Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity
Ballymena United Ballymena United F.C. Ballymena United, is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club hails from the town of Ballymena, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Ballymena Showgrounds. Club colours are sky blue and white. Away Colours are Red and BlackThe club was...	The Showgrounds Ballymena Showgrounds The Ballymena Showgrounds is a football stadium in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is home to Ballymena United F.C.. It is owned by Ballymena Borough Council...	Ballymena Ballymena Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....	1,418 (all seated)
Cliftonville Cliftonville F.C. Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. Founded on 20 September 1879 by John McCredy McAlery in the suburb of Cliftonville in north Belfast, it is the oldest football club in Ireland and celebrated its 130th...	Solitude Solitude (football ground) Solitude is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Cliftonville. The stadium holds 6,224, but is currently restricted to 2,180 under safety legislation. The stadium was built in 1890....	Belfast	2,180 (1,878 seats)
Coleraine Coleraine F.C. Coleraine F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1927, hails from Coleraine, County Londonderry and plays its home matches at the Showgrounds. Club colours are blue and white...	The Showgrounds	Coleraine Coleraine Coleraine is a large town near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast and east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections...	2,496 (1,106 seats)
Crusaders Crusaders F.C. Crusaders Football Club is a semi-professional, Northern Irish association football club, playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1898, hails from Belfast and plays its home matches at Seaview. Club colours are red and black. The current manager is Stephen Baxter, appointed in 2005...	Seaview Seaview (football ground) Seaview is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Crusaders F.C.. The stadium holds 3,054. The stadium has a 4G pitch....	Belfast	1,977 (663 seats)
Donegal Celtic	Donegal Celtic Park Donegal Celtic Park Donegal Celtic Park, also known as Suffolk Road and Celtic Park or more recently The NSR due to the recent expansion, is the home of IFA Premiership team Donegal Celtic. It is situated in the Suffolk Road in west Belfast...	Belfast	2,254 (988 seats)
Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts F.C. Dungannon Swifts F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the Irish League First Division in 1997...	Stangmore Park Stangmore Park Stangmore Park is a football stadium in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Dungannon Swifts F.C.. The stadium holds 3,000 spectators.-External links:*...	Dungannon Dungannon Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...	5,000 (300 seats)
Glenavon Glenavon F.C. Glenavon F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1889, hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park...	Mourneview Park Mourneview Park Mourneview Park is a football stadium in Lurgan, and is the home ground of Glenavon F.C.. The stadium holds 5,000 and was built in 1895. The 2009 CIS Cup final was held there: the first such final to be held outside Belfast.-External links:**...	Lurgan Lurgan Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...	9,000 (4,000 seats)
Glentoran Glentoran F.C. Glentoran F.C. is a semi-professional, football club in Northern Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 and plays its home games at the Oval in east Belfast. Club colours are green, red, and black.Glentoran's biggest rivals are Linfield...	The Oval The Oval (Belfast) The Oval is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland.The stadium has been home to Glentoran since 1892. Before that the team used Ormeau Park from 1882 to 1886. Then the team shifted to King's Field in Ballymacarrett for four years until 1890. The team's next destination was Musgrave Park...	Belfast	5,056 (3,991 seats)
Linfield Linfield F.C. Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....	Windsor Park Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:...	Belfast	12,342 (all seated)
Lisburn Distillery	New Grosvenor Stadium New Grosvenor Stadium New Grosvenor Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Ballyskeagh, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is currently used for football matches and greyhound racing, the latter under the operating name Drumbo Park...	Lisburn Lisburn DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...	7,000 (540 seats)
Newry City Newry City F.C. Newry City is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 1. The club, founded in 1923, is based in Newry, County Down and plays its home matches at The Showgrounds. Club colours are blue and white...	The Showgrounds The Showgrounds (Newry) The Showgrounds is a football stadium in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Newry City. The stadium holds 7,949, but is currently restricted to 2,275 under safety legislation....	Newry Newry Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...	2,275 (797 seats)
Portadown Portadown F.C. Portadown F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club which plays in the IFA Premiership.The club was founded in the late 1880s and joined the Irish League in 1924. It is based in Portadown in County Armagh and plays its home games at Shamrock Park...	Shamrock Park Shamrock Park Shamrock Park is a football stadium in Portadown, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Portadown F.C.. Shamrock Park used to be used for stock-car racing, but this has been discontinued in recent years...	Portadown Portadown Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...	2,227 (all seated)

League table

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Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away). This means that following matches 1–33 each team will have played every other team 3 times (either 1 home, 2 away or 2 home, 1 away).

Matches 34–38

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.

