The 2023–24 NIFL Premiership (known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th season of the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

(the highest level of league football 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 ...

), the 123rd season of Irish League football overall, and the 11th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League. The 38-game season commenced on 4 August 2023 and concluded on 27 April 2024. The champions (

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 ...

, their second consecutive title win) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. The

2023–24 Irish Cup The 2023–24 Irish Cup (known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the 144th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knock-out cup competition in Northern Irish football since its inauguration in 1881. The winners qualify fo ...

winners ( Cliftonville or Linfield) qualify for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League second qualifying round, with the Irish Cup runner-ups and

Conference League play-off A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

winners qualifying for the first qualifying round. The eleventh-placed team (

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...

) qualified for the NIFL Premiership play-off. The bottom-placed team (

Newry City Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

) were relegated to the 2024–25 NIFL Championship.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; eleven teams remaining from the previous season, and one team promoted from the NIFL Championship.

Loughgall Loughgall ( ; ) is a small village, townland (of 131 acres) and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the historic baronies of Armagh and Oneilland West. It had a population of 282 people (116 households) in the 2011 Census. ...

were promoted as champions of the

2022–23 NIFL Championship The 2022–23 NIFL Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the NIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the Northern Ireland Football League - the national fo ...

(returning to the top-flight for the first time since 2007), replacing the

2022–23 NIFL Premiership The 2022–23 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 15th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 122nd season of the Irish Leag ...

bottom-placed team Portadown.

entered the season as defending champions, having won their first league title in the previous season.

Stadia and locations

League table

Results

Matches 1–33

For matches 1–22, each team plays every other team twice (home and away). For matches 23–33, each team plays every other team for the third time (either at home or away).

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches, the table splits into two halves, with the top six teams forming Section A and the bottom six teams forming Section B. Each team plays every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures are reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams have played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

Section A

Section B

Play-offs

Conference League play-off

Clubs placed 3rd–7th compete for the second and final place in the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The play-offs are one-off matches, with the higher-ranked teams given home advantage and extra time and penalties used to determine the winner if necessary. Since the

winners finished in the top three, the 3rd-placed team qualified automatically for the Conference League and the spot was vacated.

Semi-finals

Final

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club (

) will face the second-placed club from the

2023–24 NIFL Championship The 2023–24 NIFL Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the NIFL Championship (the second-tier of the Northern Ireland Football League, Irish League - the national football league in ...

( Institute) in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the following season's Premiership.