Women's Premiership (Northern Ireland)

Women's Premiership

Founded	2004
Country	Northern Ireland
Confederation	UEFA
Divisions	1
Number of teams	9
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Women's Championship
Domestic cup(s)	Irish Women's Cup
League cup(s)	NIFL Women's Premiership League Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Women's Champions League
Current champions	Glentoran Women (10th title) (2023 Women's Premiership)
Most championships	Glentoran Women (10 titles)
Website	nifootballleague.com/womens-premiership
Current: 2024 Women's Premiership

The Women's Premiership is the top level women's football league of Irish League. The league was called the NIWFA Division League 1 until 2003 and Premier League until 2015. In 2016, it was rebranded the Women's Premiership and is run by NIFL/ Irish League since. ^[1]

Ten teams play a double round robin to crown the champion, which qualifies for a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League. The tenth place gets relegated to the Women's Championship 1, the ninth place plays a two-legged relegation playoff against the runner up of the Women's Championship.

History

In women's football the first league season was played out in 1977. ^[2] Organised by the Northern Ireland Women's Football Association (NIWFA) the league was simply called the NIWFA Division League 1.

In 2004 the Division 1 was replaced by the Women's Premier League.

In 2016, after 40 years of administering and developing women's football locally, the league was rebranded the Women's Premiership and is run now by the Northern Ireland Football League. ^[3] The main sponsor and name giver is Sports Direct.

Prior to the 2023 season, the Premiership introduced professional contracts for players, as well as games on Fridays and Sundays in addition to traditional Wednesday games. ^[4] Five Premiership teams will also take part in a new all-island competition during the summer. ^[5]

Sponsors

Period	Sponsor
2016–2022	Danske Bank [6]
2023–	Sports Direct [7]

2023 Teams

The following teams make up the 2023 season.

Belfast

Derry City

Sion Swifts

Larne

Lisburn Ladies

Ballymena United

Mid-Ulster Ladies

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders Strikers
Glentoran
Linfield

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Location of teams in the 2023 season

Teams are listed in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Ballymena United	Ballymena	Ballymena Showgrounds	3,600
Cliftonville	Belfast (Oldpark)	Solitude	2,530
Crusaders Strikers	Belfast (Shore Road)	Seaview	3,383
Derry City	Derry	Brandywell Stadium	3,700
Glentoran	Belfast (Sydenham)	The Oval	26,556
Larne	Larne	Inver Park	3,250
Linfield	Belfast (Boucher Road)	Midgley Park	n/k
Lisburn Ladies	Lisburn	Bluebell Stadium	1,280
Mid-Ulster Ladies	Cookstown	Mid-Ulster Sports Arena	n/k
Sion Swifts	Strabane	Melvin Sports Complex	n/k

List of champions

Before 2004 the winner of the Division 1 league was national champion. The first season was played out in 1977. ^{[8] [9]}

Season Champion Runner-up 1977–1998 unknown 1999 Lisburn Distillery Predators [10] 2000 Lisburn Distillery Predators [10] 2001 Lisburn Distillery Predators [10] 2002 Crusaders Strikers 2003 Crusaders Strikers 2004 Glentoran Women Northland Raiders 2005 Crusaders Strikers Glentoran Women 2006 Glentoran Women Crusaders Strikers 2007 Glentoran Women Crusaders Strikers 2008 Glentoran Women Crusaders Strikers 2009 Crusaders Strikers Glentoran Women 2010 Crusaders Strikers Glentoran Women 2011 [11] Glentoran Women Crusaders Strikers 2012 Crusaders Strikers Glentoran Women 2013 [12] Glentoran Women Crusaders Strikers 2014 [13] Glentoran Women Linfield Ladies 2015 [14] Newry City Ladies Linfield Ladies 2016 [15] Linfield Ladies Cliftonville Ladies 2017 [16] Linfield Ladies Sion Swifts Ladies 2018 [17] Linfield Ladies Glentoran Women 2019 [18] Linfield Ladies Sion Swifts Ladies 2020 Glentoran Women Linfield Ladies 2021 Glentoran Women Cliftonville 2022 Cliftonville Glentoran Women 2023 Glentoran Women Cliftonville

Northern Irish championships Titles Team 10 Glentoran Women 6 Crusaders Strikers 4 Linfield Ladies 3 Lisburn Distillery Predators 1 Cliftonville Ladies 1 Newry City Ladies List only includes known titles (misses 1977–1998).

References

1. "2016 DANSKE BANK WOMEN'S PREMIERSHIP LAUNCHED". Archived from the original on 21 August 2016.
2. "Northern Ireland Women's Football Association - NIWFA".
3. "NIFL announce start of Northern Ireland Women's Premiership". 5 March 2016.
4. "Women's Premiership: How each team is shaping up for the new season" . Retrieved 2 June 2023.
5. "Five Women's Premiership teams to take part in new all-island competition" . Retrieved 2 June 2023.
6. "Northern Ireland Football League confirm Danske Bank partnership to end after 11 years". News Letter. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
7. "Sports Direct NI Women's Prem 'Means more than Ever' - but Reds and Glens still to the fore". The Irish News. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
8. "History". Northern Ireland Women's Football Association. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
9. "Northern Ireland - List of Women Champions". RSSSF . Retrieved 26 August 2014.
10. "FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT FOCUS!". irishfa.com. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2014. ... and in 1999, 2000, and 2001 Lisburn Distillery Predators won the NIWFA Premier League
11. "Glentoran take title". shekicks.net. 29 July 2011. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
12. "Pitchero League Websites - Manage your league and create an awesome website".
13. "Champions - Again | Glentoran FC".
14. "Zusammenfassung - Premiership Frauen - Nordirland - Ergebnisse, Spielpläne, Tabellen und News - Women Soccerway".
15. "Linfield Ladies' News: McGuinness blasts Linfield to League Title Glory".
16. "Linfield Ladies retain Danske Bank Women's Premiership". goqradio.com. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
17. "#DanskeWomensPrem : Linfield take title after dramatic fightback". shekicks.net. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
18. "Linfield hit 10 in Derry to retain title". BBC Sport.

External links

• Official Site
• League at leaguewebsite.co.uk - Standings, results, fixtures
• women.soccerway.com; results, standings & fixtures
• 2013–15 Website