The 2010–11 IFA Premiership (known as the Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 3rd season of the IFA Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, and the 110th season of Irish league football overall.
Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 50th time and the 2nd consecutive season.
Summary The season began on 7 August 2010, and concluded on 30 April 2011. Linfield were crowned champions for the second successive season, after a 4–0 win over Lisburn Distillery on 26 April 2011. This was Linfield's 50th Irish League title.
The same day, Newry City were relegated to IFA Championship 1 after a 4–0 loss to Glenavon.
Teams After a two-legged play-off against 2009–10 Championship 1 runners-up Donegal Celtic, Institute were relegated to the 2010–11 IFA Championship after an aggregate 1–0 loss, with Donegal Celtic taking their place for this season's IFA Premiership.
2009–10 IFA Championship 1 winners Loughgall were not eligible for promotion as they were not awarded the required domestic licence by the IFA.
Stadia and locations
ClubStadiumLocationCapacity Ballymena United The Showgrounds Ballymena 1,418 (all seated) Cliftonville Solitude Belfast 2,180 (1,878 seats) Coleraine The Showgrounds Coleraine 2,496 (1,106 seats) Crusaders Seaview Belfast 1,977 (663 seats) Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Park Belfast 2,254 (988 seats) Dungannon Swifts Stangmore Park Dungannon 5,000 (300 seats) Glenavon Mourneview Park Lurgan 5,000 (4,000 seats) Glentoran The Oval Belfast 5,056 (3,991 seats) Linfield Windsor Park Belfast 12,342 (all seated) Lisburn Distillery New Grosvenor Stadium Lisburn 7,000 (540 seats) Newry City The Showgrounds Newry 2,275 (797 seats) Portadown Shamrock Park Portadown 2,227 (all seated)
League table
Results Matches 1–22 During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
Matches 23–33 During matches 23–33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).
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 played each other this season, home sides in this round were chosen so that teams had played each other twice at home and twice away.
Section A
Section B
Promotion/relegation The promotion/relegation play-off was not played this season, because Championship 1 runners-up Limavady United were not eligible for promotion as they did not hold a domestic licence. This meant that Newry City were automatically relegated, with Championship 1 winners Carrick Rangers replacing them in next season's Premiership.
Top goalscorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Peter ThompsonLinfield232 Paul McVeighDonegal Celtic19 Jordan OwensCrusaders194 Daryl FordyceGlentoran175 Stuart DallasCrusaders166 Matthew BurrowsGlentoran157 Leon KnightColeraine14 Gary McCutcheonBallymena United149 Gary HamiltonGlenavon13 Ryan HendersonDonegal Celtic13
References