2024–25 NIFL Championship

NIFL Championship
Season2024–25

The 2024–25 NIFL Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the eighth season of the NIFL Championship (the second-tier of the Irish League - the national football league in Northern Ireland) since gaining senior status.[1]

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; nine teams remaining from the previous season, two teams promoted from the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, and one team relegated from the NIFL Premiership.

Limavady United were promoted as champions of the 2023–24 NIFL Premier Intermediate League (replacing the bottom-placed 2023–24 NIFL Championship team Knockbreda). Intermediate League runners-up Armagh City were also promoted after defeating second-bottom Championship team Dergview in the NIFL Championship play-off to take their place in the league. Newry City were relegated as the bottom-placed team of the 2023–24 NIFL Premiership (replacing the 2023–24 NIFL Championship promoted team Portadown).[2][3]

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Locations of the 2024–25 NIFL Championship teams
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Locations of the Belfast-based 2024–25 NIFL Championship teams

Stadia and locations

Club Stadium Location Capacity[4]
Annagh United BMG Arena Portadown 1,250 (100 seated)
Ards Clandeboye Park Bangor 1,895 (500 seated)
Armagh City Holm Park Armagh 2,000 (500 seated)
Ballinamallard United Ferney Park Ballinamallard 2,000 (250 seated)
Ballyclare Comrades Dixon Park Ballyclare 2,398 (538 Seated)
Bangor Clandeboye Park Bangor 1,895 (500 seated)
Dundela Wilgar Park Belfast 2,500
Harland & Wolff Welders Blanchflower Stadium Belfast 3,000 (2,000 seated)
Institute Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium Derry - Londonderry 3,700
Limavady United The Showgrounds Limavady 524 (274 seated)
Newington Inver Park Larne 3,000
Newry City The Showgrounds Newry 2,275 (1,080 seated)

Regular season

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Bangor 23 15 3 5 52 31 +21 48 Qualification for Section A
2 Limavady United 23 12 6 5 44 28 +16 42
3 Dundela 22 12 4 6 40 29 +11 40
4 Harland & Wolff Welders 22 12 3 7 46 32 +14 39
5 Annagh United 23 11 4 8 34 22 +12 37
6 Armagh City 23 7 9 7 36 39 −3 30
7 Ards 23 8 5 10 33 37 −4 29 Qualification for Section B
8 Institute 22 7 7 8 32 33 −1 28
9 Ballyclare Comrades 23 8 3 12 32 52 −20 27
10 Ballinamallard United 22 7 2 13 36 38 −2 23
11 Newry City 23 4 6 13 28 47 −19 18
12 Newington 23 4 6 13 20 45 −25 18
Updated to match(es) played on 31 December 2024. Source: NIFL Championship
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[5]


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).

Home \ Away ANN ARD ARM BMD BCC BAG DUN HAR INS LIM NEW NEC ANN ARD ARM BMD BCC BAG DUN HAR INS LIM NEW NEC
Annagh United — 0–1 1–2 1–0 5–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 — — — 4–3 — — — —
Ards 1–1 — 3–1 0–1 1–3 0–4 0–1 3–1 0–0 2–0 3–2 0–1 — — 1–3 — — — —
Armagh City 3–1 4–1 — 3–2 1–2 1–4 3–4 3–0 2–2 2–2 0–1 3–3 — — — — — — —
Ballinamallard United 0–3 2–2 1–3 — 4–0 4–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 4–1 2–1 — — — — — —
Ballyclare Comrades 2–1 3–2 1–1 1–4 — 2–3 0–3 2–7 3–3 0–4 1–1 3–1 — — — — — — —
Bangor 2–1 0–0 1–1 3–2 1–0 — 3–1 2–2 3–1 1–3 3–0 3–0 — — — — — — —
Dundela 2–0 1–0 0–1 3–3 2–1 1–3 — 1–2 2–3 3–1 1–0 — — — — — —
Harland & Wolff Welders 2–1 4–0 5–0 4–0 0–2 0–1 1–3 — 3–1 0–5 1–0 2–1 — 3–1 — — — — — —
Institute 0–0 2–4 0–0 2–1 1–3 3–1 2–2 1–3 — 1–1 4–0 2–0 — — — — — —
Limavady United 2–1 0–3 3–0 1–2 0–1 0–3 3–2 0–0 2–1 — 4–1 3–0 — — 2–1 — — — —
Newington 0–3 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–4 0–1 0–0 — 3–3 — — — — 2–0 — —
Newry City 0–2 1–4 1–1 1–0 2–1 4–5 0–2 2–2 0–2 3–3 3–1 — — 1–1 — — — — — —
Updated to match(es) played on 31 December 2024. Source: NIFL Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

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.

NIFL Championship play-off

The eleventh-placed club will face the second-placed club from the 2024–25 NIFL Premier Intermediate League in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the 2025–26 NIFL Championship.

References

  1. ^ "Summary - Championship - Northern Ireland". Soccerway.
  2. ^ "Limavady United secure PIL title and promotion to the Championship". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Newry City relegated as Portadown win Championship". BBC. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  4. ^ "NIFL Championship Venues 2021-2022". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Rules and Regulations". NIFL. Retrieved 3 September 2021.