1896–97 Irish League

Irish League
Season	1896–97
Dates	5 September 1896 –; 26 December 1896
Champions	Glentoran; 2nd Irish title
Matches played	30
Goals scored	125 (4.17 per match)
Top goalscorer	Johnny Darling; Richard Peden; (6 goals each)
Biggest home win	Linfield 7–1 North Staffs
Biggest away win	Distillery 0–6 Linfield; North Staffs 0–6 Glentoran
Highest scoring	Linfield 7–4 Distillery
	← 1895–96 1897–98 →

The 1896–97 Irish League was the 7th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football.

The league comprised six teams, an increase from the four of the previous season. Glentoran won the championship for the second time.

Season summary

After two seasons of historically low numbers of just four teams, two teams were elected into the league for the 1896–97 season: Celtic (who from 1901 onwards would become more commonly known as "Belfast Celtic") and the North Staffordshire Regiment, the second British Army team to compete in the league after the Lancashire Fusiliers who competed in the 1891–92 season. Neither side had a ground, meaning all their matches were played at their opponents' grounds.^[1]

Teams and locations

1896–97 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

No home ground
Celtic
North Staffordshire Regiment

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Location of teams in the 1896–97 Irish League; all matches were played in Belfast

Team	Town	Home Ground
Celtic	No home ground
Cliftonville	Belfast	Solitude
Distillery	Belfast	Grosvenor Park
Glentoran	Belfast	The Oval
Linfield	Belfast	Balmoral
North Staffordshire Regiment	No home ground

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Result
1	Glentoran (C)	10	8	1	1	24	10	2.400	17	Champions
2	Cliftonville	10	4	3	3	22	20	1.100	11
3	Linfield	10	4	3	3	34	24	1.417	11
4	Distillery	10	3	3	4	17	23	0.739	9
5	North Staffordshire Regiment	10	2	4	4	17	23	0.739	8
6	Celtic	10	1	2	7	11	25	0.440	4

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

League

Home \ Away	CEL	CLI	DIS	GLT	LIN	NSR
Celtic		1–3	2–1	1–3	2–4	1–1
Cliftonville	3–1		2–3	1–3	1–1	2–2
Distillery	2–0	2–2		2–0	0–6	1–1
Glentoran	2–0	3–2	2–1		1–0	2–1
Linfield	3–3	3–4	7–4	2–2		7–1
North Staffordshire	3–0	1–2	1–1	0–6	6–1

Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

2nd/3rd place play-off

Cliftonville 3–2 Linfield (Solitude, Belfast)^[2]

References

^ Alex Graham (2005). Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005. p. 14.
^ "IrishLeague Tables". Retrieved 30 March 2025.

External links

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

[Graham-1] Alex Graham (2005). Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005. p. 14.

[2] "IrishLeague Tables". Retrieved 30 March 2025.

[1]

[2]

v t e NIFL Premiership seasons
Irish League	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Irish Premier League	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
IFA Premiership	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
NIFL Premiership	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Belfast & District League (wartime)	1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19
Northern Regional League (wartime)	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47

v t e 1896–97 in Irish football
« 1895–96 1897–98 »
Domestic leagues	Irish League
Domestic cups	Irish Cup City Cup County Antrim Shield Belfast Charity Cup
Related to national team	British Home Championship

v t e 1896–97 in European football
« 1895–96 1897–98 »
Domestic leagues	Belgium Denmark England Netherlands Ireland Scotland
Domestic cups	England Ireland Scotland Sweden '96 '97 Wales