NIFL Premiership
Season2014–15
ChampionsCrusaders
1st Premiership title
5th Irish title
RelegatedInstitute
Champions LeagueCrusaders
Europa LeagueGlentoran (via Irish Cup)
Linfield
Glenavon
Matches played228
Goals scored719 (3.15 per match)
Top goalscorerJoe Gormley (31 goals)
Biggest home winCliftonville 7–0
Ballymena United
(29 November 2014)
Warrenpoint Town 7–0 Ballinamallard United
(23 January 2015)
Biggest away winWarrenpoint Town 0–5
Glentoran
(3 January 2015)
Warrenpoint Town 0–5
Coleraine
(14 March 2015)
Highest scoringPortadown 5–5
Ballymena United
(17 January 2015)
Glenavon 3–7 Crusaders
(21 February 2015)
Highest attendance6,538[1]
Linfield 2–1 Glentoran
(26 December 2014)
Lowest attendance70[1]
Warrenpoint Town 5–1
Institute
(4 April 2015)
Total attendance214,547[1]
Average attendance941[1]

The 2014–15 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 7th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 114th season of Irish league football overall, and the 2nd season of the league operating as part of the newly-created Northern Ireland Football League.[2]

Crusaders were champions, winning the league for the 5th time.

Summary

The season began on 9 August 2014, and concluded with the final round of fixtures on 25 April 2015.

Cliftonville were the two-time defending champions, after they won a second consecutive title the previous season, a first consecutive title win in the club's history - their fourth outright league title and fifth overall.[3] Ten years after suffering relegation to the second tier in 2004–05 and just eight years after their return to the top flight in 2006–07, Crusaders were this season's champions. They lifted the title for the fifth time overall on 18 April 2015 – their first top flight title in the 18 years since their last win in the 1996–97 season.[4]

For the second successive season, the newly promoted club finished bottom of the table and suffered relegation. Institute were relegated back to the second tier after only one season in the top flight. This was confirmed after they lost 2–1 against Ballymena United on 11 April 2015, leaving them bottom of the table by nine points with only two fixtures remaining.[5] Warrenpoint Town once again finished in 11th place – the Promotion/relegation play-off place – and faced Bangor over two legs for a place in next season's Premiership.[6] After a 2–2 draw on aggregate, Warrenpoint Town won 3–1 on penalties to retain their Premiership status for next season.[7]

Teams

In their first season back in the top flight since 2005–06, Ards finished bottom of the table the previous season. 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.[8] Subsequently, Ards were relegated to Championship 1. Institute replaced them in the Premiership, after securing the 2013–14 Championship 1 title. Institute returned to the top flight for the first time in four years since they were relegated in the 2009–10 season.

The Promotion/relegation play-off was not played the previous season because the runners-up of Championship 1, Bangor, were ineligible for promotion as they did not possess a licence to participate in top-flight football. As a result, this gave a reprieve to the previous season's 11th-placed team, Warrenpoint Town, who retained their Premiership status by default.[9]

Stadia and locations

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the NIFL Premiership 2014-15
Club Stadium Location Capacity[10][11]
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 OvalBelfast6,054 (4,989 seated)
InstituteRiverside StadiumDrumahoe3,110 (1,540 seated)
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast10,500 (all seated)
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)
Warrenpoint TownMilltownWarrenpoint2,000 (250 seated)

