(Belfast & District league 1890/91-1900/01, Division A Ireland 1901/02-1919/20 (i.e. the whole island), Division A Northern Ireland 1920/21-1994/95, Premier Division Northern Ireland 1995/96-present.)
* besides a name indicates points deducted, ** (like Cliftonville) indicate that points have been deducted on two separate occasions, see the general notes. The column directly before the number of games is the number of seasons each team have participated at 1st level. Thanks to Dinant Abbink for providing most of the information on which the table is based and for clarifying other matters in connection with the table. Also thanks to Richard Rundle for providing additional information. You are free to copy this document but please state the source, i.e. Clas Glenning.
1. Linfield (Belfast) 113 2557 1592 510 455 5616-2770 5286 2. Glentoran (Belfast) 113 2552 1448 472 628 5629-3382 4808* 3. FC Portadown 82 2154 929 433 792 3904-3531 3220 4. Glenavon (Lurgan) 91 2271 892 463 916 3916-3911 3139 6. FC Coleraine 79 2086 865 421 800 3741-3561 3016 5. Lisburn Distillery (Belfast) 106 2312 852 447 1013 3919-4308 3001* 7. Cliftonville (Belfast) 113 2555 779 531 1245 3592-5072 2863** 8. Ballymena United 74 1932 713 456 763 3298-3411 2595 9. Crusaders (Belfast) 64 1702 706 377 619 2773-2702 2512* 10. Ards (Newtonards) 74 1840 627 379 834 3059-3619 2260 11. FC Bangor 63 1520 441 296 793 2297-3359 1616* 12. Belfast Celtic 38 712 428 118 166 1823- 948 1400* 13. Newry City 42 1200 368 249 583 1746-2374 1353 14. FC Larne 45 1146 356 203 587 1748-2379 1269* 15. Derry City (Londonderry) 36 838 370 137 331 1719-1603 1247 16. Dungannon Swifts 11 378 127 96 155 521- 590 477 17. Omagh Town 12 392 112 79 201 499- 736 415 18. Carrick Rangers (Carrickfergus)13 370 75 73 222 413- 908 298 19. Institute (Londonderry) 7 234 62 54 112 260- 394 240 20. Shelbourne (Dublin) 12 172 60 40 72 211- 247 220 21. Queen's Island (Belfast) 8 156 61 35 60 311- 349 218 22. Limavady United 5 150 50 33 67 200- 239 183 23. Derry Celtic (Londonderry) 13 182 44 34 104 216- 381 166 24. Donegal Celtic 5 174 41 39 94 203- 347 162 25. Bohemian (Dublin) 13 184 43 32 109 238- 395 161 26. Ballyclare Comrades 5 150 30 32 88 174- 325 122 27. Ulster (Belfast) 6 78 32 6 40 200- 231 102 5/. Ballinamallard United 2 76 23 23 30 85- 127 92 2*. Armagh City 3 90 25 11 54 108- 187 86 30. Barn (Carrickfergus) 5 110 21 17 72 150- 313 80 31. Loughgall 3 90 18 21 51 90- 168 75 32. Warrenpoint Town 1 38 10 6 22 43- 72 36 33. Lancashire Fusiliers (Belfast) 1 15 11 1 3 56- 29 34 34. Oldpark (Belfast) 2 30 6 2 22 33- 121 20 35. North Staffordshire (Belfast) 3 30 4 5 21 42- 85 17 36. Ligoneil (Belfast) 2 25 4 1 20 32- 109 13 37. Milltown (Belfast) 1 15 4 0 11 12- 77 12 38. Clarence (Belfast) 1 14 3 1 10 21- 49 10 39. Royal Scots Regiment (Belfast) 1 7 2 1 4 10- 17 7 40. Tritonville (Dublin) 1 18 2 1 15 27- 55 7 41. KOSB Regiment (Belfast) 1 14 1 1 12 11- 61 4 42. Derry Olympic (Londonderry) 1 10 0 1 9 7- 26 1 43. Belfast Y.M.C.A. 1 9 0 1 8 14- 40 1 44. St. Columb's Court (Londonderry)1 14 0 1 13 13- 62 1 45. Milford Everton 1 14 0 0 14 10- 62 0There are some confusion concerning Derry City, Derry Celtic and Derry Olympic. According to Neil M. of RSSSF; Derry City are to be regarded as the same team as Derry Celtic. However, Derry City were created in 1928 many years after which Derry Celtic played in the Northern Irish division A. According to Dinant Abbink using the publication "A history of Derry City 1929-1972" there is no mentioning of Derry Celtic or Derry Olympic being connected with Derry City in that book. Therefore; Derry City, Derry Celtic and Derry Olympic are separated in the table above. As can be seen, Derry Olympic played only one season. That was in 1891/92 when the league was called The Belfast and District league. Check out Dinant Abbinks file at the RSSSF for all the Northern Irish 1st level tables. KOSB (see above) = King's Own Scottish Borderers (Thanks to Gerd Heuser of the RSSSF). Lisburn Distillery were called Distillery before. Newry City were called Newry Town before the 2004/05-season.
General notes:
1891/92 A) Ten games were left unplayed. B) Distillery had two points deducted, reason unknown. 1895/96 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Distillery beat Cliftonville 2-1. The result is counted in the table above. 1898/99 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Distillery beat Linfield 2-0. The result is counted in the tables above. 1899/1900 Three games were left unplayed. 1902/03 Cliftonville had two points deducted for fielding an ineligible player. 1905/06 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. However, the playoff ended 0-0 and 3-3 so Cliftonville and Distillery were declared joint champions. The games are counted in the tables above. 1908/09 Two games were left unplayed. 1910/11 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Linfield beat Glentoran 3-2. The result is counted in the tables above. 1915/16 - 1918/19 These four seasons were cancelled because of the First World War. 1923/24 Belfast Celtic had two points deducted. Reason unknown. 1934/35 From this season on FC Ballymena changed name to Ballymena United. 1937/38 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Belfast Celtic beat Derry City Londonderry 2-2, 3-1. The results are counted in the table above. 1940/41 - 1946/47 These seven seasons were cancelled because of the Second World War. 1949/50 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Linfield beat Glentoran 2-0. The result is counted in the table above. 1949/50 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Linfield beat Glenavon 2-0. The result is counted in the table above. 1960/61 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Linfield beat Portadown 3-2. The result is counted in the table above. 1961/62 Playoff was needed as the two top teams ended on equal points. Linfield beat Portadown 3-1. The result is counted in the table above. 1972/73 Derry City from Londonderry were forced to leave the league and play in the Republic of Ireland league (they did not join the Republic of Ireland league until the 1985/86 season though) as several Northern Irish clubs refused to play in Londonderry because of unrest, they were replaced by FC Larne. When Derry City left the league on the 13th October the league had not started yet so all results from that season are counted on Larne. 1983/84 Larne had two points deducted for fielding an ineligible player. 1986/87 Glentoran had eight points deducted and Crusaders had four points deducted for fielding an ineligible player. 1991/92 Bangor had three points deducted for irregularities in contract signings. 1992/93 At the top Linfield and Crusaders ended on equal points. But the rule concerning re-play if the top teams ended on equal points had been changed since this occurred the last time. Now goaldifference gave Linfield the championship. 1993/94 Cliftonville had three points deducted. Reason unknown. Could be for fielding an illegible player. Comments on the contents of this page, write to my e-mail address:
clas.glenning@spray.se