1896–97 Irish League

Irish League 1896–97 5 September 1896 –26 December 1896 Glentoran2nd Irish title 30 125 Johnny DarlingRichard Peden(6 goals each) Linfield 7–1 North Staffs Distillery 0–6 LinfieldNorth Staffs 0–6 Glentoran Linfield 7–4 Distillery 1895–96 1897–98 The 1896–97 Irish League was the 7th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football. The league comprised six teams, an increase from the four of the previous season. Glentoran won the championship for the second time. Season summary After two seasons of historically low numbers of just four teams, two teams were elected into the league for the 1896–97 season: Celtic (who from 1901 onwards would become more commonly known as "Belfast Celtic") and the North Staffordshire Regiment, the second British Army team to compete in the league after the Lancashire Fusiliers who competed in the 1891–92 season. Neither side had a ground, meaning all their matches were played at their opponents' grounds.Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005 Alex Graham 2005 14 Teams and locations Greater Belfast 350 right Location of teams in the 1896–97 Irish League; all matches were played in Belfast Greater Belfast 54.619250 -5.947383 left Cliftonville Greater Belfast 54.59285 -5.945363 left Distillery Greater Belfast 54.60270 -5.893478 right Glentoran Greater Belfast 54.57083 -5.963302 right Linfield Greater Belfast TransparentPlaceholder.png 1 54.69 -6.18 No home ground CelticNorth Staffordshire Regiment Team Town Home Ground Celtic No home ground Cliftonville Belfast Solitude Distillery Belfast Grosvenor Park Glentoran Belfast The Oval Linfield Belfast Balmoral North Staffordshire Regiment No home ground League standings main WDL 5 Result y 2 C green1 Champions C GLE Glentoran CLI Cliftonville LIN Linfield DIS Distillery NSR North Staffordshire Regiment CEL Celtic 8 1 1 24 10 4 3 3 22 20 4 3 3 34 24 3 3 4 17 23 2 4 4 17 23 1 2 7 11 25 complete rsssf.com Results League main FBR grey CEL CLI DIS GLT LIN NSR Glentoran 3–2 1-0 2–1 2-1 2–0 Cliftonville 1–3 1–1 2–3 2–2 3–1 Linfield 2–2 3–4 7–4 7–1 3-3 Distillery 2–0 2–2 0–6 1–1 2–0 North Staffordshire 0-6 1–2 6–1 1–1 3–0 Celtic 1–3 1–3 2-4 2–1 1–1 complete Irish League Archive 2nd/3rd place play-off Cliftonville 3–2 Linfield (Solitude, Belfast)https://www.irishleaguearchive.org/irish-league-tables IrishLeague Tables 30 March 2025 References External links Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF) Association football Northern Ireland 1896-97 Category:1896–97 in domestic association football leagues Lea