1996–97 Irish League

Irish League First Division
Champions	Ballymena United
Promoted	Ballymena United; Omagh Town
Matches played	112
Goals scored	298 (2.66 per match)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Irish League Premier Division
Season	1996–97
Champions	Crusaders; 4th Irish title
Matches played	112
Goals scored	274 (2.45 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Haylock (16 goals)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Irish League was the 96th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 8 teams, and Crusaders won the championship.

Premier Division

1996–97 Irish League is located in Northern Ireland

Belfast

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

Location of teams in the 1996–97 Irish League Premier Division

1996–97 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 1996–97 Irish League Premier Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Relegation
1	Crusaders (C)	28	12	10	6	39	26	+13	46	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Coleraine	28	10	13	5	37	31	+6	43	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Glentoran	28	10	11	7	36	30	+6	41
4	Portadown	28	10	8	10	36	32	+4	38
5	Linfield	28	10	8	10	35	33	+2	38
6	Glenavon	28	8	11	9	35	34	+1	35	Qualification for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
7	Cliftonville	28	7	9	12	23	38	−15	30
8	Ards	28	5	10	13	33	50	−17	25	Promotion/relegation play-off and Intertoto Cup group stage

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

Matches 1–14

Home \ Away	ARD	CLI	COL	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	POR
Ards		0–1	1–4	0–0	0–0	3–0	2–3	2–2
Cliftonville	0–1		0–1	0–2	0–0	0–2	0–3	0–0
Coleraine	0–0	0–1		1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–2
Crusaders	2–2	2–1	0–0		1–0	1–1	0–1	2–0
Glenavon	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0		1–2	2–1	1–0
Glentoran	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1		0–2	2–0
Linfield	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–2	0–0		0–2
Portadown	0–1	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–1	0–1	0–0

Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 15–28

Home \ Away	ARD	CLI	COL	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	POR
Ards		0–2	3–3	1–5	2–2	4–3	4–1	2–3
Cliftonville	2–1		1–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–4	1–1
Coleraine	1–0	1–1		3–1	1–1	3–2	1–3	1–1
Crusaders	3–1	3–0	1–1		2–2	2–3	3–0	2–1
Glenavon	2–1	4–0	2–3	1–2		2–1	3–1	1–2
Glentoran	2–0	1–1	1–0	4–0	2–2		1–1	2–3
Linfield	3–1	2–3	2–3	0–1	3–0	0–0		1–0
Portadown	5–0	4–1	2–3	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–2

Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

First Division

Location of teams in the 1996–97 Irish League First Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Promotion
1	Ballymena United (C, P)	28	21	2	5	49	17	+32	65	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Omagh Town (P)	28	15	5	8	40	39	+1	50	Promotion to the Premier Division
3	Bangor	28	15	4	9	42	29	+13	49	Qualification for the promotion/relegation play-off
4	Ballyclare Comrades	28	11	4	13	44	42	+2	37
5	Newry Town	28	10	5	13	32	35	−3	35
6	Distillery	28	10	4	14	31	37	−6	34
7	Larne	28	9	5	14	34	48	−14	32
8	Carrick Rangers	28	5	3	20	26	51	−25	18

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promotion/relegation play-off

Omagh Town, who finished in the relegation play-off place, faced Bangor, the 2nd-placed team in the First Division, in a two-legged tie for a place in next season's Irish League Premier Division.

29 April 1997

Bangor	0 – 1	Ards

Clandeboye Park, Bangor

2 May 1997

Ards	1 – 0	Bangor

Castlereagh Park, Newtownards

Ards won 2–0 on aggregate

References

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

NIFL Premiership seasons
Irish League	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Irish Premier League	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
IFA Premiership	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
NIFL Premiership	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Belfast & District League (wartime)	1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19
Northern Regional League (wartime)	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47

1996–97 in Northern Irish football
« 1995–96 1997–98 »
Domestic leagues	Irish League Premier Division Irish League First Division
Domestic cups	Irish Cup Irish League Cup Gold Cup Ulster Cup Floodlit Cup County Antrim Shield Irish News Cup
European competitions	UEFA Cup UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Intertoto Cup
Related to national team	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (Group 9)

1996–97 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '96 '97 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina (Herzeg-Bosnia, Republika Srpska) Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '96 '97 Finland '96 '97 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '96 '97 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '96 '97 Latvia '96 '97 Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Norway '96 '97 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia '96 '97 San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '96 '97 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '96 '97 Finland '96 '97 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '96 '97 Israel Italy Latvia '96 '97 Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '96 '97 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
League cups	England Finland '96 '97 France Iceland '96 '97 Israel Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Wales
Supercups	England Germany
UEFA competitions	Champions League (Qualifying, Group stage, knockout stage, Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup