2015–16 NIFL Championship

NIFL Championship 2015–16 2014–15 2016–17 The 2015–16 NIFL Championship (known as the Belfast Telegraph Championship for sponsorship reasons)BELFAST TELEGRAPH SPONSOR THE IFA CHAMPIONSHIP https://web.archive.org/web/20120425104554/http://www.irishfa.com/news/item/6851/belfast-telegraph-sponsor-the-ifa-championship/ April 25, 2012 was the eighth and final season of the competition in this format since its establishment after a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland, and the third season of the league as part of the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL), which took over from the Irish Football Association (IFA) for the 2013–14 season onwards.http://www.ifapremiership.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=870&catid=3&Itemid=12 NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE NIFL Premiership The season began on 8 August 2015, and concluded on 30 April 2016. Changes from 2014–15 Competition changes League restructure proposals to be introduced over a three-season period were approved by the NIFL on 25 June 2014. The second phase, coming into effect this season, amended the Championship rules: Club development – a Club Development/Support programme will be developed and implemented to assist clubs to develop their club infrastructure and comply with licensing requirements. Championship 2 – following the relegation of Ballymoney United to regional football the previous season, Championship 2 will reduce in size to 14 clubs this season, before reducing further to 12 clubs next season. Promotion/relegation play-off – for the second consecutive season, the highest ranked club with a Championship licence, finishing in positions 2–6 in Championship 1 will participate in a promotion/relegation play-off for a place in the Premiership. Promotion and relegation – the three lowest ranked clubs (12th, 13th, 14th) will be relegated from Championship 1 and there will be a play-off between the club finishing in 11th position in Championship 1 and the runners-up in Championship 2. There will be no play-off if the club in Championship 2 has not received a licence for senior football. The five lowest ranked clubs (10th to 14th) will also be relegated from Championship 2 to regional football. However, if there is no eligible regional champion for promotion, only four clubs will be relegated with the 10th-placed club reprieved. Team changes Carrick Rangers won the previous season's Championship 1 title, winning promotion back to the top flight for the first time since their relegation in the 2011–12 season.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/32466327 Carrick Rangers are promoted to Irish Premiership 25 April 2015 BBC Sport BBC 26 April 2015 In the bottom two, Dundela and PSNI were relegated to this season's Championship 2, while Lurgan Celtic and Annagh United went in the opposite direction after finishing first and second in Championship 2. For the second successive season, a club was relegated to regional football. Ballymoney United finished bottom of Championship 2 and were relegated to a regional division for the following season. As a result, Championship 2 reduced in size to 14 clubs. Promoted from Championship 1 to the Premiership Carrick Rangers (1st in NIFL Championship 1) Relegated from the Premiership to Championship 1 Institute (12th in NIFL Premiership) Promoted from Championship 2 to Championship 1 Lurgan Celtic (1st in Championship 2) Annagh United (2nd in Championship 2) Relegated from Championship 1 to Championship 2 PSNI (13th in Championship 1) Dundela (14th in Championship 1) Relegated from Championship 2 to Level 4 Regional League Ballymoney United (15th in Championship 2) Championship 1 NIFL Championship 1 Ards Ards Bangor (demoted)Donegal CelticLisburn