Windsor Park redevelopment

As a result of Windsor Park being redeveloped, its capacity was limited to approximately 10,500. This was still more than large enough to accommodate the average Premiership attendance at the stadium. Linfield were forced to play their first six league games of the season away from home while a new playing surface was laid at the stadium. Linfield's first home league game of the season was on 13 September 2014 against Warrenpoint Town, which resulted in a 1–0 home win.[12] On 31 March 2015, the West Stand of the stadium was sealed off after cracks in the structure were discovered. Construction work related to the stadium redevelopment had been ongoing behind the stand in the weeks prior to the damage, but it was not known if that was directly related.[13] The closure of the stand ultimately forced Linfield to play their remaining two home games of the season against Glenavon and Crusaders at the Ballymena Showgrounds and the Oval respectively.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Crusaders (C) 38 25 7 6 93 43 +50 82 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Linfield 38 21 9 8 67 46 +21 72 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3 Glenavon 38 20 6 12 82 65 +17 66
4 Portadown 38 17 11 10 65 56 +9 62
5 Cliftonville 38 16 13 9 71 47 +24 61
6 Glentoran 38 16 10 12 67 51 +16 58 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
7 Ballymena United 38 15 6 17 62 75 −13 51
8 Coleraine 38 13 7 18 48 55 −7 46[lower-alpha 2]
9 Ballinamallard United 38 10 9 19 40 71 −31 39
10 Dungannon Swifts 38 8 13 17 38 56 −18 37
11 Warrenpoint Town (O) 38 6 12 20 50 76 −26 30 Qualification to Promotion/relegation play-off
12 Institute (R) 38 4 9 25 36 84 −48 21[lower-alpha 2] Relegation to NIFL Championship 1
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ↑ Glentoran qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as 2014–15 Irish Cup winners.
  2. 1 2 Coleraine and Institute both fielded an ineligible player in the same match. The original 4–0 Coleraine win was voided with a 3–0 loss being recorded for both clubs, resulting in the final league table having two more losses than wins, and an overall goal difference of –6.[14][15]

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.

Promotion/relegation play-off

11th-placed Warrenpoint Town played NIFL Championship 1 runners-up Bangor over two legs for a place in next season's Premiership. Warrenpoint Town played the first leg away from home, with home advantage for the second leg. Warrenpoint Town won 3–1 on penalties and retained their Premiership status.[7]

Bangor2–0Warrenpoint Town
Moan 29' (o.g.)
McDowell 90+2'		 Report
Referee: Ian McNabb
Warrenpoint Town2–0 (a.e.t.)Bangor
McDonald 12'
McVeigh 76'		 Report
Penalties
McGuigan soccer ball with check mark
McDonnell soccer ball with red X
M. Hughes soccer ball with red X
McVeigh soccer ball with check mark
S. Hughes soccer ball with check mark		 3–1 Cooling soccer ball with red X
McDowell soccer ball with check mark
Gardiner soccer ball with red X
Hall soccer ball with red X
Milltown, Warrenpoint

2–2 on aggregate after extra time. Warrenpoint Town won 3–1 on penalties.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals[16]
1 Northern Ireland Joe Gormley Cliftonville 31
2 Northern Ireland Paul Heatley Crusaders 27
3 Northern Ireland Jordan Owens Crusaders 26
4 Northern Ireland Aaron Burns Linfield 17
Northern Ireland Daniel Hughes Warrenpoint Town 17
6 Northern Ireland Curtis Allen Glentoran 15
Northern Ireland Kevin Braniff Glenavon 15
Northern Ireland Andrew Waterworth Linfield 15
9 Northern Ireland Eoin Bradley Glenavon 13
Northern Ireland Darren Murray Portadown 13
Northern Ireland Jordan Stewart Glentoran 13
Scotland Gary Twigg Portadown 13

NIFL Premiership clubs in Europe 2014–15

UEFA coefficient and ranking

For the 2014–15 UEFA competitions, the associations were allocated places according to their 2013 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2008–09 to 2012–13. In the 2013 rankings used for the 2014–15 European competitions, Northern Ireland's coefficient points total was 3.083. After earning a score of 1.000 during the 2012–13 European campaign, Northern Ireland was ranked by UEFA as the 47th best association in Europe out of 54 - up one place from 48th the previous season.

UEFA Champions League

After winning the league last season, Cliftonville were the sole representatives in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. They entered in the second qualifying round, and were drawn to face Debrecen from Hungary. In the first leg at home, they held their full-time opponents to a 0–0 draw. In the away leg they held out until the second half, but in the end conceded twice to go out of the competition 2–0 on aggregate.

First leg

Cliftonville Northern Ireland0 – 0Hungary Debrecen
Report
Attendance: 1,750

Second leg

Debrecen Hungary2 – 0Northern Ireland Cliftonville
Mihelič 55'
Sidibe 79'		 Report
Attendance: 9,457

Debrecen won 2–0 on aggregate.

