(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) 110 2443 1524 488 431 5787-2647 5060 2. Glentoran (Belfast) 110 2438 1401 440 595 5445-3244 4635* 3. FC Portadown 79 2040 874 410 756 3700-3376 3032 4. Glenavon (Lurgan) 88 2157 857 441 859 3717-3699 3012 5. Lisburn Distillery (Belfast) 104 2236 840 432 964 3834-4134 2950* 6. FC Coleraine 76 1972 822 389 761 3580-3419 2855 7. Cliftonville (Belfast) 110 2441 703 514 1224 3326-4933 2618** 8. Ballymena United 71 1818 675 427 716 3130-3213 2452 9. Crusaders (Belfast) 61 1588 644 350 594 2561-2572 2299* 10. Ards (Newtonards) 73 1802 621 373 808 3015-3536 2236 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. Omagh Town 12 392 112 79 201 499- 736 415 17. Dungannon Swifts 8 264 98 64 102 388- 395 358 18. Carrick Rangers (Carrickfergus)12 332 68 63 201 363- 817 267 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. Bohemian (Dublin) 13 184 43 32 109 238- 395 161 25. Ballyclare Comrades 5 150 30 32 88 174- 325 122 26. Ulster (Belfast) 6 78 32 6 40 200- 231 102 27. Donegal Celtic 3 98 23 25 50 127- 187 94 28. Armagh City 3 90 25 11 54 108- 187 86 29. Barn (Carrickfergus) 5 110 21 17 72 150- 313 80 30. Loughgall 3 90 18 21 51 90- 168 75 31. Lancashire Fusiliers (Belfast) 1 15 11 1 3 56- 29 34 32. Oldpark (Belfast) 2 30 6 2 22 33- 121 20 33. North Staffordshire (Belfast) 3 30 4 5 21 42- 85 17 34. Ligoneil (Belfast) 2 25 4 1 20 32- 109 13 35. Milltown (Belfast) 1 15 4 0 11 12- 77 12 36. Clarence (Belfast) 1 14 3 1 10 21- 49 10 37. Royal Scots Regiment (Belfast) 1 7 2 1 4 10- 17 7 38. Tritonville (Dublin) 1 18 2 1 15 27- 55 7 39. KOSB Regiment (Belfast) 1 14 1 1 12 11- 61 4 40. Derry Olympic (Londonderry) 1 10 0 1 9 7- 26 1 41. Belfast Y.M.C.A. 1 9 0 1 8 14- 40 1 42. St. Columb's Court (Londonderry)1 14 0 1 13 13- 62 1 43. 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