2021–22 NIFL Championship

NIFL Championship
Season	2021–22
Dates	7 Aug 2021 – April 2022
Matches played	165
Goals scored	492 (2.98 per match)
Biggest home win	Dergivew 5–0 Institute; (7 August 2021)
Biggest away win	Knockbreda 1–6 Loughgall; (11 September 2021)
Highest scoring	H&W Welders 5–3 Ballinamallard United; (30 October 2021)
	← 2019–20 2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 21 February 2022.

The 2021–22 NIFL Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the fifth season of the NIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the Northern Ireland Football League - the national football league in Northern Ireland. The season began on 7 August 2021 and will conclude in April 2022.

The Championship returned after a one-year hiatus, following the cancellation of the 2020–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

Portadown are the current champions from the 2019–20 season. However, as they won promotion and are competing in the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership they cannot defend their title.

Teams[]

Belfast

Ards

Ballinamallard United

Belfast teams : Dundela
H&W Welders
Knockbreda
Queen's University

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Locations of the 2021–22 NIFL Championship teams

2021–22 NIFL Championship is located in Greater Belfast

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Locations of the Belfast-based 2021–22 NIFL Championship teams

The 2021–22 NIFL Championship is being contested by 12 teams, ten of which retained their Championship status from the 2019–20 season. Portadown were champions in the previous season, and were promoted to the 2020–21 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by the bottom team in the NIFL Premiership, Institute. Runners-up Ballinamallard United missed out on promotion, as the NIFL Premiership play-off was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

The bottom Championship team from the previous season, PSNI, were relegated to the third-tier NIFL Premier Intermediate League. They were replaced by Annagh United, winners of the Premier Intermediate League. The eleventh-placed Championship team from the previous season, Knockbreda, had a reprieve, as the NIFL Championship play-off was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

Stadia and locations[]

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity^[1]
Annagh United	Tandragee Road	Portadown	1,250 (100 seated)
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
Institute	Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium	Derry	8,200
Knockbreda	Breda Park	Belfast	1,000
Loughgall	Lakeview Park	Loughgall	3,000
Newry City	The Showgrounds	Newry	2,275 (1,080 seated)
Queen's University	Upper Malone	Belfast	1,000 (330 seated)

League table[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation^[a]
1	Newry City (X)	30	19	5	6	55	25	+30	62	Promotion to the NIFL Premiership
2	Annagh United (X)	31	18	5	8	61	38	+23	59	Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off^[b]
3	Ballinamallard United (X)	31	15	7	9	58	45	+13	52
4	Harland & Wolff Welders	31	16	3	12	51	46	+5	51
5	Loughgall	30	14	6	10	48	35	+13	48
6	Ards	31	13	6	12	52	42	+10	45
7	Dergview	30	11	9	10	46	40	+6	42
8	Dundela	31	11	7	13	50	45	+5	40
9	Ballyclare Comrades (Y)	31	10	7	14	42	55	−13	37
10	Knockbreda (Y)	31	7	9	15	51	77	−26	30
11	Institute (Y)	31	7	6	18	27	60	−33	27	Qualification for the NIFL Championship play-off
12	Queen's University (Y)	30	6	4	20	24	57	−33	22	Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League

Updated to match(es) played on 12 March 2022. Source: NIFL Championship
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots^[2]
(X) Assured of a place in Section A (top six); (Y) Assured of a place in Section B (bottom six)
Notes:

^ Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
^ If the runners-up do not attain a promotion licence, the next highest-placed team eligible for promotion that finishes 6th or higher will enter the play-off against the 11th-placed NIFL Premiership club. If no team finishing 2nd to 6th attains a promotion licence, the play-off will not take place.

Results[]

Matches 1–22[]

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

Home \ Away	ANN	ARD	BMD	BCC	DGV	DUN	HAR	INS	KNB	LGL	NEW	QUE
Annagh United	—	2–3	2–4	1–4	3–1		0–1	2–2	4–1		0–3
Ards		—	3–1	3–0	1–2	2–0	1–0			3–1	1–1	2–0
Ballinamallard United	1–0	1–1	—	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–2	4–0	2–0	0–0
Ballyclare Comrades			5–1	—		1–0	1–0	0–0	2–2	0–2	1–0	2–0
Dergview	0–2	1–1		1–2	—	2–0	1–2	5–0		1–0	0–2	3–1
Dundela	1–3	2–0	1–3	3–0	1–2	—	4–0		3–4		2–2	1–2
Harland & Wolff Welders	2–3	2–1	5–3	2–2	2–0		—	2–0	1–1
Institute	0–2	2–1	1–2	1–3		2–1	0–1	—	1–3	0–2	1–2
Knockbreda	3–3	2–3			3–2	3–3	0–1	2–2	—	1–6	0–2	3–1
Loughgall	0–1	1–0	3–3		2–1	3–0	4–0	0–2	1–2	—	1–3	0–0
Newry City	2–0	2–1	0–3		1–2	1–1	3–2	5–1	3–0	1–1	—
Queen's University	0–2		0–2	1–3		0–0	0–5	0–1	2–3	0–1	0–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 18 December 2021. Source: NIFL Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 23–33[]

During matches 23–33 each team will play every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).

Home \ Away	ANN	ARD	BMD	BCC	DGV	DUN	HAR	INS	KNB	LGL	NEW	QUE
Annagh United	—		1–2		0–0		1–1			1–3		4–3
Ards	0–1	—				1–3		1–1	1–1
Ballinamallard United		2–1	—								0–2	5–0
Ballyclare Comrades	1–2	2–4	2–2	—				1–2		0–3
Dergview			2–0	2–0	—			3–1		1–1	0–2	0–0
Dundela	0–2		1–1		2–2	—				0–0		2–0
Harland & Wolff Welders		2–1		2–1		1–2	—	2–1				1–2
Institute		0–3				0–3		—		2–3	0–0
Knockbreda	0–3			2–2	1–1		1–2		—
Loughgall		2–3					3–0		4–1	—
Newry City			1–0	0–1		1–0	1–2				—	0–1
Queen's University		2–1					1–2	0–1	3–1			—

Updated to match(es) played on 21 February 2022. Source: NIFL Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 34–38[]

For the final five matches the table then splits into two halves, with teams ranked 1st–6th in Section A and teams ranked 7th–12th in Section B. During matches 34–38 each team plays every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures are reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams have played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

Season statistics[]

Top scorers[]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	B.J Banda	Ballinamallard United	16
2	Benny Igiehon	Dergview	14
2	Michael McLellan	H&W Welders	14
4	Nedas Maciulaitis	Loughgall	13
5	Joshua McIlwaine	Ballinamallard United	10
5	Ruairi McDonald	Annagh United	10
7	Daniel Hughes	Newry City	9

References[]

^ "NIFL Championship Venues 2021-2022". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
^ "Rules and Regulations". NIFL. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

External links[]

Official website

[2] Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).

[table_note_res_PROPO0.79675661483629-3] If the runners-up do not attain a promotion licence, the next highest-placed team eligible for promotion that finishes 6th or higher will enter the play-off against the 11th-placed NIFL Premiership club. If no team finishing 2nd to 6th attains a promotion licence, the play-off will not take place.

[1] "NIFL Championship Venues 2021-2022". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.

[2021-22Rules-4] "Rules and Regulations". NIFL. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

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