Distillery Armagh City 6–0 Lurgan Celtic(7 November 2015) Lisburn Distillery 1–9 Armagh City(2 April 2016) Loughgall 3–7 Larne(17 October 2015)Lisburn Distillery 1–9 Armagh City(2 April 2016) 182 632 2014–15 2016–17 Stadia and locations UK Northern Ireland right 350 Location of teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 1 UK Northern Ireland 12 54.602945 -5.891278 Belfast top UK Northern Ireland 54.409555 -6.438328 bottom Annagh UK Northern Ireland 54.34349 -6.628479 bottom Armagh City UK Northern Ireland 54.75101 -6.002269 left Ballyclare UK Northern Ireland 54.65179 -5.684674 right Ards & Bangor UK Northern Ireland 54.707400 -7.599873 left Dergview UK Northern Ireland 54.97574 -7.277176 left Institute UK Northern Ireland 54.85013 -5.827303 top Larne UK Northern Ireland 54.469105 -6.364089 right Lurgan Celtic UK Northern Ireland 54.407050 -6.611546 left Loughgall UK Northern Ireland 55.32 -8.2 TransparentPlaceholder.png Belfast teams : DistilleryDonegal CelticH&W WeldersKnockbreds Greater Belfast 350 right Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 1 Greater Belfast 54.573711 -6.023605 left Donegal Celtic Greater Belfast 54.53607 -6.003814 left Distillery Greater Belfast 54.61651 -5.863953 right H&W Welders Greater Belfast 54.566894 -5.853528 bottom Knockbreda ClubStadiumLocationCapacity Annagh United Tandragee Road Portadown 1,250 (100 seated) Ards Clandeboye Park Bangor 2,850 (500 seated) Armagh City Holm Park Armagh 3,000 (330 seated) Ballyclare Comrades Dixon Park Ballyclare 1,800 (500 seated) Bangor Clandeboye Park Bangor 2,850 (500 seated) Dergview Darragh Park Castlederg 1,200 (100 seated) Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Park Belfast 2,330 (650 seated) Harland & Wolff Welders Tillysburn Park Belfast 3,000 (100 seated) Institute Riverside Stadium Drumahoe 3,110 (1,540 seated) Knockbreda Breda Park Knockbreda 1,000 (100 seated) Larne Inver Park Larne 1,100 (656 seated) Lisburn Distillery New Grosvenor Stadium Ballyskeagh 7,000 (540 seated) Loughgall Lakeview Park Loughgall 3,000 (180 seated) Lurgan Celtic Knockrammer Park Lurgan 1,000 (100 seated) League table main WDL Championship 1 Northern Ireland Football League, Soccerway ARD HAR ARM KNB INS LRN LUR BCC LGL BGR DGV ANN DGC LIS PRO PROPO DEM REL REL complete 7 6 13 37 57 17 3 6 59 35 13 5 8 64 36 9 10 7 44 40 10 5 11 44 40 9 8 9 41 40 2 4 20 34 80 15 6 5 54 28 12 6 8 40 20 12 7 7 48 32 12 6 8 64 45 2 4 20 18 85 10 6 10 45 54 11 6 9 40 40 CP R R R Annagh United Ards Armagh City Ballyclare Comrades Bangor Dergview Donegal Celtic Harland & Wolff Welders Institute Knockbreda Larne Lisburn Distillery Loughgall Lurgan Celtic 5 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots.http://www.nifootballleague.com/NIFLHandbook201516.pdf NIFL Regulations and Club Information – Season 2015/16 Northern Ireland Football League 16 March 2016 23 January 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160123041314/http://www.nifootballleague.com/NIFLHandbook201516.pdf dead QR green1 Promotion to the NIFL Premiership yellow1 Qualification for the promotion play-off red1 Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League red1 Demotion to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League Teams played each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 26 matches. As the highest-ranked Championship 1 club outside the top two to successfully attain a Promotion Licence, Institute qualified for the promotion play-off against the 11th-placed Premiership club. Bangor were demoted to the third tier as their application for the mandatory second tier Championship Licence was refused.http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/northern-ireland/bangor-are-facing-third-tier-demotion-over-a-lack-of-licence-34628689.html Bangor