Top six

Bottom six

Promotion/relegation

The promotion/relegation play-off was not played this season, because Championship 1 runners-up Limavady United were not eligible for promotion as they did not hold a domestic licence. This meant that Newry City were automatically relegated, with Championship 1 winners Carrick Rangers replacing them in next season's Premiership.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Peter Thompson	Linfield	23
2	Paul McVeigh Paul McVeigh Paul Michael McVeigh is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played for Norwich City.-Club career:...	Donegal Celtic	19
	Jordan Owens	Crusaders	19
4	Daryl Fordyce Daryl Fordyce Daryl Fordyce is a Northern Irish professional football player. He currently plays for Linfield.-Club football:...	Glentoran	17
5	Stuart Dallas Stuart Dallas Stuart Dallas is a footballer who currently plays in the IFA Premiership for Crusaders.-Club career:Stuart attended Cookstown High School and Cookstown Primary School during his education, and played for local side Coagh United as an amateur...	Crusaders	16
6	Matthew Burrows Matty Burrows Matthew "Matty" Burrows is a professional football player from Northern Ireland. He currently plays for Belfast club Glentoran in the IFA Premiership....	Glentoran	15
7	Leon Knight Leon Knight Leon Leroy Knight is an English footballer who plays for Coleraine as a striker. Having begun his career with Chelsea, he spent time on loan with Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton & Hove Albion before joining the latter permanently in 2003. Knight spent three...	Coleraine	14
	Gary McCutcheon	Ballymena United	14
9	Gary Hamilton Gary Hamilton Gary Hamilton is a footballer from Northern Ireland. He plays for Glentoran.-Career:Hamilton currently holds the Irish Premier League record for the number of goals scored in a match, scoring six for Portadown against Omagh Town in October 2004 .Now a full-time professional with Glentoran, he has...	Glenavon	13
	Ryan Henderson	Donegal Celtic	13

UEFA Champions League

After winning the league last season, Linfield were the league's sole representatives in the UEFA Champions League. They entered in the second qualifying round, and were drawn against Norwegian side Rosenborg

Rosenborg

Rosenborg may refer to:Denmark:* Rosenborg Castle, a castle in Copenhagen, DenmarkNorway:* Rosenborg, Trondheim, a place in Trondheim, Norway* Rosenborg BK, an association football club based in Trondheim, Norway...

. Despite being massive underdogs, Linfield recorded an unexpected 0–0 draw in the first leg at Windsor Park. However they were beaten 2–0 in the return leg in Norway, and exited the competition.

UEFA Europa League

Portadown earned a place in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League because Irish Cup

2009–10 Irish Cup

The Irish Cup 2009–10 was the cup's 130th edition since its introduction. The competition began on 19 September 2009 with the first Round and ended on 8 May 2010 with the final.Linfield were the eventual winners, winning 2–1 against Portadown in the final....

 winners Linfield had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League as league champions. They entered the first qualifying round with 2009–10's third placed team, Glentoran. Portadown were drawn with Latvian side Skonto Riga, who were knocked out by League of Ireland

League of Ireland

The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...

 side Derry City

Derry City F.C.

Derry City Football Club is a professional football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division...

 in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. Glentoran were handed a tie with Icelandic club KR Reykjavik

Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, , for short KR or KR Reykjavík, is an Icelandic athletic club based in the capital, Reykjavík. KR is the oldest and most successful club in Icelandic football.-History:...

. The first legs gave mixed results, with Portadown getting a creditable 1–1 draw at home while Glentoran being defeated 3–0 in Iceland. Glentoran were knocked out in the second leg despite a battling 2–2 draw. Portadown got one of the best European results in the league's recent history when they beat Skonto Riga 1–0 in Latvia, thus putting them through 2–1.

After beating Skonto Riga in the last round, Portadown faced Qarabag from Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

. They almost produced another shock in the first leg before ending up losing 2–1. In the second leg they earned a creditable 1–1 draw, but exited the competition 3–2 on aggregate. As second placed finishers in last season's domestic league, Cliftonville entered in the second qualifying round, where they played HNK Cibalia

HNK Cibalia

HNK Cibalia, or just Cibalia, is a Croatian football club from the town of Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. Cibalia currently play in the Prva HNL, Croatia's top flight. Their stadium is located in the south part of their home town and can hold 12,000 spectators...

 from Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

. In the first leg in Belfast they came out on top following a 1–0 win. In the second leg they held out for a 0–0 draw, going through 1–0 on aggregate.

In the third qualifying round, Cliftonville were drawn against Bulgarian giants CSKA Sofia

PFC CSKA Sofia

PFC CSKA Sofia , commonly known as CSKA or CSKA Sofia is a professional football club based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The club was officially founded on May 5, 1948. CSKA's abbreviation stands for Central Sports Club of the Army...

. In the first leg in Sofia, Cliftonville were defeated 3–0, and were then defeated 2–1 in the second leg back in Belfast, losing the tie 5–1 on aggregate.

UEFA coefficient and ranking

The IFA Premiership's coefficient points total after this season's matches was 2.249. It was ranked by UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 as the 49th best league in Europe out of 53.

The league earned 1.125 coefficient points this season, its highest tally since 1993–94, when 1.666 points were earned.

• 47   Armenia
  Armenia
  Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
  
  
• 48   Malta
  Malta
  Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
  
  
• 49   Northern Ireland
• 50   Faroe Islands
  Faroe Islands
  The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
  
  
• 51   Luxembourg
  Luxembourg
  Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
  
  
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