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2015–16 NIFL Championship

The 2015–16 NIFL Championship (known as the Belfast Telegraph Championship for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the eighth and final season of the competition in this format since its establishment after a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland, and the third season of the league as part of the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL), which took over from the Irish Football Association (IFA) for the 2013–14 season onwards.[2] The season began on 8 August 2015, and concluded on 30 April 2016.

NIFL Championship
Season2015–16

Changes from 2014–15

Competition changes

League restructure proposals to be introduced over a three-season period were approved by the NIFL on 25 June 2014. The second phase, coming into effect this season, amended the Championship rules:

  • Club development – a Club Development/Support programme will be developed and implemented to assist clubs to develop their club infrastructure and comply with licensing requirements.
  • Championship 2 – following the relegation of Ballymoney United to regional football the previous season, Championship 2 will reduce in size to 14 clubs this season, before reducing further to 12 clubs next season.
  • Promotion/relegation play-off – for the second consecutive season, the highest ranked club with a Championship licence, finishing in positions 2–6 in Championship 1 will participate in a promotion/relegation play-off for a place in the Premiership.
  • Promotion and relegation – the three lowest ranked clubs (12th, 13th, 14th) will be relegated from Championship 1 and there will be a play-off between the club finishing in 11th position in Championship 1 and the runners-up in Championship 2. There will be no play-off if the club in Championship 2 has not received a licence for senior football. The five lowest ranked clubs (10th to 14th) will also be relegated from Championship 2 to regional football. However, if there is no eligible regional champion for promotion, only four clubs will be relegated with the 10th-placed club reprieved.

Team changes

Carrick Rangers won the previous season's Championship 1 title, winning promotion back to the top flight for the first time since their relegation in the 2011–12 season.[3] In the bottom two, Dundela and PSNI were relegated to this season's Championship 2, while Lurgan Celtic and Annagh United went in the opposite direction after finishing first and second in Championship 2. For the second successive season, a club was relegated to regional football. Ballymoney United finished bottom of Championship 2 and were relegated to a regional division for the following season. As a result, Championship 2 reduced in size to 14 clubs.

Promoted from Championship 1 to the Premiership

Relegated from the Premiership to Championship 1

Promoted from Championship 2 to Championship 1

Relegated from Championship 1 to Championship 2

  • PSNI (13th in Championship 1)
  • Dundela (14th in Championship 1)

Relegated from Championship 2 to Level 4 Regional League

Championship 1

NIFL Championship 1
ChampionsArds
PromotedArds
RelegatedBangor (demoted)
Donegal Celtic
Lisburn Distillery
Matches played182
Goals scored632 (3.47 per match)
Biggest home winArmagh City 6–0 Lurgan Celtic
(7 November 2015)
Biggest away winLisburn Distillery 1–9 Armagh City
(2 April 2016)
Highest scoringLoughgall 3–7 Larne
(17 October 2015)
Lisburn Distillery 1–9 Armagh City
(2 April 2016)

Stadia and locations

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Location of teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 1
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Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 1
ClubStadiumLocationCapacity
Annagh UnitedTandragee RoadPortadown1,250 (100 seated)
ArdsClandeboye ParkBangor2,850 (500 seated)
Armagh CityHolm ParkArmagh3,000 (330 seated)
Ballyclare ComradesDixon ParkBallyclare1,800 (500 seated)
BangorClandeboye ParkBangor2,850 (500 seated)
DergviewDarragh ParkCastlederg1,200 (100 seated)
Donegal CelticDonegal Celtic ParkBelfast2,330 (650 seated)
Harland & Wolff WeldersTillysburn ParkBelfast3,000 (100 seated)
InstituteRiverside StadiumDrumahoe3,110 (1,540 seated)
KnockbredaBreda ParkKnockbreda1,000 (100 seated)
LarneInver ParkLarne1,100 (656 seated)
Lisburn DistilleryNew Grosvenor StadiumBallyskeagh7,000 (540 seated)
LoughgallLakeview ParkLoughgall3,000 (180 seated)
Lurgan CelticKnockrammer ParkLurgan1,000 (100 seated)

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation[a]
1Ards (C, P)2617365935+2454Promotion to the NIFL Premiership
2Harland & Wolff Welders[b]2615655428+2651
3Armagh City[b]2613586436+2844
4Knockbreda[b]2612774832+1643
5Institute2612684020+2042Qualification for the promotion play-off[c]
6Larne2612686445+1942
7Lurgan Celtic2611694040039
8Ballyclare Comrades2691074440+437
9Loughgall26106104554−936
10Bangor (R)26105114440+435Demotion to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League[d]
11Dergview269894140+135
12Annagh United[e]2676133757−2027
13Donegal Celtic (R)2624203480−4610Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League
14Lisburn Distillery (R)2624201885−6710
Source: Northern Ireland Football League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots.[6]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games.

