| Season | 2011–12 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Linfield 3rd Premiership title 51stIrish title |
| Relegated | Carrick Rangers |
| Champions League | Linfield |
| Europa League | Portadown Cliftonville Crusaders (via Irish Cup) |
| Matches | 228 |
| Top goalscorer | Gary McCutcheon (27 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Linfield 5–0Donegal Celtic Glentoran 6–1Carrick Rangers Linfield 5–0Crusaders |
| Biggest away win | Lisburn Distillery 0–5Glentoran Dungannon Swifts 0–5Glentoran |
| Highest scoring | Ballymena Utd 3–7Cliftonville |
| Highest attendance | 5,300Glentoran 1-0Linfield (Monday 26 December 2011) |
| Lowest attendance | 94Donegal Celtic 3-1Dungannon Swifts (Tuesday 20 March 2012) |
2012–13 → | |
The2011–12 IFA Premiership (known as theCarling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of theIFA Premiership, the highest level of league football inNorthern Ireland, and the 111th season ofIrish league football overall.
Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 51st time and the 3rd consecutive season.
The season began on 6 August 2011, and ended on 28 April 2012.Linfield were the defending champions, after winning their 50th title last season.[1] They successfully defended their title, to win the league for the sixth time in seven seasons after a 2–1 home win overPortadown on 7 April 2012.[2]
Carrick Rangers were relegated toChampionship 1 after only one season in the top flight.Dungannon Swifts' 2–1 win overDonegal Celtic on 21 April 2012 left them bottom of the table by four points, with only one game remaining.Lisburn Distillery retained their Premiership status by defeatingNewry City 3–2 over two legs in the promotion/relegation play-off.[3]
2010–11 IFA Championship 1 winnersCarrick Rangers were promoted to this season's Premiership, with last season's bottom-placed Premiership clubNewry City replacing them in Championship 1.[4][5]
Championship 1 runners-upLimavady United were not eligible to take part in a promotion/relegation play-off against last season's 11th-placed Premiership clubDonegal Celtic, as they did not attain the required domestic licence.[6]
| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity[7] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 1,418 (all seated) |
| Carrick Rangers | Seaview | Belfast | 1,977 (663 seats)1 |
| Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 2,180 (1,878 seats) |
| Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 2,496 (1,106 seats) |
| Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 1,977 (663 seats) |
| Donegal Celtic | Donegal Celtic Park | Belfast | 2,254 (988 seats) |
| Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 5,000 (600 seats) |
| Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 5,000 (4,000 seats) |
| Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 5,056 (3,991 seats) |
| Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 12,342 (all seated) |
| Lisburn Distillery | New Grosvenor Stadium | Lisburn | 7,000 (540 seats) |
| Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 2,227 (all seated) |
1 Carrick Rangers played their home matches at Crusaders' Seaview ground.[8]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linfield(C) | 38 | 27 | 4 | 7 | 79 | 29 | +50 | 85 | Qualification toChampions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Portadown | 38 | 22 | 5 | 11 | 72 | 47 | +25 | 71 | Qualification toEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Cliftonville | 38 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 83 | 62 | +21 | 69 | |
| 4 | Coleraine | 38 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 61 | 38 | +23 | 66 | |
| 5 | Crusaders | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 63 | 47 | +16 | 64 | Qualification toEuropa League first qualifying round[a] |
| 6 | Glentoran | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 67 | 52 | +15 | 57 | |
| 7 | Ballymena United | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 66 | 71 | −5 | 50 | |
| 8 | Donegal Celtic | 38 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 44 | 80 | −36 | 41 | |
| 9 | Dungannon Swifts | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 42 | 71 | −29 | 35 | |
| 10 | Glenavon | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 60 | 71 | −11 | 34 | |
| 11 | Lisburn Distillery(O) | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 56 | 84 | −28 | 32 | Qualification toPromotion/relegation play-off |
| 12 | Carrick Rangers(R) | 38 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 50 | 91 | −41 | 31 | Relegation toIFA Championship 1 |
Matches 1–22[edit]During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
Source:rsssf.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. | Matches 23–33[edit]During matches 23–33 each team played other team for the third time (either at home, or away).
Source:rsssf.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once. As this was the fourth time that teams had played each other this season, home sides in this round were chosen so that teams played each other twice at home and twice away.
Section A[edit] | Section B[edit]
Source:rsssf.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
Lisburn Distillery, the club that finished in the relegation play-off place, facedNewry City, the runners-up of the2011–12 IFA Championship in a two-legged tie for a place in next season's IFA Premiership.
Lisburn Distillery won the tie 3–2 on aggregate and retained their Premiership status.
| Newry City | 2 – 3 | Lisburn Distillery |
|---|---|---|
| Tierney Hughes | Report | Cushley Thompson Liggett |
Lisburn Distillery won 3–2 on aggregate and remained in the IFA Premiership
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals[9] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballymena United | 27 | |
| 2 | Portadown | 24 | |
| 3 | Lisburn Distillery | 22 | |
| 4 | Coleraine | 20 | |
| 5 | Portadown | 17 | |
| Cliftonville | 17 | ||
| 7 | Cliftonville | 13 | |
| 8 | Donegal Celtic | 12 | |
| Crusaders | 12 | ||
| 10 | Linfield | 11 |