The 2024–25 NIFL Premiership (known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland and the 124th season of Irish League football overall.
Linfield won the title for the 57th time.
Teams The league consisted of twelve teams; the top twelve teams from the previous season, and one team promoted from the NIFL Championship. Larne entered the season as defending champions (for the second consecutive season).
The promoted team was the 2023–24 NIFL Championship champions Portadown (returning to the top-flight after a one-season absence). They replaced the 2023–24 NIFL Premiership bottom-placed team Newry City.
Stadia and locations
ClubStadiumLocationCapacity Ballymena United The Showgrounds Ballymena 3,824 (all 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) Loughgall Lakeview Park Loughgall 3,000 Portadown Shamrock Park Portadown 3,940 (2,765 seated)
Regular season League table
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).
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.
Section A League table
Results Each team plays each other once (either at home or away).
Section B League table
Results Each team plays each other once (either at home or away).
Play-offs
Conference League play-off Teams placed 3rd–7th qualified for one-off play-off matches, with the winners earning the second spot in the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League first qualifying round; the higher-placed team per game received home advantage. Teams finishing 4th-7th qualified for the quarter-finals; the 3rd-placed team qualified for the final.
Since the 2024–25 Irish Cup winners (Dungannon Swifts) finished in the top seven (4th), the spot and the quarter-finals were vacated.
Semi-finals
Final
NIFL Premiership play-off The eleventh-placed club (Carrick Rangers) faced the second-placed club from the 2024–25 NIFL Championship (Annagh United) in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the 2025–26 NIFL Premiership.
First leg
Second leg
Awards Award Winner Club Sports Direct Player of the Year Joel Cooper Linfield Belleek Manager of the Year Rodney McAree Dungannon Swifts NIFWA Young Player of the Year Matthew Orr Linfield NIFWA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai(Glentoran) Defence Matthew Orr(Linfield) Kodi Lyons-Foster(Glentoran) Euan East(Linfield) Adam Glenny(Dungannon Swifts) Midfield Gael Bigirimana(Dungannon Swifts) Fuad Sule(Glentoran) Rory Hale(Cliftonville) Attack Joel Cooper(Linfield) Joe Gormley(Cliftonville) Matthew Fitzpatrick(Linfield)
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Linfield 2,775 2 Glentoran 2,591 3 Coleraine 2,367 4 Cliftonville 1,696 5 Larne 1,599 6 Ballymena 1,544 7 Crusaders 1,523 8 Portadown 1,339 9 Glenavon 1,029 10 Dungannon Swifts 793 11 Carrick Rangers 592 12 Loughgall 584
Source:https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/nir/avenir25.htm
References
External links