are facing third tier demotion over a lack of licence Belfast Telegraph 15 April 2016 23 April 2016 As a result, the highest-ranked Championship 2 club to successfully attain the licence (PSNI) was automatically promoted to replace Bangor in the second tier. Harland & Wolff Welders, Armagh City and Knockbreda did not apply for the Promotion Licence required for promotion to the Premiership. As a result, they were ineligible for the promotion play-off. HAR HAR Limavady United (in Championship 2) applied for the mandatory second tier 'Championship Licence' but were refused. As a result, the 12th-placed Championship 1 club was reprieved from relegation.http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/roe-valley/football-limavady-united-can-t-win-promotion-licence-rejected-1-7312386 FOOTBALL: Limavady United can’t win promotion - licence ‘rejected’ Londonderry Sentinel 5 April 2016 6 April 2016 Results Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games. main FBR grey ANN ARD ARM BCC BGR DGV DGC H&W INS KNB LRN LIS LGL LGC Annagh United 1–3 2–1 1–1 1–3 3–3 2–3 0–5 0–2 1–2 0–5 1–2 3–2 2–3 Ards 4–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–1 3–3 0–2 2–0 2–2 5–2 3–0 1–1 Armagh City 1–1 4–3 4–0 3–4 3–1 2–2 1–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 3–0 4–0 6–0 Ballyclare Comrades 2–2 0–2 2–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 3–3 1–0 1–3 3–2 4–1 1–1 1–3 Bangor 1–3 2–4 2–0 0–1 2–0 5–0 1–2 1–0 2–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–3 Dergview 4–4 1–0 0–1 0–4 1–2 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 2–4 3–1 Donegal Celtic 0–1 2–3 1–3 0–4 1–3 2–6 1–2 1–4 1–2 1–6 1–4 0–1 1–2 Harland & Wolff Welders 3–0 3–4 1–1 3–0 1–0 3–0 6–2 3–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 Institute 0–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 4–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 3–0 Knockbreda 3–3 2–0 1–3 2–2 1–0 3–0 3–3 1–0 1–0 3–0 2–2 2–2 0–0 Larne 2–0 1–6 4–4 0–0 1–1 3–2 5–0 2–1 1–3 0–3 6–1 2–2 1–0 Lisburn Distillery 0–3 0–3 1–9 1–1 2–2 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–4 0–3 0–7 1–5 0–4 Loughgall 1–0 2–0 3–3 3–2 4–3 0–2 3–1 2–2 1–0 0–7 3–7 3–0 0–1 Lurgan Celtic 1–2 1–2 0–2 2–2 2–1 0–2 3–3 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–3 2–0 2–1 complete NI Football League Championship 2 NIFL Championship 2 Limavady United PSNI Coagh UnitedDollingstownGlebe RangersPortstewartWakehurst PSNI 7–0 Moyola Park(30 April 2016) Banbridge Town 0–6 Sport & Leisure Swifts(5 September 2015) Queen's University 4–5 Portstewart(28 November 2015) 182 575 2014–15 2016–17 Stadia and locations UK Northern Ireland right 350 Location of teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 2 UK Northern Ireland 12 54.602945 -5.891278 Belfast top UK Northern Ireland 55.061924 -6.498034 right Glebe UK Northern Ireland 54.350473 -6.264619 right Banbridge Town UK Northern Ireland 54.648755 -6.608396 right Coagh UK Northern Ireland 54.44774 -6.278461 right Dollingstown UK Northern Ireland 55.051750 -6.936958 top Limavady United UK Northern Ireland 54.780458 -6.554798 left Moyola & Wakehurst UK Northern Ireland 55.180806 -6.711854 top Portstewart UK Northern Ireland 54.817336 -6.701234 top Tobermore United UK Northern Ireland 55.32 -8.2 TransparentPlaceholder.png Belfast teams : DundelaNewingtonPSNIQueen's Univ.Sport & Leisure Greater Belfast 350 right Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 2 Greater Belfast 54.599520 -5.878421 left Dundela Greater Belfast 54.62428 -5.922017 top Newington Greater Belfast 54.559056 -5.940977 top PSNI Greater Belfast 54.58161 -6.008449 top Sport & Leisure Swifts Greater Belfast 54.556715 -5.961765 bottom Queen's University ClubStadiumLocationCapacity Banbridge Town Crystal Park Banbridge 1,500 (100 