1890–91 Irish League

Irish League
Season	1890–91
Champions	Linfield; 1st Irish title
Matches played	56
Goals scored	337 (6.02 per match)
Top goalscorer	Robert Hill (20)
Biggest home win	Linfield 14–0 Oldpark
Biggest away win	Cliftonville 0–8 Linfield; Milford 0–8 Glentoran; Milford 1–9 Distillery; Oldpark 2–10 Ulster
Highest scoring	Linfield 14–0 Oldpark; Linfield 9–5 Ulster
	1891–92 →

Belfast

Milford

Belfast teams
Clarence
Cliftonville
Distillery
Glentoran
Linfield
Oldpark
Ulster

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Location of teams in the 1890-91 Irish League

1890–91 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 1890-91 Irish League

The 1890–91 Irish League was the inaugural edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football organised by the Irish Football Association.

The league comprised 8 teams, and was won by Linfield.

League format

For this season, the league used a double Round-robin format, where teams played each other both home and away once.

Teams

Team	Town	Home Ground
Clarence	Belfast	Stranmillis
Cliftonville	Belfast	Solitude
Distillery	Belfast	Grosvenor Park
Glentoran	Belfast	King's Field
Linfield	Belfast	Ulsterville
Milford	Armagh	Milford
Oldpark	Belfast	Oldpark
Ulster	Belfast	Ulster Cricket Ground

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Result
1	Linfield (C)	14	12	1	1	89	18	4.944	25	Champions
2	Ulster	14	9	3	2	72	39	1.846	21
3	Distillery	14	9	1	4	46	37	1.243	19
4	Cliftonville	14	7	3	4	37	46	0.804	17
5	Glentoran	14	6	1	7	39	38	1.026	13
6	Oldpark	14	4	2	8	22	48	0.458	10
7	Clarence	14	3	1	10	21	49	0.429	7	Withdrew
8	Milford	14	0	0	14	10	61	0.164	0	Withdrew

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	CLA	CLI	DIS	GLT	LIN	MIL	OLD	ULS
Clarence		2–5	3–4	5–4	1–3	+:-^[a]	1–3	2–6
Cliftonville	2–2		7–3	0–0	0–8	3–2	2–2	4–1
Distillery	4–0	1–6		4–2	2–1	+:-^[a]	2–0	3–5
Glentoran	9–1	4–3	0–3		0–7	4–2	2–0	-:+^[b]
Linfield	5–2	10–2	6–2	6–0		9–1	14–0	9–5
Milford	-:+^[b]	-:+^[b]	1–9	0–8	1–6		-:+^[b]	2–7
Oldpark	+:-^[a]	2–3	2–4	2–3	0–3	5–0		2–10
Ulster	4–2	9–0	4–4	5–2	2–2	10–1	4–4

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

^ ^a ^b ^c Match rated as goalless home win.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Match rated as goalless away win.

Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
1	Robert Hill	Linfield	20
2	John Peden	Linfield	19
3	Sam Torrans	Linfield	18

References

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

External links

[table_note_1_DIS_MIL0.58157021206877-1] Match rated as goalless home win.

[table_note_1_GLT_ULS0.58157021206877-2] Match rated as goalless away win.

[a]

[b]

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 1890–91 in European football
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