Northern Ireland Football League Guide

The Danske Bank Premiership - And All It's Secrets

Good afternoon and welcome to my newest guide! A while ago, you may remember my guide on the Turkish Super League, well this is a follow up to that! I plan to make a few of these, showcasing leagues that are barely played by choice and hopefully see you guys play there some more. I have taken on some of the feedback from the last league guide, so this should be tidier and a better read. Enjoy! 

Division History

The Northern Irish Football League, or the Danske Bank Premiership, was founded in 1890, and is the second oldest top division in the world. It became a member of UEFA in 1954, and a member of FIFA in 1911. The league was originally the league for all of Ireland, but was restricted to just Northern Ireland in 1921. The first ever league match to be televised from this division was in 2007, when Cliftonville and Linfield faced off at Solitude. Since then, Sky and other broadcasters have had more involvement in the league, meaning it is growing at a fast rate. 

League Format

The league consists of 12 teams, with 1 being relegated each season. The team who finish in 11th will qualify for the relegation playoff. However, at the other end of the table, the top 6 teams qualify for the championship group, where they battle it out for the 1 second phase qualifying spot in the Champions League, whilst 3 other teams qualify for the First Qualifying round of the Europa League. 

League Rules/Qualification

The cup winner takes a European Place, like in most leagues, whilst the previous Playoff winner also takes a spot. This may seem confusing, but as you play a few seasons it becomes routine. 

Any Other Rules?

Portadown start the season on -12 points, so be careful when picking your team. 

Cup Competitions

Northern Irish Cup

Northern Ireland has over 5 cup competitions, and all have pretty similar rules. We will start with the Northern Irish Cup, which is the equivalent to the FA Cup in England. This competition has pretty standard rules, with the only exception being that the worse league team is allowed to play at home for their fixtures. Apart from that, it is pretty routine. 

Northern Irish League Cup

Another standard cup competition, this time the equivalent to the EFL Cup in England. This cup has no strange/different rules to speak of, just another piece of silverware to add to your cabinet. 

Co. Antrim Shield

Here is the Co. Antrim Shield, which is the same as the League Cup from before. This cup has no special qualification, just an early season competition to get your team ready for the season ahead. 

Northern Irish Steel & Son's Cup

Another competition for competition sake, this is the same as the previous 2 competitions except for the fact that it is played a few days later. As you can see, N.I have a lot of competitions.

We didn't go over the Mid Ulster Cup or the Intermediate Cup as they are likely to have the same rules as the 4 we have covered, but if wanted I'll happily go over them. 

Who Rules The Roost?

Linfield are the current champions and lead the table for most titles won by 29 league titles. Their dominance is nowhere near matched, with Glentoran the closest behind with 23. Belfast Celtic are no longer in the top division, but are 3rd with 14 titles. This is were you come in. Can you take one of the teams not on this list and dominate? Can you take Glentoran and break Linfields record? 

Teams To Try

Ards

 

Ards last won the league in 1957-58, and have since bounced around the table. They possess a 2,000 seater stadium, aswell as Basic training facilities and Average youth facilities. Some of their players include Frenchman Guillaume Keke, who is likely to be one of your big threats, and former Wolves Centre-Back Johnny Taylor, who is reaching his peak and will be crucial to your defensive performances. Can you take this team to new heights, and achieve success?

Portadown

 

Portadown are an interesting one. Founded in 1887, they have managed to win 4 league titles, with the latest being in 2001-02. They have a 3,660 seater stadium in their possession, aswell as basic youth and training facilities. As good as this sounds, Portadown were relegated this year after a 2-0 defeat to Ards, AND they start the season on -12 points in-game. Despite all of this, they have Northern Irish international Robert Garrett in their ranks, aswell as former Hearts Winger Sean Mackle. Can you lead this troubled club to glory under your management?

Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed this piece, I have some big ones planned so look out for them, and please leave remember to leave a comment on the article. Cheers!

 

[Brenty92]

Nice article bud, it's a shame there's no lower leagues in game as taking Belfast Celtic back to the top would be a Fun little challenge!

[mcandrew003]

2 minutes ago, Brenty92 said:

Nice article bud, it's a shame there's no lower leagues in game as taking Belfast Celtic back to the top would be a Fun little challenge!

Thanks a lot mate! Taking Belfast would have been a fantastic career/challenge, hopefully we see them in next years game. Cheers.

[mcandrew003]

2 minutes ago, Eogtuc0910 said:

Very good article it would be mad trying to beat Linfield as you would need to win the league EVERY YEAR. To be honest I might try this out?

Cheers dude! Yep, every season, could be a challenge? Thanks for the comment!

[BatiGoal]

I wish there were more Cups in N.Ireland. 

Reading on leagues and teams to try really does help a great deal in getting the general interest levels up. It's the perfect motivator for "career/team seekers".

More please

[mcandrew003]

9 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

I wish there were more Cups in N.Ireland. 

Reading on leagues and teams to try really does help a great deal in getting the general interest levels up. It's the perfect motivator for "career/team seekers".

More please

Me too, 6 isn't enough to suit my needs 

Good to hear, I enjoy making these on lower ranked divisions so glad they are making them more well known around the community, 

Glad you like it mate, I've got a few more of these up my sleeve aswell as some others. Cheers for the comment mate!

[Ashez]

I enjoyed that mate, nicely put together  

[mcandrew003]

2 minutes ago, Ashez said:

I enjoyed that mate, nicely put together  

Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it 

[samhardy]

Very good mate!