Home \ AwayANNARDARMBCCBGRDGVDGCH&WINSKNBLRNLISLGLLGC
Annagh United1–32–11–11–33–32–30–50–21–20–51–23–22–3
Ards4–01–02–12–10–22–13–30–22–02–25–23–01–1
Armagh City1–14–34–03–43–12–21–23–12–10–13–04–06–0
Ballyclare Comrades2–20–22–13–11–13–13–31–01–33–24–11–11–3
Bangor1–32–42–00–12–05–01–21–02–22–13–02–20–3
Dergview4–41–00–10–41–22–21–10–01–03–01–12–43–1
Donegal Celtic0–12–31–30–41–32–61–21–41–21–61–40–11–2
Harland & Wolff Welders3–03–41–13–01–03–06–23–01–02–11–02–00–2
Institute0–11–22–01–10–00–03–12–04–01–13–02–03–0
Knockbreda3–32–01–32–21–03–03–31–01–03–02–22–20–0
Larne2–01–64–40–01–13–25–02–11–30–36–12–21–0
Lisburn Distillery0–30–31–91–12–20–30–30–30–40–30–71–50–4
Loughgall1–02–03–33–24–30–23–12–21–00–73–73–00–1
Lurgan Celtic1–21–20–22–22–10–23–31–12–22–12–32–02–1
Source: NI Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship 2

NIFL Championship 2
ChampionsLimavady United
PromotedPSNI
RelegatedCoagh United
Dollingstown
Glebe Rangers
Portstewart
Wakehurst
Matches played182
Goals scored575 (3.16 per match)
Biggest home winPSNI 7–0 Moyola Park
(30 April 2016)
Biggest away winBanbridge Town 0–6 Sport & Leisure Swifts
(5 September 2015)
Highest scoringQueen's University 4–5 Portstewart
(28 November 2015)

Stadia and locations

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Location of teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 2
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Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2015–16 NIFL Championship 2
ClubStadiumLocationCapacity
Banbridge TownCrystal ParkBanbridge1,500 (100 seated)
Coagh UnitedHagan ParkCoagh2,000 (179 seated)
DollingstownPlanters ParkLurgan1,000 (100 seated)
DundelaWilgar ParkBelfast2,500 (100 seated)
Glebe RangersRiada StadiumBallymoney5,752 (218 seated)
Limavady UnitedThe ShowgroundsLimavady1,000 (174 seated)
Moyola ParkMill MeadowCastledawson1,000 (200 seated)
Newington YCSeaviewBelfast3,383 (all seated)
PortstewartSeahavenPortstewart1,000 (100 seated)
PSNINewforge LaneBelfast500 (112 seated)
Queen's UniversityDub StadiumBelfast1,000 (100 seated)
Sport & Leisure SwiftsGlen Road HeightsBelfast500 (215 seated)
Tobermore UnitedFortwilliam ParkTobermore1,500 (100 seated)
WakehurstMill MeadowCastledawson1,000 (200 seated)

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation[a]
1Limavady United[b] (C)2618536627+3959
2PSNI (P)2618535923+3659Promotion to the NIFL Championship[c]
3Sport & Leisure Swifts2613855928+3147
4Tobermore United2613583831+744
5Moyola Park2612594034+641
6Banbridge Town269983534+136
7Queen's University26106103537−236
8Dundela26113123847−936
9Newington YC2697103838034
10Dollingstown (R)2697104651−534Relegation to the tier 4 regional leagues
11Glebe Rangers (R)2695123446−1232
12Coagh United (R)2664162854−2622
13Portstewart (R)2663173458−2421
14Wakehurst (R)2614212567−427
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2016. Source: Northern Ireland Football League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots.[6]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Each team will play every other team twice (once at home, and once away) for a total of 26 games.

Home \ AwayBBTCOADOLDNDGBELIMMOYNTNPSTPSNIQUESLSTOBWAK
Banbridge Town1–21–12–00–12–00–31–12–01–10–10–63–41–0
Coagh United1–12–12–30–02–51–31–11–01–01–40–10–11–0
Dollingstown1–53–14–02–20–11–03–33–01–21–22–20–04–2
Dundela0–13–12–33–20–20–31–03–10–11–12–54–03–2
Glebe Rangers1–03–23–43–10–41–31–11–31–21–00–42–12–1
Limavady United2–24–13–12–01–11–04–03–14–21–12–22–05–1
Moyola Park0–03–06–10–01–00–40–32–00–11–11–12–24–1
Newington YC0–03–15–20–14–10–42–02–01–10–11–22–31–0
Portstewart1–30–22–21–33–12–33–03–40–32–11–12–52–2
PSNI3–33–03–13–21–03–07–03–05–04–04–22–02–0
Queen's University1–13–20–20–00–30–23–21–04–54–01–20–23–1
Sport & Leisure Swifts0–24–01–11–33–14–11–21–11–00–00–00–27–1
Tobermore United3–12–12–05–00–11–10–12–11–01–11–00–40–1
Wakehurst1–22–21–22–32–21–50–31–20–21–22–30–40–0
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2016. Source: NI Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

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