UEFA Europa League

2013–14 League runners-up Linfield, third-placed Crusaders, and the Irish Cup winners Glenavon earned a place in the UEFA Europa League. They all entered the draw in the first qualifying round. Linfield were paired against B36 Tórshavn from the Faroe Islands, the same team they had defeated on penalties in the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. They came away with a 2–1 victory in the first leg away from home – their third consecutive away win in Europe. Crusaders faced Ekranas from Lithuania and secured a 3–1 win in the first leg at home. Irish Cup holders Glenavon faced FH from Iceland. They lost the first leg 3–0 away from home, having held out at 0–0 until the 82nd minute.

Linfield played their home leg at Glenavon's Mourneview Park as a result of the redevelopment of Windsor Park. They secured a 1–1 draw to go through to the next round for the second successive season – 3–2 on aggregate. Crusaders also made it through to the next round, after a 2–1 away win in their second leg against Ekranas. This was Crusaders' first ever away win in Europe, and the first time they had won both legs of a European tie. Glenavon restored some pride in their second leg, scoring two goals. However, they lost the match 3–2 and exited the competition 6–2 on aggregate.

First qualifying round

First Legs

B36 Tórshavn Faroe Islands1 – 2Northern Ireland Linfield
Lawal 72' Report Mulgrew 38'
Carvill 88'
Attendance: 786
Referee: Nikola Popov (Bulgaria)
Crusaders Northern Ireland3 – 1Lithuania Ekranas
Cockcroft 23'
Owens 43'
Coates 58'		 Report Šušnjar 88'
Attendance: 998
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (Spain)
FH Iceland3 – 0Northern Ireland Glenavon
I. Óskarsson 82'
Guðnason 90', 90+3'		 Report
Attendance: 643
Referee: Zbynek Proske (Czech Republic)

Second Legs

Linfield Northern Ireland1 – 1Faroe Islands B36 Tórshavn
Carvill 17' Report Lawal 48' (pen.)
Attendance: 1,150
Referee: Thoroddur Hjaltalin (Iceland)

Linfield won 3–2 on aggregate.

Ekranas Lithuania1 – 2Northern Ireland Crusaders
Kochanauskas 60' Report Heatley 56', 71'
Attendance: 1,400
Referee: Yaroslav Kozyk (Ukraine)

Crusaders won 5–2 on aggregate.

Glenavon Northern Ireland2 – 3Iceland FH
Braniff 58'
Bradley 60'		 Report I. Óskarsson 3'
Emilsson 37', 69' (pen.)
Attendance: 1,634
Referee: Sascha Amhof (Switzerland)

FH won 6–2 on aggregate.

Second qualifying round

First legs

Brommapojkarna Sweden4 – 0Northern Ireland Crusaders
Rexhepi 9'
Albornoz 27'
Larsson 62'
Bärkroth 65' (pen.)		 Report
Attendance: 524
Referee: Christos Nicolaides (Cyprus)
Linfield Northern Ireland1 – 0Sweden AIK
Waterworth 87' Report
Attendance: 1,741
Referee: Rene Eisner (Austria)

Second legs

AIK Sweden2 – 0Northern Ireland Linfield
Igboananike 55'
Goitom 72'		 Report
Attendance: 9,570

AIK won 2–1 on aggregate.

Crusaders Northern Ireland1 – 1Sweden Brommapojkarna
Coates 17' Report Rexhepi 27'
Attendance: 798
Referee: Alain Bieri (Switzerland)

Brommapojkarna won 5–1 on aggregate.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Irish League Supporters Forum – Attendances". Irish League Supporters Forum. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE". NIFL Premiership.
  3. ↑ "Cliftonville retain Irish Premiership title for first time". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Crusaders 2-0 Glentoran". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Institute 1-2 Ballymena Utd". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Dungannon Swifts 1-1 Warrenpoint Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Premiership play-off: Warrenpoint beat Bangor on penalties". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Dungannon Swifts 0-4 Warrenpoint Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Ards relegated as Bangor draw gifts promotion to Institute". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "AQW 1178/11". niassembly.gov.uk. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "Sport NI Annual review 2008/09" (PDF). sportni.net. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Linfield 1-0 Warrenpoint Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Windsor Park: Safety fears over West Stand after cracks spotted". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Coleraine deducted three points in Ruairi Harkin case". BBC Sport. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Coleraine lose appeal over deduction of points in Harkin case". BBC Sport. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "FIFA.com - Danske Bank Premiership 2014/2015 Top Scorers". Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
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