The 2019–20 NIFL Championship was the fourth season of the

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championshi ...

since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the

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

- the national football league 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 season began on 3 August 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude in April 2020, However, the season was suspended on 13 March 2020 as a result of the worldwide

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. No further fixtures were played, with the final games held on 10 March 2020 and the season being officially curtailed in June 2020.

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

were the current champions. However, due to their promotion to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership, they were unable to defend their title. The Irish FA initially suspended all football-related activity in Northern Ireland until 4 April, with this suspension subsequently being extended first until 30 April, and then until 31 May. In June 2020, NIFL announced that the season was over, and that average points per game would be used to determine the final league standings.

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 ...

were declared champions, gaining promotion to the

2020–21 NIFL Premiership The 2020–21 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 120th season of Irish league ...

, while

PSNI The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

suffered relegation to the

NIFL Premier Intermediate League The NIFL Premier Intermediate League is the third division of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national association football league in Northern Ireland, and the highest intermediate division in Northern Ireland, occupying level three in ...

. The promotion/relegation play-offs were cancelled, meaning 11th-placed Knockbreda were reprieved from relegation, and runners-up

Ballinamallard United Ballinamallard United Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, re-formed in 1975 after being dormant since the 1960s, hails from Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen, County Ferma ...

missed out on the chance of promotion.

Teams

The 2019–20 NIFL Championship is being contested by 12 teams, nine of which retained their Championship status from the previous season.

were champions in the previous season, and were promoted to the 2019–20 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by the bottom team in last season's Premiership, Newry City. Runners-up

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 ...

won 3–1 on aggregate in the promotion play-off against

Ards Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...

, also achieving promotion to the Premiership for this season and relegating Ards to the Championship. The bottom team from the previous season,

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 ...

, were relegated to the third-tier

. They were replaced by Queen's University, winners of the Premier Intermediate League. The eleventh-placed team from the previous season,

, remained in the Championship this season, after defeating the NIFL Premier Intermediate League runners-up

Annagh United Annagh United Football Club (The name 'Annagh' ) is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, founded in 1963, hails from Portadown and plays its home matches at the BMG Arena. The club home co ...

5–3 on aggregate in the relegation play-off.

Stadia and locations

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 was scheduled to play every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). However, some fixtures did not take place, after the league season was curtailed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 NIFL Championship NIFL Championship seasons

2019–20 in Northern Ireland association football