1896–97 Irish League

Football league season

Irish LeagueSeason| 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Cliftonville

Distillery

Glentoran

Linfield

No home ground
Celtic
North Staffordshire Regiment

class=notpageimage|

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### League

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

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

## External links

[edit]

* Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

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1896–97 in Irish football

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Domestic leagues|

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Portals:

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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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