NIFL Premiership
Season2013–14
ChampionsCliftonville
2nd Premiership title
5th Irish title (inc. 1 shared)
RelegatedArds
Champions LeagueCliftonville
Europa LeagueGlenavon (via Irish Cup)
Linfield
Crusaders
Matches played228
Goals scored712 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorerJoe Gormley (27 goals)
Biggest home winPortadown 11–0 Ballinamallard United
(7 September 2013)
Biggest away winDungannon Swifts 0–5 Portadown
(26 October 2013)
Highest scoringPortadown 11–0 Ballinamallard United
(7 September 2013)
Highest attendance5,389[1]
Glentoran 1–2 Linfield
(26 December 2013)
Lowest attendance63[1]
Warrenpoint Town 0–2 Ards
(8 March 2014)
Average attendance867[1]

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.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4] Their relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season, when Institute won the 2013–14 NIFL Championship 1 title.[5]

Cliftonville were the defending champions after winning their fourth league title last season – their first since the 1997–98 season.[6] They went on to retain the title for the first time in the club's history - their fourth outright league title and fifth overall.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10]

Stadia and locations

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the NIFL Premiership 2013-14
Club Stadium Location Capacity[11][12]
ArdsClandeboye ParkBangor2,000 (500 seated)
Dixon ParkBallyclare2,000 (500 seated)
Ballinamallard UnitedFerney ParkBallinamallard2,000 (250 seated)
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,050 (2,200 seated)
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast2,530 (all seated)
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine2,496 (1,106 seated)
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,383 (all seated)
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon5,000 (300 seated)
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan4,160 (4,000 seated)
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast5,056 (3,991 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast12,342 (all seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint2,000 (250 seated)
Stangmore ParkDungannon5,000 (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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Cliftonville (C) 38 26 7 5 88 39 +49 85 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Linfield 38 24 7 7 81 46 +35 79 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3 Crusaders 38 18 12 8 67 42 +25 66
4 Portadown 38 18 8 12 77 53 +24 62
5 Glentoran 38 16 11 11 54 42 +12 59
6 Glenavon 38 15 6 17 75 79 −4 51 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
7 Ballymena United 38 13 8 17 48 59 −11 47
8 Dungannon Swifts 38 12 8 18 49 66 −17 44
9 Coleraine 38 10 12 16 51 61 −10 42
10 Ballinamallard United 38 10 9 19 35 70 −35 39
11 Warrenpoint Town 38 10 6 22 43 72 −29 36
12 Ards (R) 38 6 6 26 44 83 −39 24 Relegation to NIFL Championship 1
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

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.

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals[16]
1 Northern Ireland Joe Gormley Cliftonville 27
2 Northern Ireland Darren Murray Portadown 23
3 Northern Ireland Andrew Waterworth Linfield 22
4 Northern Ireland Liam Boyce Cliftonville 21
5 Scotland Gary Twigg Portadown 19
6 Northern Ireland Darren Boyce Ballymena United† 16
Northern Ireland Jordan Owens Crusaders 16
8 England Guy Bates Glenavon 14
Northern Ireland Paul Heatley Crusaders 14
10 Northern Ireland Daniel Hughes Warrenpoint Town 12

† 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.[5]

NIFL Premiership clubs in Europe 2013–14

UEFA coefficient and ranking

For the 2013–14 UEFA competitions, the associations were allocated places according to their 2012 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2007–08 to 2011–12. In the 2012 rankings used for this season's European competitions, Northern Ireland's coefficient points total was 2.583. After earning a score of 0.500 during the 2011–12 European campaign, the league was ranked by UEFA as the 48th best league in Europe out of 53 - up one place from 49th the previous season. This season Northern Ireland earned 0.875 points, which was added to the points total for the 2014 rankings used in 2015–16 UEFA competitions.

UEFA Champions League

After winning the league last season, Cliftonville were the sole representatives in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League. They entered the draw in the second qualifying round. The draw to discover their opponents took place on 24 June 2013, and Cliftonville were rewarded with a dream tie against Scottish giants, Celtic. The first leg took place at Solitude on 17 July 2013, and Celtic earned a comfortable 3–0 win. The second leg was played at Celtic Park on 23 July 2013, with Celtic winning 2–0 for a comfortable 5–0 aggregate victory.

Second Qualifying round

First leg

Cliftonville0 – 3Scotland Celtic
Report Lustig 25'
Samaras 31'
Forrest 84'
Attendance: 5,442

Second leg

Celtic Scotland2 – 0Cliftonville
Ambrose 16'
Samaras 70'		 Report
Attendance: 29,758

Celtic won 5–0 on aggregate.

