1890–91 Irish League

Football league season

Irish LeagueSeason| 1890–91

|

Champions| Linfield
1st Irish title
Matches played| 49
Goals scored| 337 (6.88 per match)
Top goalscorer| Robert Hill (20 goals)
Biggest home win| Linfield 14–0 Oldpark
Biggest away win| Cliftonville 0–8 Linfield
Milford 0–8 Glentoran
Milford 1–9 Distillery
Oldpark 2–10 Ulster
Highest scoring| Linfield 14–0 Oldpark
Linfield 9–5 Ulster

1891–92 →

The 1890–91 Irish League was the inaugural edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football organised by the Irish Football Association.

For this season, the league used a double round-robin format, where teams played each other both home and away once. It comprised eight teams, and was won by Linfield.

## Formation

[edit]

On 14 March 1890, on the invitation of J. W. Gordon, representative from eight clubs met in the Belfast Estate Office of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. Within fifteen, minutes, the league was constituted. The twelve attendees of the meeting were W. McNeice, J. R. Spiller, W. Finlay, W. Couser, J. McClatchley, S. Monroe, J. McKnight, C. Birkby, J. Torrans, J. W. Gordon, J. Henderson and W. S. Dawson. The first officials appointed were W. McNeice (chairman), W. Finlay (treasurer) and J. W. Gordon (honorary secretary).[1]

## Teams and locations

[edit]

Belfast

Milford

Belfast teams:
Clarence
Cliftonville
Distillery
Glentoran
Linfield
Oldpark
Ulster

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Location of teams in the 1890–91 Irish League

Clarence

Cliftonville

Distillery

Linfield

Glentoran

Oldpark

Ulster

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Location of Belfast teams in the 1890–91 Irish League

Team  | Town  | Home Ground

|
|

Clarence | Belfast | Stranmillis
Cliftonville | Belfast | Solitude
Distillery | Belfast | Grosvenor Park
Glentoran | Belfast | King's Field
Linfield | Belfast | Ulsterville
Milford | Armagh | Milford
Oldpark | Belfast | Oldpark
Ulster | Belfast | Ulster Cricket Ground

## League standings

[edit]

Pos | Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Result

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Linfield (C) | 14  | 12  | 1  | 1  | 89  | 18  | 4.944  | 25  | Champions
2  | Ulster | 14  | 9  | 3  | 2  | 72  | 39  | 1.846  | 21  |
3  | Distillery | 14  | 9  | 1  | 4  | 46  | 37  | 1.243  | 19
4  | Cliftonville | 14  | 7  | 3  | 4  | 37  | 46  | 0.804  | 17
5  | Glentoran | 14  | 6  | 1  | 7  | 39  | 38  | 1.026  | 13
6  | Oldpark | 14  | 4  | 2  | 8  | 22  | 48  | 0.458  | 10
7  | Clarence | 14  | 3  | 1  | 10  | 21  | 49  | 0.429  | 7  | Withdrew
8  | Milford[a] | 14  | 0  | 0  | 14  | 10  | 61  | 0.164  | 0

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

1. ^ Milford resigned from the league on 20 January 1891 with five games still to play. These remaining games were awarded to their opponents and a 0–0 scoreline was registered.[2]

## Results

[edit]

Home \ Away  | CLA | CLI | DIS | GLT | LIN | MIL | OLD | ULS

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Clarence |  | 2–5  | 3–4  | 5–4  | 1–3  | +:-[a] | 1–3  | 2–6
Cliftonville | 2–2  |  | 7–3  | 0–0  | 0–8  | 3–2  | 2–2  | 4–1
Distillery | 4–0  | 1–6  |  | 4–2  | 2–1  | +:-[a] | 2–0  | 3–5
Glentoran | 9–1  | 4–3  | 0–3  |  | 0–7  | 4–2  | 2–0  | -:+[b]
Linfield | 5–2  | 10–2  | 6–2  | 6–0  |  | 9–1  | 14–0  | 9–5
Milford | -:+[b] | -:+[b] | 1–9  | 0–8  | 1–6  |  | -:+[b] | 2–7
Oldpark | +:-[a] | 2–3  | 2–4  | 2–3  | 0–3  | 5–0  |  | 2–10
Ulster | 4–2  | 9–0  | 4–4  | 5–2  | 2–2  | 10–1  | 4–4  |

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

1. ^ a b c Match rated as goalless home win.
2. ^ a b c d Match rated as goalless away win.

## Top goalscorers

[edit]

Pos | Player  | Club  | Goals

|
|
|

1  | Robert Hill  | Linfield  | 20
2  | John Peden  | Linfield  | 19
3  | Sam Torrans  | Linfield  | 18

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Malcolm Brodie (1963). The History of Irish Soccer. p. 22.
2. ^ Alex Graham (2005). Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005. p. 8.

## External links

[edit]

* Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)
* Irish Premier League Website
* 1890-91 Irish League Season at The Irish Football Club Project

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*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GR]: Goal ratio
*[Pts]: Points
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