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1990–91 Irish League

Irish League
Season1990–91
ChampionsPortadown
2nd Irish title
Matches played240
Goals scored748 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorerStephen McBride (22 goals)
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Location of teams in the Irish League from 1990–95
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Location of Belfast-based teams in the Irish League from 1990–95

The 1990–91 Irish League was the 90th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of football in Northern Ireland. The league began with the first round of matches on 22 September 1990 and ended with the final round of matches on 27 April 1991.

The league consisted of 16 teams, an increase of two from the previous season as Ballyclare Comrades and Omagh Town were elected to the league. Defending champions Portadown won the championship for the second time.

Portadown qualified to compete in the 1991–92 European Cup and runners-up Bangor qualified for the 1991–92 UEFA Cup.

Background

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The Irish League was formed in 1890 and was originally a league for the whole of the island of Ireland. From 1920, the competition has been contested by teams from Northern Ireland.[1]

Linfield were the most successful team in the history of the competition having won the league 45 times. Portadown were the defending champions after winning the league for the first time in 1989–90, beating Glenavon to the title by a single point.[1]

The league was increased in size from 14 teams in 1989–90 to 16 teams. No teams were relegated and Ballyclare Comrades and Omagh Town were elected to the league.[2]

Format

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The league took on a traditional double round robin format. Each team played every other team twice – once at home and once away from home – for a total of 30 matches each. Three points were awarded for a win, one point was awarded for a draw and nothing was awarded for a loss. Teams were ranked on total number of points accumulated with ties broken by goal difference.[3][4]

League standings

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Portadown (C) 30 22 5 3 61 22 +39 71 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Bangor 30 19 4 7 52 29 +23 61 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Glentoran 30 18 6 6 50 32 +18 60
4 Glenavon 30 17 6 7 63 38 +25 57 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
5 Newry Town 30 15 5 10 50 42 +8 50
6 Cliftonville 30 14 7 9 59 41 +18 49
7 Linfield 30 12 10 8 40 34 +6 46
8 Ballymena United 30 12 8 10 49 46 +3 44
9 Ards 30 12 7 11 47 40 +7 43
10 Crusaders 30 11 9 10 53 46 +7 42
11 Distillery 30 10 5 15 47 57 −10 35
12 Omagh Town 30 10 4 16 48 66 −18 34
13 Larne 30 8 6 16 41 59 −18 30
14 Ballyclare Comrades 30 5 6 19 33 68 −35 21
15 Carrick Rangers 30 4 5 21 30 58 −28 17
16 Coleraine 30 2 5 23 25 70 −45 11
Source: [3]
(C) Champions

Results

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Home \ Away ARD BAN BLC BLM CRK CLI COL CRU DIS GLV GLT LRN LIN NEW OMA POR
Ards 0–2 4–3 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–3 4–1 1–1 1–2 5–1 1–2
Bangor 1–1 3–0 2–2 2–1 4–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 0–1
Ballyclare Comrades 1–0 0–2 1–5 1–0 1–3 1–1 2–3 2–0 3–3 0–1 3–3 1–1 0–2 0–3 0–3
Ballymena United 4–1 3–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 4–0 1–0 1–2 4–3 2–3 4–4 2–2 2–1 2–0 0–2
Carrick Rangers 2–5 1–3 1–2 2–1 1–3 1–0 2–2 0–2 1–2 2–3 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–3 1–4
Cliftonville 2–0 2–0 4–0 1–3 0–2 2–0 3–1 2–1 0–2 2–1 4–0 2–2 6–0 3–2 1–2
Coleraine 0–1 0–4 2–1 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 3–4 1–1 1–2 1–0 0–2 2–4 1–4 1–3
Crusaders 0–2 3–2 1–2 0–0 3–3 1–1 4–1 4–1 1–3 2–0 5–0 2–2 2–1 4–1 2–3
Distillery 2–2 1–3 4–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 1–3 3–2 2–3 1–3 2–1 1–3 0–1 0–0
Glenavon 1–2 2–3 4–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 5–3 2–2 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 2–1
Glentoran 1–1 0–1 2–1 2–0 2–1 3–2 4–0 2–0 3–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 4–1 1–1
Larne 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 4–1 2–0 2–2 0–4 0–4 0–1 0–1 4–1 3–3 1–3
Linfield 1–0 2–1 3–1 3–0 1–0 0–4 2–1 2–0 2–2 0–0 1–1 4–2 1–2 0–0 0–1
Newry Town 3–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 1–2 3–0 1–0 2–0 1–2 3–1 2–1 1–3
Omagh Town 2–4 0–0 2–1 1–1 3–4 2–1 2–1 0–1 5–1 2–5 3–1 0–5 0–1 2–1 2–5
Portadown 1–0 2–0 3–1 4–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 3–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 4–2
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

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  1. ^ a b Schöggl, Hans (19 March 2025). "Northern Ireland - Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  2. ^ Abbink, Dinant (9 January 2007). "Northern Ireland 1989/90". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b Abbink, Dinant (9 January 2007). "Northern Ireland 1990/91". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Irish League Archive". Irish League Archives. Retrieved 16 July 2025.