1890–91 Irish League

Irish League
Season1890–91
ChampionsLinfield
1st Irish title
Matches played56
Goals scored337 (6.02 per match)
Top goalscorerRobert Hill (20)
Biggest home winLinfield 14–0 Oldpark
Biggest away winCliftonville 0–8 Linfield
Milford 0–8 Glentoran
Milford 1–9 Distillery
Oldpark 2–10 Ulster
Highest scoringLinfield 14–0 Oldpark
Linfield 9–5 Ulster
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Location of teams in the 1890-91 Irish League
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Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 1890-91 Irish League

The 1890–91 Irish League was the inaugural edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football organised by the Irish Football Association.

The league comprised 8 teams, and was won by Linfield.

League format

For this season, the league used a double Round-robin format, where teams played each other both home and away once.

Teams

Team Town Home Ground
Clarence Belfast Stranmillis
Cliftonville Belfast Solitude
Distillery Belfast Grosvenor Park
Glentoran Belfast King's Field
Linfield Belfast Ulsterville
Milford Armagh Milford
Oldpark Belfast Oldpark
Ulster Belfast Ulster Cricket Ground

League standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Result
1 Linfield (C) 14 12 1 1 89 18 4.944 25 Champions
2 Ulster 14 9 3 2 72 39 1.846 21
3 Distillery 14 9 1 4 46 37 1.243 19
4 Cliftonville 14 7 3 4 37 46 0.804 17
5 Glentoran 14 6 1 7 39 38 1.026 13
6 Oldpark 14 4 2 8 22 48 0.458 10
7 Clarence 14 3 1 10 21 49 0.429 7 Withdrew
8 Milford 14 0 0 14 10 61 0.164 0
Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away CLA CLI DIS GLT LIN MIL OLD ULS
Clarence 2–5 3–4 5–4 1–3 +:-[a] 1–3 2–6
Cliftonville 2–2 7–3 0–0 0–8 3–2 2–2 4–1
Distillery 4–0 1–6 4–2 2–1 +:-[a] 2–0 3–5
Glentoran 9–1 4–3 0–3 0–7 4–2 2–0 -:+[b]
Linfield 5–2 10–2 6–2 6–0 9–1 14–0 9–5
Milford -:+[b] -:+[b] 1–9 0–8 1–6 -:+[b] 2–7
Oldpark +:-[a] 2–3 2–4 2–3 0–3 5–0 2–10
Ulster 4–2 9–0 4–4 5–2 2–2 10–1 4–4
Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Match rated as goalless home win.
  2. ^ a b c d Match rated as goalless away win.

Top goalscorers

Pos Player Club Goals
1 Robert Hill Linfield 20
2 John Peden Linfield 19
3 Sam Torrans Linfield 18

References