| Season | 2019–20 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 August 2019 – 10 March 2020 |
| Champions | Portadown |
| Promoted | Portadown |
| Relegated | PSNI |
| Matches | 183 |
| Goals | 651 (3.56 per match) |
| Biggest home win | Ballyclare Comrades 8–0 H&W Welders (13 August 2019) |
| Biggest away win | Knockbreda 0–8Ards (26 December 2019) |
| Highest scoring | Ballinamallard United 6–4 PSNI (22 February 2020) |
2021–22 → | |
The2019–20 NIFL Championship was the fourth season of theNIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of theNorthern Ireland Football League - the national football league inNorthern Ireland. The season began on 3 August 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude in April 2020, However, the season was suspended on 13 March 2020 as a result of the worldwideCOVID-19 pandemic. No further fixtures were played, with the final games held on 10 March 2020 and the season being officially curtailed in June 2020.
Larne were the current champions. However, due to their promotion to the2019–20 NIFL Premiership, they were unable to defend their title.
TheIrish FA initially suspended all football-related activity in Northern Ireland until 4 April, with this suspension subsequently being extended first until 30 April, and then until 31 May. In June 2020, NIFL announced that the season was over, and that average points per game would be used to determine the final league standings.[1]Portadown were declared champions, gaining promotion to the2020–21 NIFL Premiership, whilePSNI suffered relegation to theNIFL Premier Intermediate League. The promotion/relegation play-offs were cancelled, meaning 11th-placedKnockbreda were reprieved from relegation, and runners-upBallinamallard United missed out on the chance of promotion.
The 2019–20 NIFL Championship is being contested by 12 teams, nine of which retained their Championship status from the previous season.Larne were champions in theprevious season, and were promoted to the2019–20 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by the bottom team in last season's Premiership,Newry City. Runners-upCarrick Rangers won 3–1 on aggregate in thepromotion play-off againstArds, also achieving promotion to the Premiership for this season and relegating Ards to the Championship.
The bottom team from the previous season,Limavady United, were relegated to the third-tierNIFL Premier Intermediate League. They were replaced byQueen's University, winners of the Premier Intermediate League. The eleventh-placed team from the previous season,PSNI, remained in the Championship this season, after defeating the NIFL Premier Intermediate League runners-upAnnagh United 5–3 on aggregate in the relegation play-off.
| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity[2] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards | Bangor Fuels Arena | Bangor | 1,895 (500 seated) |
| Ballinamallard United | Ferney Park | Ballinamallard | 2,000 (250 seated) |
| Ballyclare Comrades | Dixon Park | Ballyclare | 5,333 |
| Dergview | Darragh Park | Castlederg | 1,200 |
| Dundela | Wilgar Park | Belfast | 2,500 |
| Harland & Wolff Welders | Tillysburn Park | Belfast | 3,000 |
| Knockbreda | Breda Park | Belfast | 1,000 |
| Loughgall | Lakeview Park | Loughgall | 3,000 |
| Newry City | The Showgrounds | Newry | 2,275 (1,080 seated) |
| Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 3,940 (2,765 seated) |
| PSNI | Newforge Lane | Belfast | 1,500 |
| Queen's University | Upper Malone | Belfast | 1,000 (330 seated) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Promotion, qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portadown(C, P) | 31 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 72 | 30 | +42 | 66 | 2.13 | Promotion to theNIFL Premiership |
| 2 | Ballinamallard United[b] | 30 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 71 | 34 | +37 | 60 | 2.00 | |
| 3 | Loughgall | 31 | 18 | 4 | 9 | 64 | 45 | +19 | 58 | 1.87 | |
| 4 | Ards | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 68 | 44 | +24 | 54 | 1.74 | |
| 5 | Newry City | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 55 | 32 | +23 | 51 | 1.70 | |
| 6 | Dundela | 31 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 43 | 49 | −6 | 46 | 1.48 | |
| 7 | Ballyclare Comrades | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 40 | 1.33 | |
| 8 | Harland & Wolff Welders | 31 | 10 | 5 | 16 | 52 | 63 | −11 | 35 | 1.13 | |
| 9 | Queen's University | 31 | 11 | 1 | 19 | 59 | 69 | −10 | 34 | 1.10 | |
| 10 | Dergview | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 38 | 54 | −16 | 29 | 0.97 | |
| 11 | Knockbreda[c] | 30 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 36 | 84 | −48 | 25 | 0.83 | |
| 12 | PSNI(R) | 30 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 40 | 98 | −58 | 23 | 0.77 | Relegation to theNIFL Premier Intermediate League |
During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
| Home \ Away | ARD | BMD | BCC | DGV | DUN | HAR | KNB | LGL | NEW | POR | PSN | QUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ards | — | 3–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 3–2 |
| Ballinamallard United | 1–1 | — | 5–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 5–0 | 2–0 |
| Ballyclare Comrades | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 8–0 | 4–0 | 4–5 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Dergview | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 3–2 |
| Dundela | 0–3 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–2 | 5–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 3–1 |
| Harland & Wolff Welders | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | — | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Knockbreda | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–0[‡] | 1–4 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Loughgall | 0–3[‡] | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–3 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 0–1 |
| Newry City | 5–1 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–4 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Portadown | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 5–0 | 3–1 |
| PSNI | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–6 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 1–6 | 0–1 | — | 5–3 |
| Queen's University | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — |
During matches 23–33 each team was scheduled to play every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). However, some fixtures did not take place, after the league season was curtailed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Home \ Away | ARD | BMD | BCC | DGV | DUN | HAR | KNB | LGL | NEW | POR | PSN | QUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ards | — | — | 2–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–2 | — | — | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | — |
| Ballinamallard United | 2–2 | — | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | — | — | 1–2 | — | — | 6–4 | — |
| Ballyclare Comrades | — | — | — | 2–0 | — | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | — | 2–0 |
| Dergview | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | 3–1 | — | 2–0 |
| Dundela | 1–5 | — | 4–2 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | — | — |
| Harland & Wolff Welders | — | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–4 | 3–1 | — |
| Knockbreda | 0–8 | — | — | — | — | 2–6 | — | — | — | — | 4–2 | — |
| Loughgall | — | — | — | 2–1 | — | 3–1 | 4–0 | — | — | 0–2 | — | — |
| Newry City | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–3 | — | — | 3–0 | — |
| Portadown | — | 3–3 | 0–2 | — | — | — | 4–0 | — | — | — | — | 7–1 |
| PSNI | — | — | — | — | 2–4 | — | — | — | — | 0–2 | — | 0–4 |
| Queen's University | 1–2 | — | — | — | 3–1 | — | 4–0 | 2–5 | 0–1 | — | — | — |
