The NIFL Development League (prior to 2016, the NIFL Reserve League) is an
intermediate Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
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 ...
consisting of the reserve teams of the twelve
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 ...
clubs.
Current members (2021–22)
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Ballymena United U20s
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Carrick Rangers U20s
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Cliftonville Olympic
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Coleraine U20s
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Crusaders U20s
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Dungannon Swifts u20s
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Glenavon U20s
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Glentoran II
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Larne Olympic
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Linfield Swifts
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Portadown U20s
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Warrenpoint Town U20s
History
The NIFL Development League is the successor to the NIFL Reserve League, which in turn was the successor to the Irish League B Division Section 2 which was formed in 1977, when the B Division split into two sections:
Section 1 for intermediate clubs and the other for the reserve teams of senior clubs. Since the foundation of the B Division in 1951, these two categories of teams had competed together. In 1999, Section 1 of the B Division was renamed the Irish League Second Division and Section 2 became the Irish League Reserve League. In 2003, on the formation of the Irish Premier League, the IFA took direct control and the league was renamed the IFA Reserve League. In 2013, the Northern Ireland Football League took over, and the league was again renamed, to the NIFL Reserve League.
In 2016, it became the NIFL Development League, with an age restriction imposed on players.
List of champions
Irish League B Division Section 2
Irish League Reserve League
IFA Reserve League
NIFL Reserve League
NIFL Premiership Development League
Summary of champions
See also
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George Wilson Cup
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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 ...
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
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Irish Intermediate Cup
The Irish Intermediate Cup is a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, including NIFL Premiership reserve sides. It is a straight knock-out tournament and is currently sponsored by McCombs Coach Travel.
The curre ...
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Northern Ireland football league system
The Northern Ireland football league system is categorised into three levels: senior, intermediate and junior. Clubs attain intermediate status by fulfilling certain criteria (e.g. owning or leasing its own enclosed ground). Senior status requires ...
References
{{IFA league
Association football leagues in Northern Ireland
Reserve football leagues in Europe
Sports leagues established in 1977
1977 establishments in Northern Ireland