2020–21 NIFL Premiership

The 2020–21 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 13th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 120th season of Irish league football overall, and the eighth season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland meant that the season was delayed by approximately two months. The season commenced on 16 October 2020, and is scheduled to conclude on 22 May 2021. The fixtures were released on 19 September 2020.[1]

NIFL Premiership
Season2020–21
Dates16 October 2020 – 22 May 2021
RelegatedN/A
Matches played91
Goals scored267 (2.93 per match)
Top goalscorerAndrew Waterworth (Linfield)
(11 goals)
Biggest home winGlentoran 6–0 Carrick Rangers
(12 December 2020)
Linfield 6–0 Warrenpoint Town
(23 January 2021)
Biggest away winCliftonville 0–4 Ballymena Utd
(24 November 2020)
Dungannon Swifts 1–5 Ballymena Utd
(12 December 2020)
Highest scoringGlenavon 4–4 Coleraine
(7 November 2020)
2021–22 →
All statistics correct as of 6 February 2021.

Linfield are the two-time defending champions, having been league winners in the previous two seasons - the 2019–20 season seeing them win a world record-equalling 54th league title. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season had been curtailed after 31 of the 38 rounds of fixtures had been completed. NIFL ultimately decided that the final league standings would be decided by a points per game average. Ultimately, this was academic since every team had played 31 games, meaning it resulted in no changes to the final standings.[2] This meant Linfield equalled the world record for the most top flight league titles won by any club, drawing level on 54 titles with Scottish club, Rangers.

The winners will qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, while the runners-up and the European play-off winners will qualify for the new third-tier UEFA competition, the UEFA Europa Conference League for the first time. They will enter the first qualifying round, and will be joined by the 2020–21 Irish Cup winners.

On 2 February 2021, it was announced that there would be no relegation from the Premiership this season, after a majority of NIFL Championship clubs voted to cancel the 2020–21 season. The second tier had not been granted elite sporting status by the government which was required in order to play matches during the pandemic lockdown, with Championship clubs not having played any league fixtures since the 2019–20 season had been suspended in March 2020.[3]

Teams
Locations of the 2020–21 NIFL Premiership teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2020–21 NIFL Premiership teams

Twelve teams are competing in the 2020–21 NIFL Premiership, eleven of which retained their Premiership status from the previous season. Last season's bottom Premiership club, Institute, were relegated to the 2020–21 NIFL Championship after two seasons in the top flight, and were replaced by Portadown, who were promoted to this season's Premiership as 2019–20 NIFL Championship winners.[2] For Portadown, this marked a return to the top flight for the first time since they were relegated in the 2016–17 season.

The promotion/relegation play-off did not take place the previous season, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stadia and locations
Club Stadium Location Capacity‡[4][5]
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena3,600 (all seated)
Carrick RangersLoughshore Hotel ArenaCarrickfergus2,500 (250 seated)
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast2,530 (all seated)
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine3,500 (1,106 seated)
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,383 (all seated)
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon2,000 (300 seated)
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan4,160 (3,200 seated)
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast6,054 (4,989 seated)
LarneInver ParkLarne2,000 (1,250 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,614 (all seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint1,280 (150 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Linfield 16 12 1 3 43 19 +24 37 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Larne 16 9 5 2 28 14 +14 32 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
3 Crusaders 17 9 3 5 34 20 +14 30 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
4 Coleraine 16 8 3 5 25 19 +6 27
5 Ballymena United 15 7 2 6 22 16 +6 23
6 Cliftonville 17 6 4 7 25 23 +2 22
7 Glentoran 15 5 6 4 23 14 +9 21
8 Glenavon 14 4 5 5 21 24 −3 17
9 Warrenpoint Town 15 4 4 7 14 25 −11 16
10 Dungannon Swifts 15 3 2 10 9 32 −23 11
11 Portadown 14 2 4 8 14 32 −18 10
12 Carrick Rangers 12 2 1 9 9 29 −20 7
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2021. Source: Northern Ireland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots[6]
Notes:
  1. Teams will play each other three times (33 matches), before the league splits into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
  2. The 2020–21 Irish Cup winners will also qualify for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
  3. Clubs will compete for one place in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

