The 2008–09 IFA Premiership (known as the

JJB Sports JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, includ ...

Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the first season after a major overhaul of the league system in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and the 108th season of Irish league football overall. It was scheduled to begin on 9 August 2008. However, the start of the league was delayed by a week due to a referees' strike.IFA reach agreement with referees
BBC Sport The season eventually began on 16 August 2008, and concluded on 2 May 2009. Linfield were the defending champions, but narrowly fell short of retaining the title as rivals

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

pipped them by a single point to win their 23rd league title overall.

Team changes from 2007–08

The league was reduced from sixteen to twelve teams as a result of the league system in Northern Ireland being restructured by the

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Ac ...

. Five of last season's sixteen Premier League teams failed to gain a place in the new twelve-team Premiership, and one new team - Bangor - gained entry from the IFA Intermediate League. Of the five teams who missed out, three -

Armagh City Armagh City was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland. Boundaries This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Armagh in County Armagh. It was the successor constituency to the Armagh City constituency of the Parliament of ...

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

and

Limavady United Limavady United Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League. The club comes from Limavady, County Londonderry, and plays home matches at the Showgrounds. Club colours are royal ...

failed to obtain the necessary domestic licence.

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

obtained a licence, but was controversially excluded because a club official missed a deadline for submitting an application form by several minutes. Finally,

Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Football Club is an intermediate football club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland who currently play in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. The club, founded in 1970, plays its home matches at Donegal Celtic Park. Club co ...

obtained a licence, but was ranked thirteenth in the entry list, and thus missed out by one place.

Team overview

League table

Results

Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away).

Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once (either at home or away).

Section A

Section B

Promotion/relegation play-off

The relegation/promotion system was slightly modified because Bangor, who withdrew from the next IFA Premiership season, eventually finished 11th. It meant that last placed

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the ...

played a two-legged match against

, runners-up of the

2008–09 IFA Championship The 2008–09 IFA Championship (known as the Ladbrokes.com Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the first season of a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland. The 2008–09 Championship consisted of one division of 17 clubs, w ...

, for one spot in the

2009–10 IFA Premiership The 2009–10 IFA Premiership (known as the Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the league in this format since its establishment after a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland, and the 109th seas ...

. The score was 2–2 on aggregate, but Dungannon Swifts secured their spot in the following IFA Premiership season by winning on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. ---- ''2–2 on aggregate. Dungannon Swifts won on away goals rule and remained in the IFA Premiership.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 IFA Premiership NIFL Premiership seasons

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...