UEFA Europa League

2012–13 League runners-up Crusaders, third-placed Linfield, and Irish Cup winners Glentoran all earned a place in the UEFA Europa League. They entered the draw at the first qualifying round. The draw to discover their opponents took place on 24 June 2013. Glentoran were paired against KR of Iceland while Linfield faced ÍF Fuglafjørður from the Faroe Islands. For the second consecutive season, Crusaders were drawn to play Rosenborg of Norway, the team they lost 4–0 on aggregate to at the same stage of last season's competition. Crusaders played the first leg at home on 4 July 2013 and went down 2–1 to Rosenborg, having led the match 1–0. In the second leg, Crusaders were well beaten 7–2 away from home, crashing out of the competition 9–3 on aggregate. Glentoran were away from home for the first leg and came away with a respectable 0–0 draw, however in the second leg at home they were disappointingly defeated 3–0 and exited the competition 3–0 on aggregate.

Linfield played their first leg in the Faroe Islands on 3 July 2013, and came away with a 2–0 victory. This was the club's first European away win in 47 years, since a 4–1 victory away to Vålerenga in the second round of the 1966–67 European Cup.[17] In the second leg, Linfield won 3–0 to go through to the next round 5–0 on aggregate - the first time in the club's history that they had won both legs of a European tie. After the exit of both Crusaders and Glentoran from the competition, this left Linfield as the league's only representative in the second qualifying round. They faced Greek side Xanthi in the next round. Despite being massive underdogs for the tie, a 1–0 victory in the away leg made it three consecutive victories for Linfield in Europe, without conceding a goal in the process - another first for the club. However, in the second leg at home they went down 2–1 after extra time, which eliminated them on the away goals rule.

First Qualifying round

First legs

ÍF Faroe Islands0 – 2Linfield
Report Waterworth 68'
Lowry 74'
Attendance: 441
Referee: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (Latvia)
Crusaders1 – 2Norway Rosenborg
Owens 22' Report Chibuike 45+1'
Svensson 77'
Attendance: 948
Referee: Hugo Miguel (Portugal)
KR Iceland0 – 0Glentoran
Report
Attendance: 967
Referee: Gerhard Grobelnik (Austria)

Second legs

Linfield3 – 0Faroe Islands ÍF
Gault 40'
Mulgrew 55'
Lowry 61'		 Report
Attendance: 1,600
Referee: Dejan Jakimovski (Macedonia)

Linfield won 5–0 on aggregate.

Rosenborg Norway7 – 2Crusaders
Hoiland 15'
Chibuike 34', 50'
Dočkal 57'
Mikkelsen 60'
Sørloth 72'
Svensson 90'		 Report Leeman 49'
Owens 68'
Attendance: 4,003

Rosenborg won 9–3 on aggregate.

Glentoran0 – 3Iceland KR
Report Martin 24'
Sævarsson 65', 90+2'
Attendance: 1,700

KR won 3–0 on aggregate.

Second Qualifying round

First leg

Xanthi Greece0 – 1Linfield
Report Burns 25'
Attendance: 2,117
Referee: Nicolas Rainville (France)

Second leg

Linfield1 – 2 (a.e.t.)Greece Xanthi
Gault 99' Report Marcelinho 27', 105'
Attendance: 2,494

2–2 on aggregate. Skoda Xanthi won on away goals rule.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Irish League Supporters Forum - Attendances". Irish League Supporters Forum. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE". NIFL Premiership.
  3. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Portadown 11-0 Ballinamallard Utd". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Dungannon Swifts 0-4 Warrenpoint Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Ards relegated as Bangor draw gifts promotion to Institute". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Cliftonville beat Linfield to secure Irish Premiership title". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Cliftonville retain Irish Premiership title for first time". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "CLUB LICENSING DECISIONS ANNOUNCED". Irish Football Association. irishfa.com. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Tim McCann sacked as manager as Lisburn Distillery are relegated". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Warrenpoint Town overcome Donegal Celtic in Premiership play-off". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  12. ↑ "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Warrenpoint Town 2-1 Coleraine". BBC Sport. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "Warrenpoint-Glenavon game abandoned after floodlight failure". BBC Sport. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  15. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Warrenpoint Town 2-0 Ards". BBC Sport. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  16. ↑ FIFA.com - Danske Bank Premiership 2013/2014 Top Scorers, archived from the original on 28 April 2014, retrieved 28 April 2014
  17. ↑ "IF 0-2 Linfield". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
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