IFA Premiership 2011 - 2012
The Irish Football Association (IFA) Premiership is the successor to the Irish Premier League (IPL) and before that the Irish Football League (IFL), which was the world's second oldest national league, founded in 1890, a week before the Scottish Football League. It is the top-level competition in Northern Ireland made up of semi-professional clubs, currently ranked 45th (out of 53) in Europe by UEFA.
In 2003 the IFA took over the Northern Ireland's national league and created the IPL. The following season the two remaining IFL competitions were taken over and became the IFA Intermediate League.
In 2008 the competition was again reorganised and teams were invited to apply to join the IFA Premiership, to consist of 12 clubs. Places were awarded on a points system combined with a domestic licence scheme designed to raise standards.
Records from the IPL and IFL stand and teams play each other three times before the league is split, the top six playing each other once more to settle the championship and European qualification. The remaining teams scrap it out for relegation. The four highest placed teams qualify for the all-Ireland Setanta Cup: the champions qualify for the European Champions League and three places (one for the Irish Cup winners) are available in the Europa League.
The history of football in Northern Ireland has been disfigured by sectarianism, especially during the Troubles. The IFA and member clubs have made significant strides in combating this toxic legacy in recent years.
2011-2012 | 2012-13 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016
Crests are the property of the respective clubs. Carling Premiership logo is the property of Carling/Irish Football Association.
The Braidmen have won the Irish Cup six times, more than any other provincial side but they have never won the league title.
Carrick appeared in the IFA Premiership for the first time this season after winning the IFA Championship but finished in last place so went straight back down again.
The Reds go back to 1879 and are the oldest club in Northern Ireland. They are founder members of the Irish Football Association and the Irish Football League. Cliftonville remained strictly amateur until the 1970s so have made only a modest impact. Of their eight Irish Cup wins, seven were recorded between 1882 and 1909 (the last in 1979). They have won the league twice (1910 and 1998) and shared it in 1906. Nevertheless they are firmly established in the top flight and have qualified once again for Europe by finishing third. They play in north Belfast.
Formed in 1927, Coleraine have won the Irish League just once (1974) and the Irish Cup five times (most recently in 2003). Their traditional colours since 1947 are blue and white. Hooped shirts were worn initially but since the early 1960s, vertical stripes in various widths have been the thing.
Formed in 1898, Crusaders played at intermediate level until 1949 when they replaced Belfast Celtic, who resigned from the Irish League after a riot in their game with Linfield. They have won four Irish League titles (1973, 1976, 1995 and 1997) and the Irish Cup three times (1967, 1968, 2009). They play at Seaview in Belfast, one of the most modern all-seated stadiums in Northern Ireland and are known as The Crues or The Hatchetmen. Their traditional colours are red and 
The name, colours and crest tell you everything you need to know about this club's affiliations in west Belfast. Formed in 1970, they were denied entry to the Irish Football League on several occasions until 2002, when they were finally admitted to Division Two after mounting a legal action against the IFL alleging discrimination on sectarian grounds. They were promoted to the top tier in 2006 via the play-offs.
Formed in 1949, Dungannon were elected to the First Division of the Irish League in 1997 and promoted to the top tier in 2003. They play at Stangmore Park in Dungannon, County Tyrone.
Based in Lurgan, Glenavon were the first team from outside Belfast to win the Irish League in 1952, adding two more titles in 1957 and 1960. They also won three Irish Cups during this golden age. Their last senior honours came in 1992 and 1997 when they again won the Irish Cup.
Glentoran and their local rivals, Linfield, have long dominated football in Ulster. They have won the championship no fewer than 23 times and the Irish Cup on 20 occasions.
Linfield and Glentoran are known as Belfast's Big Two but it is the Blues who have been the dominant force in Northern Ireland since winning the first championship in 1891. They have now won 51 titles including a hat-trick over the last three seasons.
Formed in 1880 as Distillery FC, the club originally played in west Belfast. Forced to quit after their ground was burnt out in the Troubles, they were homeless for almost a decade before moving into Ballyskeagh Road in the borough (now city) of Lisburn in 1980. They added Lisburn to their title in 1999 when their rising phoenix badge, symbolising the club rising from the flames, was combined with the Lisburn arms.
Formed in in the late 1880s, Portadown joined the Irish League in 1924. In 2008 they submitted their application to play in the new IFA Premiership late and as a result, spent the 2008-09 season in the second tier, the only time they have been out of the top level. They won the new Irish Championship at the first attempt, however, and have remained in the Premiership ever since.