/AnnualReview200809.pdf 28 September 2013 Ards Clandeboye Park Bangor 2,000 (500 seated) Dixon Park Ballyclare 2,000 (500 seated) Ballinamallard United Ferney Park Ballinamallard 2,000 (250 seated) Ballymena United The Showgrounds Ballymena 3,050 (2,200 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 5,056 (3,991 seated) Linfield Windsor Park Belfast 12,342 (all seated) Portadown Shamrock Park Portadown 3,940 (2,765 seated)Warrenpoint Town Milltown Warrenpoint 2,000 (250 seated) Stangmore Park Dungannon 5,000 (300 seated) Ground-sharing Ards nominated Bangor's home ground, Clandeboye Park, as the venue for their home games as they had been without a home ground since 2002. However, as a result of construction work being carried out to the ground, their first four home matches of the season were played at Dixon Park – the home of Championship side Ballyclare Comrades. The other newly promoted side, Warrenpoint Town, played some of their home fixtures at Dungannon Swifts' ground, Stangmore Park.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/25168510 Irish Premiership: Warrenpoint Town 2-1 Coleraine 30 November 2013 BBC Sport 14 December 2013 This was due to improvements being carried out at their own ground, Milltown, in order to upgrade it to Premiership standard. However, the first ever Premiership game to be played at the ground, which was against Glenavon, was abandoned during half-time due to floodlight failure.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/25449058 Warrenpoint-Glenavon game abandoned after floodlight failure 20 December 2013 BBC Sport 26 December 2013 The first completed fixture at the ground was a 2–0 win over Ards on 26 December 2013. That match also experienced floodlight problems, delaying kick-off for the second half by 20 minutes.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/25519552 Irish Premiership: Warrenpoint Town 2-0 Ards 26 December 2013 BBC Sport 26 December 2013 League table main WDL QR CLI Cliftonville LIN Linfield CRU Crusaders POR Portadown GLT Glentoran GLA Glenavon BYM Ballymena United DUN Dungannon Swifts COL Coleraine BMD Ballinamallard United WPT Warrenpoint Town ARD Ards y 26 7 5 88 39 C 24 7 7 81 46 18 12 8 67 42 18 8 12 77 53 16 11 11 54 42 15 6 17 75 79 13 8 17 48 59 12 8 18 49 66 10 12 16 51 61 10 9 19 35 70 10 6 22 43 72 6 6 26 44 83 R green1 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round CL2Q blue1 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round EL1Q EL1Q blue1 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round Glenavon qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2013–14 Irish Cup. EL1Qcup red1 Relegation to NIFL Championship 1 R 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference complete rsssf.com Results Matches 1–22 During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away). main FBR grey ARD BMD BYM CLI COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LIN POR WPT Ards 4–1 2–0 0–4 3–1 1–4 2–3 1–2 0–0 1–3 3–1 1–2 Ballinamallard United 1–0 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–4 1–2 2–1 3–0 Ballymena United 4–2 2–0 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–1 3–6 3–4 1–4 2–1 0–1 Cliftonville 4–2 1–0 2–1 1–3 0–2 2–2 2–1 4–1 3–0 1–2 1–1 Coleraine 2–1 1–2 2–3 3–4 2–2 0–2 3–2 1–3 2–3 2–2 3–2 Crusaders 4–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 4–0 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–0 2–2 2–0 Dungannon Swifts 1–0 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–3 1–2 1–0 0–5 1–2 Glenavon 4–1 2–3 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–2 1–3 1–2 1–3 3–2 3–1 Glentoran 5–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–3 2–1 0–0 1–2 0–2 3–0 Linfield 5–2 3–0 4–1 2–4 1–0 0–0 2–0 3–2 0–0 3–2 5–1 Portadown 2–0 11–0 1–0 3–3 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–4 2–1 1–1 2–0 Warrenpoint Town 2–0 2–2 0–2 2–4 2–1 1–1 2–3 1–2 0–1 0–2 2–2 complete rsssf.com Matches 23–33 During matches 23–33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). main FBR grey ARD BMD BYM CLI COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LIN POR WPT Ards null 0–0 2–3 null null 1–3 null 2–1 null 1–2 null Ballinamallard United 1–0 null null null 1–2 null 1–2 0–3 null null 2–3 Ballymena United null 1–0 1–3 2–2 null null 2–1 null 1–2 null 3–2 Cliftonville null 5–0 null 2–0 4–0 null null null 1–0 0–1 null Coleraine 2–0 1–1 null null 1–0 null null null 0–0 2–3 3–0 Crusaders 4–1 null 1–0 null null 5–1 2–2 2–1 null null null Dungannon Swifts null 1–1 2–3 1–2 0–2 null null 0–1 null null null Glenavon 3–1 null null 2–5 3–1 null 3–2 2–3 null 4–2 null Glentoran null null 3–0 0–0 1–1 null null null 0–1 2–2 1–2 Linfield 3–3 6–0 null null null 1–1 3–0 2–1 null null null Portadown null 1–0 1–0 null null 1–1 4–2 null null 1–2 3–0 Warrenpoint Town 0–2 null null 0–2 null 1–1 0–1 2–1 null 2–3 null complete rsssf.com Matches 34–38 During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once. As this was the fourth time that teams had played each other this season, home sides were chosen so that they had played each other twice at home and twice away. Section A main FBR grey CLI CRU GLA GLT LIN POR Cliftonville null 5–0 2–0 null null Crusaders 2–3 null null 2–3 3–1 Glenavon null 1–3 null 2–5 null Glentoran null 3–0 0–4 null null Linfield 1–3 null null 0–2 1–1 Portadown 0–2 null 3–0 1–2 null complete rsssf.com Section B main FBR grey ARD BMD BYM COL DUN WPT Ards 0–0 null 0–1 null 2–2 Ballinamallard United null 0–0 2–1 2–2 null Ballymena United 1–1 null null 1–2 null Coleraine null null 1–1 0–0 null Dungannon Swifts 2–0 null null null 0–4 Warrenpoint Town null 0–3 1–0 0–1 null complete rsssf.com Top scorers RankScorerClubGoalshttps://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/nationalleagues/nationalleague=northern-ireland-premiership-2000000003/top-scorers/index.html FIFA.com - Danske Bank Premiership 2013/2014 Top Scorers https://web.archive.org/web/20140428014722/http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/nationalleagues/nationalleague%3Dnorthern-ireland-premiership-2000000003/top-scorers/index.html 28 April 2014 28 April 2014 dead 1NIR Joe GormleyCliftonville272NIR Darren MurrayPortadown233NIR Andrew WaterworthLinfield224NIR Liam BoyceCliftonville215SCO Gary TwiggPortadown196NIR Darren BoyceBallymena United†16NIR Jordan OwensCrusaders168ENG Guy BatesGlenavon14NIR Paul HeatleyCrusaders1410NIR Daniel HughesWarrenpoint Town12 † Darren Boyce scored 12 goals for Dungannon Swifts while on loan from parent club Coleraine, before transferring to Ballymena United in January 2014. Promotion/relegation play-off The play-off did not take place this season because Bangor, runners-up of the 2013–14 NIFL Championship 1, did not possess a licence to participate in top-flight football. References Association football Northern Ireland 2013-14 North 1