1998–99 Irish League

Irish League First Division
Champions	Distillery
Promoted	Distillery
Matches played	112
Goals scored	325 (2.9 per match)
	← 1997–98 1999–00 →

Irish League Premier Division
Season	1998–99
Champions	Glentoran; 20th Irish title
Relegated	Omagh Town
Matches played	180
Goals scored	462 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorer	Vinny Arkins (19)
	← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 Irish League was the 98th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 10 teams, and Glentoran won the championship.

Premier Division

Belfast

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Location of teams in the 1998–99 Irish League Premier Division

1998–99 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 1998–99 Irish League Premier Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Relegation
1	Glentoran (C)	36	24	6	6	74	35	+39	78	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Linfield	36	20	10	6	68	39	+29	70	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Crusaders	36	18	8	10	48	39	+9	62
4	Newry Town	36	17	9	10	52	46	+6	60	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round
5	Glenavon	36	13	12	11	49	35	+14	51
6	Ballymena United	36	11	8	17	40	42	−2	41
7	Coleraine	36	10	9	17	34	53	−19	39
8	Portadown	36	9	10	17	41	47	−6	37	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
9	Cliftonville	36	7	14	15	31	47	−16	35	Qualification for the promotion/relegation play-off
10	Omagh Town (R)	36	5	6	25	25	79	−54	21	Relegation to the First Division

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

Results

Matches 1–18

Home \ Away	BLM	CLI	COL	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	NEW	OMA	POR
Ballymena United		1–2	0–1	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0
Cliftonville	0–1		0–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–2	2–1	0–0
Coleraine	0–1	1–1		0–2	0–0	0–1	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–2
Crusaders	1–0	1–0	0–1		1–0	0–0	1–4	2–0	2–0	0–0
Glenavon	0–0	0–0	3–1	2–0		0–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–0
Glentoran	1–0	0–1	5–0	1–4	1–0		0–1	1–3	2–0	1–0
Linfield	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–1		2–1	2–0	2–2
Newry Town	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–1		0–2	1–2
Omagh Town	0–5	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	0–2	1–3	1–3		1–0
Portadown	1–3	0–1	1–2	0–0	1–1	0–3	0–2	2–1	2–0

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

Matches 19–36

Home \ Away	BLM	CLI	COL	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	NEW	OMA	POR
Ballymena United		2–2	1–0	2–0	1–0	3–6	4–2	1–1	1–2	2–2
Cliftonville	1–0		1–1	2–3	2–2	2–4	1–1	1–4	2–1	0–2
Coleraine	2–1	3–1		0–2	1–3	1–3	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–0
Crusaders	2–0	2–1	2–0		1–1	0–3	3–2	3–2	5–0	1–1
Glenavon	1–0	0–1	3–1	3–0		0–1	2–2	1–2	6–1	2–2
Glentoran	2–1	1–1	5–4	2–1	5–2		1–2	5–1	2–0	3–1
Linfield	4–1	2–1	2–1	4–2	3–1	1–1		2–2	3–0	3–1
Newry Town	1–0	2–1	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–2	2–1		1–1	3–2
Omagh Town	1–4	2–2	2–0	1–2	0–3	1–4	1–5	2–3		1–0
Portadown	2–1	3–0	3–0	0–1	2–2	1–3	1–1	2–3	3–0

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

First Division

Location of teams in the 1998–99 Irish League First Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Promotion
1	Distillery (C, P)	28	17	4	7	44	30	+14	55	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Ards	28	16	1	11	47	34	+13	49	Qualification for the promotion/relegation play-off
3	Bangor	28	15	3	10	37	35	+2	48
4	Ballyclare Comrades	28	11	5	12	55	44	+11	38
5	Dungannon Swifts	28	11	5	12	36	46	−10	38
6	Carrick Rangers	28	10	4	14	41	41	0	34
7	Larne	28	9	5	14	28	32	−4	32
8	Limavady United	28	6	7	15	37	63	−26	25

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

Promotion/relegation play-off

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

5 May 1999

Ards	0 – 1	Cliftonville

Castlereagh Park, Newtownards

8 May 1999

Cliftonville	4 – 2	Ards

Solitude, Belfast

Cliftonville won 5–2 on aggregate

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 1998–99 in Northern Irish football
Domestic leagues	Irish League Premier Division Irish League First Division
Domestic cups	Irish Cup Irish League Cup Gold Cup County Antrim Shield Irish News Cup Charity Shield
European competitions	UEFA Champions League UEFA Cup UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Intertoto Cup
Related to national team	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying (Group 3)

v t e 1998–99 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia '98 '99 Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '98 '99 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina (Herzeg-Bosnia, Republika Srpska) Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia '98 '99 Faroe Islands '98 '99 Finland '98 '99 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '98 '99 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '98 '99 Latvia '98 '99 Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '98 '99 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia '98 '99 San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '98 '99 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 '98 '99 Finland '98 '99 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '98 '99 Israel Italy Latvia '98 '99 Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '98 '99 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
League cups	England Finland '98 '99 France Germany Iceland '98 '99 Israel Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Wales
UEFA competitions	Champions League (qualifying, group stage, knockout stage, final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup