1995–96 Irish League

Irish League First Division
Season	1995–96
Champions	Coleraine
Promoted	Coleraine
Matches played	112
Goals scored	327 (2.92 per match)
	1996–97 →

Irish League Premier Division
Season	1995–96
Champions	Portadown; 3rd Irish title
Relegated	Bangor
Matches played	112
Goals scored	325 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Haylock (19)
	← 1994–95 1996–97 →

The 1995–96 Irish League was the 95th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 8 teams, and Portadown won the championship.

A restructuring during the 1995 pre-season also saw a First Division added below the Premier Division, with regular promotion and relegation between the two leagues being established from this season onwards.

Premier Division

Belfast

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Location of teams in the 1995–96 Irish League Premier Division

1995–96 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 1995–96 Irish League Premier Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Relegation
1	Portadown (C)	28	16	8	4	61	41	+20	56	Qualification for the UEFA Cup preliminary round
2	Crusaders	28	15	7	6	45	32	+13	52	Qualification for the UEFA Cup preliminary round
3	Glentoran	28	13	7	8	56	38	+18	46	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
4	Glenavon	28	13	5	10	47	32	+15	44
5	Linfield	28	11	8	9	35	36	−1	41
6	Cliftonville	28	6	11	11	28	49	−21	29	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup group stage
7	Ards	28	6	7	15	29	43	−14	25
8	Bangor (R)	28	3	5	20	24	54	−30	14	Relegation to the First Division

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–14

Home \ Away	ARD	BAN	CLI	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	POR
Ards		3–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	1–4	2–3	1–1
Bangor	2–1		3–2	1–2	0–1	1–6	1–2	1–3
Cliftonville	0–0	2–1		1–4	2–2	0–0	1–1	0–3
Crusaders	1–2	2–0	1–0		1–2	2–1	3–0	3–1
Glenavon	3–0	1–0	1–2	4–0		2–3	0–3	0–1
Glentoran	3–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–2		0–3	1–1
Linfield	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–3	0–4		1–0
Portadown	3–1	4–2	6–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	3–2

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

Matches 15–28

Home \ Away	ARD	BAN	CLI	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	POR
Ards		2–1	2–2	0–1	1–2	0–2	1–2	0–2
Bangor	0–1		2–3	0–2	1–2	1–1	0–2	0–0
Cliftonville	1–0	1–1		2–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–4
Crusaders	2–0	1–0	1–1		1–0	1–3	4–2	3–3
Glenavon	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–1		1–3	2–2	7–0
Glentoran	3–1	3–0	2–1	2–2	1–2		3–0	3–3
Linfield	0–0	2–1	3–1	0–1	2–1	2–0		0–1
Portadown	1–3	4–3	4–1	1–1	2–1	3–2	1–1

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

First Division

Location of teams in the 1995–96 Irish League First Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Promotion
1	Coleraine (C, P)	28	21	4	3	81	27	+54	67	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Ballymena United	28	13	10	5	38	25	+13	49
3	Omagh Town	28	12	7	9	49	42	+7	43
4	Distillery	28	10	7	11	35	34	+1	37
5	Ballyclare Comrades	28	10	3	15	29	48	−19	33
6	Carrick Rangers	28	9	3	16	32	56	−24	30
7	Larne	28	7	7	14	31	36	−5	28
8	Newry Town	28	7	5	16	31	58	−27	26

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

References

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

v t e 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 1996–97 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

v t e 1995–96 in Northern Irish football
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
Related to national team	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying (Group 6)

v t e 1995–96 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '95 '96 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina (Herzeg-Bosnia, Republika Srpska) Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '95 '96 Finland '95 '96 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '95 '96 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '95 '96 Latvia '95 '96 Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '95 '96 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia '95 '96 San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '95 '96 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 '95 '96 Finland '95 '96 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '95 '96 Israel Italy Latvia '95 '96 Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '95 '96 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
League cups	England Finland '95 '96 France Iceland 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