Results

Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team will play every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN POR WPT
Ballymena United — 2–0 23 Feb 16 Feb 1–4 0–1 0–2 1–1 6 Mar 2–3 17 Apr 2–0
Carrick Rangers 0–2 — 27 Feb 23 Feb 9 Mar 0–0 20 Feb 6 Mar 1–2 9 Feb 4–1 1–3
Cliftonville 0–4 3–0 — 0–2 2–2 6 Apr 1–1 1–0 20 Feb 4–3 5–0 3–0
Coleraine 0–1 3–0 2–2 — 2–1 2–0 3 Apr 2–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–1
Crusaders 3 Apr 13 Feb 1–0 1–0 — 3–1 27 Feb 2–0 3–3 1–2 5–0 4–0
Dungannon Swifts 1–5 0–2 2–1 2–0 9 Feb — 26 Jan 27 Feb 17 Apr 3 Apr 0–3 0–2
Glenavon 2–1 16 Feb 1–1 4–4 3–1 0–0 — 16 Mar 1–4 1–2 2–4 6 Apr
Glentoran 9 Feb 6–0 1–0 13 Feb 27 Mar 5–1 1–1 — 0–0 2 Mar 2–1 0–0
Larne 2–0 3 Apr 1–0 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 — 3–1 9 Feb 1–1
Linfield 20 Apr 5–1 2–0 20 Feb 2–1 4–0 2–0 3–3 26 Feb — 3–0 6–0
Portadown 0–0 10 Apr 13 Feb 0–3 2–2 20 Feb 9 Mar 16 Feb 23 Feb 1–2 — 0–2
Warrenpoint Town 26 Jan 2 Feb 3 Apr 10 Apr 0–1 16 Feb 1–2 20 Feb 1–1 2–1 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2021. Source: Northern Ireland Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team will play every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).

Home \ Away BYM CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN POR WPT
Ballymena United — 30 Mar — 24 Apr 19 Feb 27 Mar — 6 Apr — 13 Feb — —
Carrick Rangers — — — — 6 Apr 20 Apr — — 16 Mar — 23 Mar 27 Mar
Cliftonville 2 Mar 24 Apr — 27 Mar — — 17 Apr 30 Mar — — — 9 Feb
Coleraine — 20 Mar — — 17 Apr — — 20 Apr 30 Mar — 2 Mar 27 Feb
Crusaders — — 10 Apr — — — 20 Apr 1–0 — 20 Mar — 6 Mar
Dungannon Swifts — — 1–2 6 Mar 24 Apr — 30 Mar — — — 20 Mar —
Glenavon 10 Apr 2 Mar — 9 Feb — — — — 27 Mar 24 Apr — —
Glentoran — 2–0 — — — 10 Apr 20 Mar — 24 Apr — 3 Apr —
Larne 0–1 — 20 Mar — 2 Mar 13 Feb — — — 10 Apr — 20 Apr
Linfield — 17 Apr 6 Mar 6 Apr — 30 Jan — 23 Feb — — — 9 Mar
Portadown 27 Feb — 20 Apr — 30 Mar — 6 Mar — 6 Apr 27 Mar — —
Warrenpoint Town 20 Mar — — — — 2 Mar 13 Feb 17 Apr — — 24 Apr —
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2021. Source: Northern Ireland Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team will play every other team in their half of the table once. As this is the fourth time that teams play each other this season, home sides are chosen so that they will have played each other twice at home and twice away.

Play-offs

UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs

Four (or all five) of the clubs that finish in third to seventh place will compete for one place in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round. If the 2020–21 Irish Cup winners finish lower than seventh and attain a UEFA licence, all five clubs will compete, with an extra quarter-final tie taking place between the sixth and seventh-placed clubs to decide which club will join the other three clubs in the semi-finals.

Top goalscorers
As of 2 February 2021
Rank Scorer Club Goals[7]
1 Andrew Waterworth Linfield 11
2 Shayne Lavery Linfield 8
Robbie McDaid Glentoran 8
4 Ben Doherty Coleraine 7
Jay Donnelly Glentoran 7
David McDaid Larne 7
Paul McElroy Ballymena United 7
8 Paul Heatley Crusaders 6
Jordan Owens Crusaders 6
Jordan Stewart Linfield 6

References
  1. "Irish Premiership: Linfield host Carrick Rangers on opening day as Irish League returns on 17 October". BBC. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  2. "Irish Premiership: Linfield officially crowned 2019-20 league champions". BBC. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. "NIFL Championship: 2020/2021 season declared null and void after clubs vote". BBC. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  4. "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  5. "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  6. "NIFL Premiership Rules 2018–19" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  7. "NIFL Premiership Top Scorers". SportsMole.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
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