seated) Coagh United Hagan Park Coagh 2,000 (179 seated) Dollingstown Planters Park Lurgan 1,000 (100 seated) Dundela Wilgar Park Belfast 2,500 (100 seated) Glebe Rangers Riada Stadium Ballymoney 5,752 (218 seated) Limavady United The Showgrounds Limavady 1,000 (174 seated) Moyola Park Mill Meadow Castledawson 1,000 (200 seated) Newington YC Seaview Belfast 3,383 (all seated) Portstewart Seahaven Portstewart 1,000 (100 seated) PSNI Newforge Lane Belfast 500 (112 seated) Queen's University Dub Stadium Belfast 1,000 (100 seated) Sport & Leisure Swifts Glen Road Heights Belfast 500 (215 seated) Tobermore United Fortwilliam Park Tobermore 1,500 (100 seated) Wakehurst Mill Meadow Castledawson 1,000 (200 seated) League table main WDL Championship 2 Northern Ireland Football League, Soccerway LIM PSN SLS TOB MOY BBT QUE DND NTN DOL GBE COA PST WAK PRO REL REL REL REL REL 30 April 2016 9 9 8 35 34 6 4 16 28 54 9 7 10 46 51 11 3 12 38 47 9 5 12 34 46 18 5 3 66 27 12 5 9 40 34 9 7 10 38 38 6 3 17 34 58 18 5 3 59 23 10 6 10 35 37 13 8 5 59 28 13 5 8 38 31 1 4 21 25 67 C P R R R R R Banbridge Town Coagh United Dollingstown Dundela Glebe Rangers Limavady United Moyola Park Newington YC Portstewart PSNI Queen's University Sport & Leisure Swifts Tobermore United Wakehurst 5 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots. QR green1 Promotion to the NIFL Championship red1 Relegation to the tier 4 regional leagues Teams play each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 26 matches. Bangor (in Championship 1) were demoted to the third tier as they failed to apply for the mandatory second tier 'Championship Licence'.http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/northern-ireland/bangor-are-facing-third-tier-demotion-over-a-lack-of-licence-34628689.html Bangor are facing third tier demotion over a lack of licence Belfast Telegraph 15 April 2016 23 April 2016 As a result, PSNI, the highest-ranked Championship 2 club to successfully attain the licence was automatically promoted to replace Bangor in the second tier. Limavady United were ineligible for promotion as their application for the mandatory second tier licence was refused.http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/roe-valley/football-limavady-united-can-t-win-promotion-licence-rejected-1-7312386 FOOTBALL: Limavady United can’t win promotion - licence ‘rejected’ Londonderry Sentinel 5 April 2016 6 April 2016 Results Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games. main FBR grey BBT COA DOL DND GBE LIM MOY NTN PST PSNI QUE SLS TOB WAK Banbridge Town 1–2 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–3 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–6 3–4 1–0 Coagh United 1–1 2–1 2–3 0–0 2–5 1–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–4 0–1 0–1 1–0 Dollingstown 1–5 3–1 4–0 2–2 0–1 1–0 3–3 3–0 1–2 1–2 2–2 0–0 4–2 Dundela 0–1 3–1 2–3 3–2 0–2 0–3 1–0 3–1 0–1 1–1 2–5 4–0 3–2 Glebe Rangers 1–0 3–2 3–4 3–1 0–4 1–3 1–1 1–3 1–2 1–0 0–4 2–1 2–1 Limavady United 2–2 4–1 3–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 4–0 3–1 4–2 1–1 2–2 2–0 5–1 Moyola Park 0–0 3–0 6–1 0–0 1–0 0–4 0–3 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 4–1 Newington YC 0–0 3–1 5–2 0–1 4–1 0–4 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–3 1–0 Portstewart 1–3 0–2 2–2 1–3 3–1 2–3 3–0 3–4 0–3 2–1 1–1 2–5 2–2 PSNI 3–3 3–0 3–1 3–2 1–0 3–0 7–0 3–0 5–0 4–0 4–2 2–0 2–0 Queen's University 1–1 3–2 0–2 0–0 0–3 0–2 3–2 1–0 4–5 4–0 1–2 0–2 3–1 Sport & Leisure Swifts 0–2 4–0 1–1 1–3 3–1 4–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 7–1 Tobermore United 3–1 2–1 2–0 5–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–4 0–1 Wakehurst 1–2 2–2 1–2 2–3 2–2 1–5 0–3 1–2 0–2 1–2 2–3 0–4 0–0 30 April 2016 NI Football League References 2015-16 North 2