2018–19 NIFL Championship

The 2018–19 NIFL Championship was the third season of the NIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the Northern Ireland Football League - the national football league in Northern Ireland.

NIFL Championship
Season2018–19
Dates10 August 2018 - 27 April 2019
ChampionsLarne
(1st second-tier senior title)
PromotedLarne
Carrick Rangers (via play-off)
RelegatedLimavady United
Matches played192
Goals scored663 (3.45 per match)
Biggest home winLarne 6–0 Limavady United
(17 November 2018)
Loughgall 6–0 Dergview
(24 November 2018)
Biggest away winH&W Welders 0–6 Portadown
(16 February 2019)
Highest scoringCarrick Rangers 7–2 H&W Welders
(9 February 2019)

Teams

The 2018–19 NIFL Championship was contested by 12 teams. Institute were champions in the previous season, and were promoted to the 2018–19 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by the bottom team in last season's Premiership, Ballinamallard United. Runners-up Newry City won 6–3 on aggregate in the promotion play-off against Carrick Rangers, also achieving promotion to the Premiership for this season and relegating Carrick Rangers to the Championship.

The bottom team from the previous season, Lurgan Celtic, were relegated to the third-tier NIFL Premier Intermediate League. They were replaced by Dundela, winners of the Premier Intermediate League. The eleventh-placed team from the previous season, Dergview, remained in the Championship this season, after defeating the NIFL Premier Intermediate League runners-up Queen's University 4–1 on aggregate in the relegation play-off.

Stadia and locations
Locations of the 2018–19 NIFL Championship teams
Locations of the Belfast-based 2018–19 NIFL Championship teams
Club Stadium Location Capacity[1]
Ballinamallard UnitedFerney ParkBallinamallard2,000 (250 seated)
Ballyclare ComradesDixon ParkBallyclare5,333
Carrick RangersLoughshore Hotel ArenaCarrickfergus4,500 (150 seated)
DergviewDarragh ParkCastlederg1,200
DundelaWilgar ParkBelfast2,500
Harland & Wolff WeldersTillysburn ParkBelfast3,000
KnockbredaBreda ParkBelfast1,000
LarneInver ParkLarne3,000
Limavady UnitedThe ShowgroundsLimavady1,500
LoughgallLakeview ParkLoughgall3,000
PSNINewforge LaneBelfast1,500
PortadownShamrock ParkPortadown3,940 (2,765 seated)

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Larne (C, P) 32 26 3 3 87 19 +68 81 Promotion to the NIFL Premiership
2 Carrick Rangers (O, P) 32 20 4 8 59 42 +17 64 Qualification for the promotion play-offs
3 Portadown 32 15 6 11 59 55 +4 51
4 Dundela 32 13 7 12 67 60 +7 46
5 Ballinamallard United 32 12 3 17 39 51 −12 39
6 Harland & Wolff Welders 32 11 2 19 45 68 −23 35
7 Loughgall 32 11 9 12 60 52 +8 42
8 Dergview 32 13 3 16 51 51 0 42
9 Ballyclare Comrades 32 11 7 14 58 68 −10 40
10 Knockbreda 32 10 7 15 45 63 −18 37
11 PSNI (O) 32 9 7 16 48 72 −24 34 Qualification for the relegation play-off
12 Limavady United (R) 32 8 8 16 45 62 −17 32 Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League
Source: NIFL
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[2]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Teams play each other twice (22 matches), before the league splits into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last ten matches.

Results

Matches 1–22

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

Home \ Away BMD BCC CRK DGV DUN H&W KNB LAR LIM LOU POR PSN
Ballinamallard United — 1–0 1–2 1–4 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 1–2 3–0
Ballyclare Comrades 2–0 — 1–4 2–2 3–3 0–2 2–1 0–4 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–2
Carrick Rangers 1–3 2–0 — 1–0 0–5 1–4 3–0 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 4–2
Dergview 1–2 1–2 0–2 — 1–3 2–1 3–0 1–1 0–2 1–3 1–2 2–3
Dundela 3–2 2–4 0–0 3–2 — 1–4 1–1 0–2 2–2 5–2 2–3 3–3
Harland & Wolff Welders 2–0 3–4 1–0 2–1 1–0 — 1–3 2–3 1–2 0–2 0–2 1–1
Knockbreda 1–2 3–2 0–2 5–3 0–4 1–2 — 1–1 0–1 3–2 2–2 2–2
Larne 1–0 3–1 4–0 2–0 5–0 3–0 2–0 — 6–0 4–1 2–2 4–0
Limavady United 1–2 3–3 2–1 1–2 1–4 1–2 1–2 1–3 — 1–1 2–2 3–4
Loughgall 2–2 4–2 1–1 6–0 1–2 0–2 4–0 2–3 2–1 — 1–1 3–2
Portadown 5–0 3–1 0–2 2–1 0–4 3–2 4–3 0–3 2–2 2–1 — 2–0
PSNI 0–0 1–4 2–0 0–1 1–2 4–2 1–3 1–2 1–0 3–1 3–2 —
Source: NIFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–32

During matches 23–32 each team plays every other team in their half of the table twice (home and away).

Play-offs

NIFL Premiership play-offs

See: 2018–19 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Championship play-off

The eleventh-placed team from the Championship, PSNI, faced Annagh United, the runners-up from the 2018–19 Premier Intermediate League over two legs for one spot in the 2019–20 NIFL Championship. PSNI won 5–3 on aggregate to retain their place in the Championship for next season. Annagh United remained in the Premier Intermediate League.

First leg
Annagh United1 – 4PSNI
McDonald  30' NIFL Wilson  44'
Moody  51'
Tumelty  65', 82'
Tandragee Road, Portadown
Referee: Ben McMaster
Second leg
PSNI1 – 2Annagh United

PSNI won 5–3 on aggregate and retained their Championship status for the 2019–20 season.

References
  1. "Championship 2018/2019 - Venues". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. "NIFL Championship - Rules and Regulations" (PDF). NIFL. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
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