NIFL Premiership
Association football top division of Northern Ireland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes,[2] and Irish Premiership colloquially,[citation needed] is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football League – the national league in Northern Ireland. The NIFL Premiership was established as the IFA Premiership in 2008 under the auspices of the Irish Football Association as the successor to the Irish Premier League, before the Northern Ireland Football League was created for the start of the 2013–14 season. At the end of the season, the champion club is presented with the Gibson Cup.
Founded | 2008; 16 years ago (2008) (as IFA Premiership) |
---|---|
Country | Northern Ireland |
Confederation | UEFA |
Number of teams | 12 |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | NIFL Championship |
Domestic cup(s) | Irish Cup |
League cup(s) | NI Football League Cup |
International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa Conference League |
Current champions | Larne (2nd Irish League title) (2023–24) |
Most championships | Linfield (56 Irish League titles overall) |
TV partners | BBC NI (12 live games per season and 50 live games plus highlights via BBC iPlayer)[1] Eleven Sports, OneFootball (Outside the UK) Sky Sports (5 Premiership games per season and the League Cup final) |
Website | nifootballleague |
Current: 2023–24 NIFL Premiership |
Larne are Irish League champions for the first time in their 134 year history, following a 2–0 win over Crusaders in April 2023. In winning the league, Larne became the first team from outside of Belfast to win the league since Portadown in 2002.