The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the

Northern Ireland Football League The Northern Ireland Football League (abbreviated to NIFL), formerly known as and still commonly referred to as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the leag ...

, the national

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Clubs in the Championship can be promoted to the highest national division – the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

, and relegated to the third level – the

NIFL Premier Intermediate League The NIFL Premier Intermediate League (Known as the Playr-Fit NIFL Premier Intermediate League for sponsorship reasons) is the third level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national association football league in Northern Ireland, and t ...

. In its current format, it was founded in 2008 as the ''Premier Intermediate League'' for members of the previous ''IFA Intermediate League'' that met the new stricter membership criteria, though was marketed as the ''IFA Championship''. In 2009, it was extended to two divisions: Championship 1 and Championship 2 with promotion and relegation between the two. In 2013, the Championship and Premiership became part of the Northern Ireland Football League, independent of the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...

(IFA). Under reforms agreed by NIFL clubs in 2014, Championship 1 acquired senior status from the 2016–17 season onwards, continuing as the NIFL Championship. Championship 2 became the ''NIFL Premier Intermediate League'', retaining its intermediate status. The second level in Northern Irish football was known as the B Division from 1951 to 1995, the Irish League First Division from 1995 to 2003, the Irish First Division from 2003 to 2008, and the IFA Championship from 2008 to 2013.

History

The B Division of the Irish League was founded in 1951, and originally consisted of the reserve teams of the senior Irish League clubs alongside some of the top intermediate clubs. It effectively replaced the

Irish Intermediate League The Irish Intermediate League was a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, which also included reserve sides of senior teams. The league ran from 1915 until 1954. History It began in 1915 after the amalgamation of ...

, which had been the de facto second tier league below the Irish League since 1915. The Irish Intermediate League continued alongside the B Division until 1954 when it ceased to exist and its remaining clubs joined the B Division. The B Division was split geographically into North and South sections in 1974 (with a play-off to determine the winners in 1974–75 and 1975–76), and then into Section 1 (containing the intermediate clubs) and Section 2 (the reserve teams of senior clubs) in 1977. There was no promotion to the senior Irish League, although clubs could be elected to the senior league;

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

were elected in 1972 to replace Derry City,

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...

and Newry City were elected in 1983 when the Irish League expanded from 12 to 14 clubs, and Ballyclare Comrades and Omagh Town in 1990 when the league expanded to 16 clubs. A new second tier was created in 1995 when the Irish League split into a Premier Division and First Division, each with eight clubs and automatic promotion and relegation introduced. In 2003 the Irish Football League was wound up, with the top division becoming the Irish Premier League and the second division becoming the Irish First Division. This continued for five seasons, until the NIFL Championship was created.

Restructuring

Under reforms agreed by the NIFL clubs in 2014, from 2016, the current Championship 1 will acquire senior status, continuing as the NIFL Championship, while Championship 2 will continue as the Premier Intermediate League, retaining its intermediate status and will thus become the top intermediate league in Northern Ireland.Northern Ireland Football League (2014). ''NI Football League Restructure Proposal.''

Current NIFL Championship clubs

List of second-tier champions

Knock-out competitions

In 1982, a knockout competition was introduced, known as the B Division Knockout Cup. It was discontinued after 2002, but a new Intermediate League Cup was played between 2004 and 2008. In 2008–09, there was no knockout competition for Championship clubs, who participated with Premiership clubs in the

Irish League Cup The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the BetMcLean Cup for sponsorship purposes, and commonly known as the Irish League Cup) is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the ...

. In the 2009–10 season only, while Championship 1 clubs continued to participate in the Irish League Cup, a Championship 2 League Cup was inaugurated for those in Championship 2. From 2010–11 onwards, all Championship clubs from divisions 1 and 2 also competed in the Irish League Cup, and the Championship 2 League Cup was abolished.

References

External links

*Malcolm Brodie (ed.), ''Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook'' (various editions) {{UEFA second leagues 2

Sports leagues established in 2008 2008 establishments in Northern Ireland