Irish Premier League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Irish Premier League | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | |
| 2003 | |
| Nation | |
 Northern Ireland |
|
| Relegation to | |
| No Relegation in 2007/08 | |
| Number of teams | |
| 16 | |
| European qualification | |
| Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup |
|
| Champions (2007-08) | |
| Linfield FC |
The Carnegie Premier League commonly known as the Irish Premier League, Premier League or IPL is a semi-professional league competition for football clubs located at the top level of the Irish football league system - above the IFA Intermediate League. It was formed in 2003 and took over from the Irish Football League. The Irish Premier League is currently ranked 46th in the UEFA rankings of European leagues, which are based on the performances of member clubs in European competitions. The current champions of Northern Ireland and holders of the IPL title is Linfield.
Contents |
[edit] Final Premier League standings 2007/2008
| Club | 2006/2007 Seasons Position |
|---|---|
| Armagh City | 16th |
| Ballymena United | 6th |
| Cliftonville | 3rd (UEFA Place) |
| Coleraine | 7th |
| Crusaders | 8th |
| Donegal Celtic | 13th |
| Dungannon Swifts | 8th |
| Glenavon | 12th |
| Glentoran | 2nd(UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round) |
| Larne | 14th |
| Limavady United | 10th |
| Linfield | 1st (League Winners, UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round) |
| Lisburn Distillery | 5th |
| Newry City | 7th |
| Portadown | 4th |
Linfield, Glentoran, Cliftonville and Coleraine will represent Northern Ireland in the all-Ireland Setanta Sports Cup 2008. Linfied qualified as League champions, Glentoran qualified as league runners up winners. Cliftonville therefore qualified for finishing third in the league in third place and Distilery qualified for the Intertoto cup
[edit] Teams competing in the Irish Premier League 2007/2008
- Armagh City
- Ballymena United
- Cliftonville
- Crusaders
- Coleraine
- Donegal Celtic
- Dungannon Swifts
- Glenavon
- Glentoran
- Institute
- Larne
- Limavady United
- Linfield
- Lisburn Distillery
- Newry City
- Portadown
[edit] Future reorganisation
From the 2008-09 season, the League will again be re-organised. It will be renamed as the IFA Premiership, reduced to twelve teams, included on the basis not only of their performance in the 2007-08 season, but in the previous two seasons, and other off-the-field criteria as follows. Each applicant club will be assessed by an independent panel and awarded points against the following criteria:
- Sporting (maximum 450 points) - based on league placings, Irish Cup, League Cup and European performances in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08; with points also awarded for running youth teams, women's teams and community development programmes.
- Finance (maximum 200 points) - based on solvency, debt management and cash-flow projection.
- Infrastructure (maximum 150 points) - based on stadium capacity, changing provisions, sanitary facilities, field of play, floodlighting, existence and standard of control room, first aid room, drug testing room and media facilities.
- Business planning (maximum 50 points)
- Personnel (maximum 100 points) - based on qualification and experience of staff
- Attendances (maximum 50 points)
At the end of the current season, all 41 applicant clubs will be ranked in order, with the top eleven clubs being awarded places in the IFA Premiership. The four clubs ranked 12-15 will play off against each other for the final place.
A new Premier Intermediate League is also planned, presumably to replace the IFA Intermediate League. It is unclear what arrangements will be put in place for promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the leagues below.
[edit] Stadia
| Overall Rank |
Stadium | Town/city | Local authority | Capacity | Club | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windsor Park | Belfast | Belfast | 20,400 (14,400 seats[1]) | Linfield | Windsor Park, opened in 1905, is also the national stadium for Northern Ireland. Most games for the Linfield and Northern Ireland teams are played to all seated crowds with the standing room rarely if ever used. |
| 2 | The Oval | Belfast | Belfast | 15,250 (5000 seats) | Glentoran | Glentoran's home since 1892, the Oval was bombed during the Second World War and the club shared Distillery's Grosvenor Park from 1941 until the Oval was fully repaired in 1949. |
| 3 | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | Ballymena | 8,000 (4000 seats) | Ballymena United | |
| 4 | Shamrock Park | Portadown | Craigavon | 8,000 (2900 seats) | Portadown | Shamrock Park is currently being upgraded with 4000 new seats, 2000 per stand, this will replace the old stand and the cage. |
| 5 | Solitude | Belfast | Belfast | 8,000 (2099 seats) | Cliftonville | Solitude has been home to Cliftonville since 1890. The Cage terrace is due to be replaced by a new all-seater stand and changing rooms in line with the away stand now in place behind the opposing goal. |
| 6 | New Grosvenor Stadium | Ballyskeagh | Lisburn | 8,000 (2000 seats) | Lisburn Distillery | After being forced out of their traditional home by arson, Grosvenor Park in Belfast, in 1971, Distillery was homeless until moving to New Grosvenor in 1980. During that time they played home matches at Seaview and Skegoneill Avenue. |
| 7 | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | Coleraine | 6,500 (1500 seats) | Coleraine | The Coleraine Showgrounds are home to The Milk Cup Elite and Premier Finals. |
| 8 | The Showgrounds | Newry | Newry and Mourne | 6,500 (800 seats) | Newry City | The south terracing at the Showgrounds are planned for development with seats and a roof replacing them. The Showgounds have been Newry's home since 1948. |
| 9 | Seaview | Belfast | Belfast | 6,500 | Crusaders | Crusaders have been offered a move to a new 4000 all seater stadium to be built by the Belfast City Council.[citation needed] |
| 10 | Inver Park | Larne | Larne | 6,000 (800 seats) | Larne | |
| 11 | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | Craigavon | 5,500 (4000 seats) | Glenavon | There are plans for an ultra-modern upgrade to Mourneview Park, which has been Glenavon's home since 1895. |
| 12 | YMCA Grounds | Drumahoe | Derry | 4,000 (600 seats) | Institute | |
| 13 | Holm Park | Armagh | Armagh | 3,000 (330 seats) | Armagh City | Holm Park has been Armagh's grounds since 1994. |
| 14 | Strangmore Park | Dungannon | Dungannon and South Tyrone | 3,000 (300 seats) | Dungannon Swifts | |
| 15 | The Showgrounds | Limavady | Limavady | 2,000 (400 seats) | Limavady United | |
| 16 | Suffolk Road | Belfast | Belfast | 1,500 (120 seats) | Donegal Celtic |
[edit] See also
- Irish Football League Cup
- Irish Cup
- Irish First Division
- Irish Second Division
- County Antrim Shield
- Northern Ireland football league system
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Irish Premier League Website
- Irish Football Club Project
- Irish FA Website
- Irish League Forums
- BBC Irish Football
- nifootball.co.uk
