2023–24 NIFL Premiership


The 2023–24 NIFL Premiership was the 16th season of the NIFL Premiership, the 123rd season of Irish League football overall, and the 11th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League. The 38-game season commenced on 4 August 2023 and concluded on 27 April 2024.
The champions qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round.
The 2023–24 Irish Cup winners qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League second qualifying round, with the second-placed team and [|Conference League play-off] winners qualifying for the first qualifying round. The eleventh-placed team qualified for the [|NIFL Premiership play-off], winning and retaining their place in the league. The bottom-placed team were relegated to the 2024–25 NIFL Championship.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; eleven teams remaining from the previous season, and one team promoted from the NIFL Championship. Loughgall were promoted as champions of the 2022–23 NIFL Championship, replacing the 2022–23 NIFL Premiership bottom-placed team Portadown. Larne entered the season as defending champions, having won their first league title in the previous season.

Stadia and locations

ClubStadiumLocationCapacity
Ballymena UnitedThe ShowgroundsBallymena4,100
Carrick RangersLoughshore Hotel ArenaCarrickfergus2,100
CliftonvilleSolitudeBelfast3,054
ColeraineThe ShowgroundsColeraine4,843
CrusadersSeaviewBelfast3,208
Dungannon SwiftsStangmore ParkDungannon2,000
GlenavonMourneview ParkLurgan3,302
GlentoranThe OvalBelfast6,054
LarneInver ParkLarne2,732
LinfieldWindsor ParkBelfast18,434
LoughgallLakeview ParkLoughgall1,300
Newry CityThe ShowgroundsNewry2,275

League table



Results

Matches 1–33

For matches 1–22, each team plays every other team twice. For matches 23–33, each team plays every other team for the third time.

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches, the table splits into two halves, with the top six teams forming Section A and the bottom six teams forming Section B. 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.

Play-offs

Conference League play-offs

Clubs placed 3rd–7th compete for the second and final place in the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The play-offs are one-off matches, with the higher-ranked teams given home advantage and extra time and penalties used to determine the winner if necessary. Since the 2023–24 Irish Cup winners finished in the top three, the 3rd-placed team qualified automatically for the Conference League and the spot was vacated.

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club faced the second-placed club from the 2023–24 NIFL Championship in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the following season's Premiership.