[JustM1kePlays]

Really well writen mate. Hope this gets a few people playing in this league.

[mcandrew003]

10 hours ago, samhardy said:

Very good mate!

Thanks mate, glad you liked it! 

9 hours ago, JustM1kePlays said:

Really well writen mate. Hope this gets a few people playing in this league.

Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it. Massively underrated and it's history is perfect for a story telling element, hope we see some more careers there soon. 

Cheers lads 

[Muzza2108]

Funny you should do this article as I'm currently managing Crusaders. Currently in my 7th season and the league has become a breeze each year. What's keeping me going is the hunt for European glory. Progressing further each year and beating more and more of the big teams is a real challenge. The board aren't overly keen on upgrading facilities so I'm in wheeler dealer mode, sign lots of free transfers and sell them on for profit. I've had some great players so far, Walcott Gabbiadini Grealish Fellaini Redmond Phil Jones Busquets just to name a few... I would recommend this league to anybody ??

[Schwantz34]

Played this league before as I have family in Northen Ireland.

 

Had a lot of success with Carrick but might have another go with one of your two suggestions.

[mcandrew003]

6 hours ago, Muzza2108 said:

Funny you should do this article as I'm currently managing Crusaders. Currently in my 7th season and the league has become a breeze each year. What's keeping me going is the hunt for European glory. Progressing further each year and beating more and more of the big teams is a real challenge. The board aren't overly keen on upgrading facilities so I'm in wheeler dealer mode, sign lots of free transfers and sell them on for profit. I've had some great players so far, Walcott Gabbiadini Grealish Fellaini Redmond Phil Jones Busquets just to name a few... I would recommend this league to anybody ??

Sounds like a great career mate! The best career I've had in NI is managing Dungannon Swifts and winning the league twice, got far in the UCL qualifying I think. Unfortunately the save died out, would love to do something similar here one day though.  Cheers for the comment mate! 

4 hours ago, Schwantz34 said:

Played this league before as I have family in Northen Ireland.

 

Had a lot of success with Carrick but might have another go with one of your two suggestions.

Brilliant mate!

Soumds good, good luck with either one.

Cheers for the comments lads.

[Muzza2108]

1 hour ago, mcandrew003 said:

Sounds like a great career mate! The best career I've had in NI is managing Dungannon Swifts and winning the league twice, got far in the UCL qualifying I think. Unfortunately the save died out, would love to do something similar here one day though.  Cheers for the comment mate! 

Brilliant mate!

Soumds good, good luck with either one.

Cheers for the comments lads.

I won't leave until I win the Champions League ?

[mcandrew003]

On 03/06/2017 at 10:24, Eogtuc0910 said:

Here is another challenge: Break Jimmy Jones 517 goals in all competitions with a northern irish club

Sorry mate, missed this. Nice little idea, might have to give that a thought when I think of some more challenge ideas 

[MikeTS]

Nice to see a Northern Ireland league thread. I normally managed in this league as it's something different. I don't have a preferred team I manage, I normally just pick one of the worse teams in the league and aim to make them the best Northern Irish team and compete well in Europe. The former being the easier task out of the two.

[mcandrew003]

20 hours ago, MikeTS said:

Nice to see a Northern Ireland league thread. I normally managed in this league as it's something different. I don't have a preferred team I manage, I normally just pick one of the worse teams in the league and aim to make them the best Northern Irish team and compete well in Europe. The former being the easier task out of the two.

Thanks mate, yeah I saw there weren't many unfortunately as it's such an underrated league, glad you enjoyed both the article and your experience 

[Muzza2108]

Took 10 years but I did it!

[M4cc4n4]

Northern Ireland league is always fun to play, domestic success isn't that hard, but you will always have a harder time with the Continental competitions, Ards are an interesting team, as their stadium is owned by a non-league team in Bangor FC. If playing in FM17 I would recommend Crusaders as they are a team with a solid base and had won for they last 2 years before Linfield reinstated their monopoly over NI football this season (won the title on the last day, they were basically gifted the title the week before) anyway If you want to be a force in Europe in the first few seasons Linfield have the biggest fan bases and such in NI and I think that is represented in-game aswell, + more money and such.

[Muzza2108]

7 hours ago, Eogtuc0910 said:

Can i see your manager profile wonder how many games you won

Played 727 won 607 all comps

[mcandrew003]

1 hour ago, M4cc4n4 said:

Northern Ireland league is always fun to play, domestic success isn't that hard, but you will always have a harder time with the Continental competitions, Ards are an interesting team, as their stadium is owned by a non-league team in Bangor FC. If playing in FM17 I would recommend Crusaders as they are a team with a solid base and had won for they last 2 years before Linfield reinstated their monopoly over NI football this season (won the title on the last day, they were basically gifted the title the week before) anyway If you want to be a force in Europe in the first few seasons Linfield have the biggest fan bases and such in NI and I think that is represented in-game aswell, + more money and such.

I'll agree with that, domestically you should walk it with the right set-up, but depends which end of the table you start at really. European success with a side from NI is an achievement of the highest order. Hope you enjoyed the article, cheers mate!

[M4cc4n4]

23 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

I'll agree with that, domestically you should walk it with the right set-up, but depends which end of the table you start at really. European success with a side from NI is an achievement of the highest order. Hope you enjoyed the article, cheers mate!

Yeah the article is very well put together, and it's nice to see my local league get some exposure