| Season | 1897–98 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 September 1897 – 21 May 1898 |
| Champions | Linfield 5thIrish title |
| Matches | 30 |
| Goals | 117 (3.9 per match) |
| Biggest home win | Cliftonville 8–0North Staffs |
| Biggest away win | Distillery 0–6Glentoran |
| Highest scoring | Cliftonville 8–0North Staffs |
1898–99 → | |
The1897–98 Irish League was the 8th edition of theIrish League, the highest level of league competition inIrishfootball.
The league comprised six teams, andLinfield won the championship for the 5th time.
| Team | Town | Home Ground |
|---|---|---|
| Celtic | Belfast | Celtic Park |
| Cliftonville | Belfast | Solitude |
| Distillery | Belfast | Grosvenor Park |
| Glentoran | Belfast | The Oval |
| Linfield | Belfast | Balmoral |
| North Staffordshire Regiment | No home ground | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linfield(C) | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 10 | 2.200 | 17 | Champions |
| 2 | Cliftonville | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 17 | 1.353 | 13 | |
| 3 | Glentoran | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 12 | 2.583 | 13 | |
| 4 | Celtic | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 0.789 | 7 | |
| 5 | Distillery | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 0.464 | 5 | |
| 6 | North Staffordshire Regiment | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 0.419 | 5 |
| Home \ Away | CEL | CLI | DIS | GLT | LIN | NSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | 1–2 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 0–3 | 3–3 | |
| Cliftonville | 1–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 8–0 | |
| Distillery | 0–2 | 5–0 | 0–6 | 1–1 | 1–3 | |
| Glentoran | 1–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 2–4 | 5–2 | |
| Linfield | 2–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | |
| North Staffordshire | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 |