| Season | 2009–10 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Linfield 1st Premiership title 49thIrish title |
| Relegated | Institute |
| UEFA Champions League | Linfield |
| UEFA Europa League | Cliftonville Glentoran Portadown |
| Matches | 228 |
| Goals | 676 (2.96 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Rory Patterson (30 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Portadown 6–1Lisburn Distillery |
| Biggest away win | Dungannon Swifts 2–8Portadown Newry City 0–6Linfield Glentoran 0–6Coleraine |
| Highest scoring | Dungannon Swifts 2–8Portadown |
2010–11 → | |
The2009–10 IFA Premiership (known as theCarling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 2nd season of theIFA Premiership, the highest level of league football inNorthern Ireland, and the 109th season ofIrish league football overall.
Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 49th time.
It began on 8 August 2009 and ended on 1 May 2010.Glentoran were the defending champions. On 27 April 2010,Linfield clinched the title after a 1–0 victory againstCliftonville atWindsor Park.[1] On 14 May 2010,Institute were relegated to the2010–11 IFA Championship, after losing the two-legged relegation play-off toDonegal Celtic, who took their place in the2010–11 IFA Premiership.[2]
On 2 February 2009,Bangor's board announced that they would not be able to renew their domestic licence due to financial difficulties, and thereby would not compete in this season's premiership.[3] They finished the2008–09 season in 11th place. As a consequence, 12th-placedDungannon Swifts, who were originally going to be directly relegated to theIFA Championship, earned the relegation play-off berth from Bangor. After a two-legged series against 2008–09 Championship runners-upDonegal Celtic, which ended in anaggregated 2–2 tie, Dungannon eventually retained their Premiership status onaway goals.
Promoted from the Championship were 2008–09 championsPortadown, which marked their return to the highestfootball league ofNorthern Ireland after a one-year hiatus.
| Club | Stadium | Town/city | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 8,000 (4,000 seats) |
| Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 8,000 (2,099 seats) |
| Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 6,500 (1,500 seats) |
| Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 6,500 (500 seats) |
| Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 3,000 (300 seats) |
| Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 5,500 (4,000 seats) |
| Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 15,250 (5,000 seats) |
| Institute | YMCA Grounds | Drumahoe | 4,000 (600 seats) |
| Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 20,400 (14,400 seats) |
| Lisburn Distillery | New Grosvenor Stadium | Lisburn | 8,000 (2,000 seats) |
| Newry City | The Showgrounds | Newry | 6,500 (800 seats) |
| Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 8,000 (3,500 seats) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linfield(C) | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 78 | 37 | +41 | 74 | Qualification toChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Cliftonville | 38 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 69 | 42 | +27 | 69 | Qualification toEuropa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Glentoran | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 58 | 46 | +12 | 65 | Qualification toEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Crusaders | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 57 | 52 | +5 | 60 | |
| 5 | Dungannon Swifts | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 56 | 58 | −2 | 57 | |
| 6 | Portadown | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 70 | 55 | +15 | 55 | Qualification toEuropa League first qualifying round[a] |
| 7 | Coleraine | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 76 | 62 | +14 | 57[b] | |
| 8 | Glenavon | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 47 | 67 | −20 | 43 | |
| 9 | Newry City | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 38 | 63 | −25 | 42 | |
| 10 | Ballymena United | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 46 | 56 | −10 | 40 | |
| 11 | Lisburn Distillery | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 45 | 76 | −31 | 39 | |
| 12 | Institute(R) | 38 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 36 | 62 | −26 | 31 | Qualification toPromotion/relegation play-off |
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 every 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 played each other this season, home sides in this round were chosen so that teams had 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.
|
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals[4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coleraine | 30 | |
| 2 | Coleraine | 17 | |
| Cliftonville | 17 | ||
| 4 | Cliftonville | 16 | |
| 5 | Portadown | 14 | |
| Portadown | 14 | ||
| Crusaders | 14 | ||
| Lisburn Distillery | 14 | ||
| 9 | Dungannon Swifts | 13 | |
| 10 | Portadown | 12 |
The promotion/relegation play-off was slightly altered this season becauseDonegal Celtic, runners-up of the2009–10 IFA Championship, were the only IFA Championship club to hold the Domestic Club Licence required to participate in the Premiership.Lisburn Distillery, who finished in 11th place, avoided having to play a relegation play-off, which was passed down instead toInstitute, who finished in 12th place and would normally have been automatically relegated. The first leg ended 0-0, withInstitute having a penalty saved in injury-time at the end of the game. The second leg stayed goalless until the 85th minute, when Stephen McAlorum scored for Donegal Celtic, to relegate Institute to the2010–11 IFA Championship.
| Institute | 0 – 1 | Donegal Celtic |
|---|---|---|
| Report | McAlorum |
Donegal Celtic won 1–0 on aggregate and were promoted, Institute were relegated