# 2004–05 Irish Premier League

The 2004–05 Irish Premier League was the 104th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football, and the 2nd edition in its current format (as the Irish Premier League) since its inception in 2003. The league consisted of 16 teams, and Glentoran won the championship.

## Summary

Omagh Town were relegated after finishing bottom of the table and subsequently dissolved on 7 June 2005 owing to financial problems. Crusaders were relegated after a 3-1 defeat on aggregate to Glenavon in the promotion play-off.
Before the start of the season Newry Town changed name to Newry City following the change in official status of Newry in 2002.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Glentoran (C) | 30 | 24 | 2 | 4 | 73 | 22 | +51 | 74 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Linfield | 30 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 78 | 23 | +55 | 72 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Portadown | 30 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 64 | 29 | +35 | 58 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 4 | Dungannon Swifts | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 57 | 39 | +18 | 50 | |
| 5 | Limavady United | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 48 | |
| 6 | Coleraine | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 62 | 47 | +15 | 47 | |
| 7 | Lisburn Distillery | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 47 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 8 | Ballymena United | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 45 | |
| 9 | Institute | 30 | 11 | 3 | 16 | 36 | 50 | −14 | 36 | |
| 10 | Newry City | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 38 | 63 | −25 | 35 | |
| 11 | Cliftonville | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 34 | |
| 12 | Loughgall | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 34 | 53 | −19 | 30 | |
| 13 | Larne | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 31 | 60 | −29 | 28 | |
| 14 | Ards | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 33 | 54 | −21 | 26 | |
| 15 | Crusaders (R) | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 27 | 48 | −21 | 24 | Qualification to Promotion/relegation play-off |
| 16 | Omagh Town (R) | 30 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 32 | 88 | −56 | 17 | Relegation to Irish First Division |

## Results

Each team played every other team twice (home and away) for a total of 30 games.
| Home \ Away | ARD | BYM | CLI | COL | CRU | DUN | GLT | INS | LRN | LIM | LIN | LIS | LOU | NEW | OMA | POR |
| Ards | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Ballymena United | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Cliftonville | 3–1 | 0–0 | | 1–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Coleraine | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 3–4 | 2–2 |
| Crusaders | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Dungannon Swifts | 7–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 |
| Glentoran | 2–0 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 5–0 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Institute | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Larne | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–5 | 5–2 | 3–2 | 0–5 | 2–0 | | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Limavady United | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 6–0 | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Linfield | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | | 5–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 0–0 |
| Lisburn Distillery | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | | 3–1 | 1–3 | 6–1 | 2–0 |
| Loughgall | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–5 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Newry City | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–5 | | 2–1 | 0–6 |
| Omagh Town | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–5 | 1–8 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | | 1–2 |
| Portadown | 2–3 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 9–0 | |

## Promotion/relegation play-off

Crusaders, the club that finished in the relegation play-off place, faced Glenavon, the runners-up of the 2004–05 Irish First Division in a two-legged tie for a place in next season's Irish Premier League.
Glenavon won 3–2 on aggregate and were promoted, Crusaders were relegated.