2025–26 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership
Season2025–26
Dates9 August 2025 –
Top goalscorerFraser Bryden (6 goals)
2026–27 →

The 2025–26 NIFL Premiership (known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 18th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland and the 125th season of Irish League football overall.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; the top eleven teams from the previous season, and one team promoted from the NIFL Championship. Linfield entered the season as defending champions.[1]

The promoted team was the 2024–25 NIFL Championship champions Bangor (returning to the top flight after a sixteen-year absence). They replaced the 2024–25 NIFL Premiership bottom-placed team Loughgall (relegated from the top flight after two years).

Stadia and locations

Locations of the 2025–26 NIFL Premiership teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2025–26 NIFL Premiership teams
Club Stadium Location Capacity[2][3]
Ballymena United The Showgrounds Ballymena 3,824 (all seated)
Bangor Clandeboye Park Bangor 1,895 (500 seated)
Carrick Rangers Loughshore Hotel Arena Carrickfergus 2,100 (380 seated)
Cliftonville Solitude Belfast 3,054 (all seated)
Coleraine The Showgrounds Coleraine 4,843 (1,607 seated)
Crusaders Seaview Belfast 3,208 (all seated)
Dungannon Swifts Stangmore Park Dungannon 2,000 (300 seated)
Glenavon Mourneview Park Lurgan 3,302 (all seated)
Glentoran The Oval Belfast 6,054 (3,991 seated)
Larne Inver Park Larne 2,732 (1,632 seated)
Linfield Windsor Park Belfast 18,434 (all seated)
Portadown Shamrock Park Portadown 3,940 (2,765 seated)

Personnel and sponsoring

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (front)
Ballymena United Oran Kearney Sean O'Neill Playr-Fit Wrightbus
Bangor Lee Feeney Lewis Harrison Macron bailieproperty.com
Carrick Rangers Stephen Baxter Luke McCullough Puma Hankook
Cliftonville Jim Magilton Rory Hale O'Neills Sean Graham
Coleraine Ruaidhrí Higgins Lyndon Kane Macron Fibrus
Crusaders Declan Caddell Jarlath O'Rourke Adidas BoyleSports
Dungannon Swifts Rodney McAree Gaël Bigirimana Uhlsport Ten Square Hotel
Glenavon Michael O'Connor Barney McKeown Adidas Avondale Foods
Glentoran Declan Devine Marcus Kane Macron Bet McLean
Larne Gary Haveron Tomás Cosgrove Nike Pride & Pinion
Linfield David Healy Jamie Mulgrew Macron Ready Construction
Portadown Niall Currie Gary Thompson Adidas DFDS

Regular season

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Larne (Q) 32 21 7 4 57 22 +35 70 Qualification for Section A
2 Glentoran (Q) 32 21 5 6 62 29 +33 68
3 Coleraine (Q) 32 20 4 8 61 30 +31 64
4 Linfield (Q) 32 18 8 6 56 22 +34 62
5 Cliftonville (Q) 32 13 7 12 47 46 +1 46
6 Dungannon Swifts (Q) 32 15 1 16 40 57 −17 46
7 Carrick Rangers (Q) 32 11 7 14 47 51 −4 40 Qualification for Section B
8 Portadown (Q) 32 11 2 19 36 57 −21 35
9 Ballymena United (Q) 32 9 6 17 37 48 −11 33
10 Bangor (Q) 32 9 6 17 37 57 −20 33
11 Glenavon (Q) 32 8 1 23 33 60 −27 25
12 Crusaders (Q) 32 7 4 21 38 72 −34 25
Updated to match(es) played on 18 March 2026. 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[4]
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated


Results

For matches 1–22, each team plays every other team twice (home and away). For matches 23–33, each team plays every other team for the third time (either at home or away).

Home \ Away BAL BAN CRK CLF COL CRU DUN GLA GLT LAR LIN POR
Ballymena United — 4–0 1–1 2–2 1–3 2–2 0–2 2–2 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1
— — 2–1 — 2–0 2–0 1–2 — — 0–2 — —
Bangor 2–3 — 0–1 3–1 2–1 1–3 2–1 1–3 1–1 0–2 0–3 1–0
2–0 — — 1–1 0–2 2–1 — — 0–4 — 0–1 —
Carrick Rangers 1–2 3–2 — 1–2 1–1 1–2 3–3 1–0 0–7 1–2 0–0 1–0
— 1–1 — 0–1 — — 5–1 2–1 — — 20 MAR 1–2
Cliftonville 3–2 3–1 1–4 — 0–0 1–2 2–0 3–1 0–4 1–1 0–0 1–2
21 MAR — — — 1–0 5–2 — 5–2 — 0–2 2–0 —
Coleraine 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 — 5–1 2–0 5–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 2–1
— — 3–1 — — — 4–0 2–0 — 1–2 3–1 —
Crusaders 1–1 2–2 3–4 0–1 0–4 — 2–0 4–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–4
— — 2–2 — 0–2 — — 0–3 2–3 2–4 — —
Dungannon Swifts 2–0 1–0 0–2 2–1 3–1 0–3 — 1–0 3–1 2–0 1–4 1–4
— 21 MAR — 3–2 — 2–0 — — 0–2 1–2 — 4–2
Glenavon 0–2 0–3 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–2 0–2 — 3–1 20 MAR 2–1 3–0
3–1 1–2 — — — — 0–1 — 1–2 — 0–3 —
Glentoran 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–1 5–1 0–1 2–0 — 1–4 1–1 2–1
2–1 — 1–0 3–0 21 MAR — — — — — — 2–1
Larne 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 3–0 4–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 — 0–0 4–0
— 2–1 2–3 — — — — 2–1 2–2 — 1–1 3–0
Linfield 2–1 6–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 — 3–0
2–1 — — — — 4–0 6–0 — 1–0 — — 3–1
Portadown 0–2 1–4 0–3 2–3 1–4 2–1 1–0 3–1 0–1 2–1 2–0 —
1–0 1–1 — 0–2 0–2 21 MAR — 1–0 — — — —
Updated to match(es) played on 18 March 2026. 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

For the final five matches, the table splits into two halves, with the top six teams forming Section A and the bottom six teams forming Section B. Each team plays every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures are reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams have played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

Play-offs

Conference League play-off

Teams placed 3rd–7th qualify for one-off play-off matches, with the winners earning the second spot in the 2026–27 UEFA Conference League first qualifying round; the higher-placed team per game receive home advantage. Teams finishing 4th-7th qualify for the quarter-finals; the 3rd-placed team qualify for the final. If the 2025–26 Irish Cup winners finish in the top seven, a spot will be vacated.

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed team will face the second-placed team of the 2025–26 NIFL Championship in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the 2026–27 NIFL Premiership.

References

  1. ^ "Linfield lift Irish Premiership after Glentoran win". BBC Sport. 5 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  2. ^ "AQW 1178/11". Northern Ireland Assembly. 18 October 2010.
  3. ^ "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013.
  4. ^ "NIFL Premiership Rules 2024–25" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
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