# 2010–11 IFA Premiership

The 2010–11 IFA Premiership (known as the Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 3rd season of the IFA Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, and the 110th season of Irish league football overall.
Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 50th time and the 2nd consecutive season.

## Summary

The season began on 7 August 2010, and concluded on 30 April 2011. Linfield were crowned champions for the second successive season, after a 4–0 win over Lisburn Distillery on 26 April 2011. This was Linfield's 50th Irish League title.
The same day, Newry City were relegated to IFA Championship 1 after a 4–0 loss to Glenavon.

## Teams

After a two-legged play-off against 2009–10 Championship 1 runners-up Donegal Celtic, Institute were relegated to the 2010–11 IFA Championship after an aggregate 1–0 loss, with Donegal Celtic taking their place for this season's IFA Premiership.
2009–10 IFA Championship 1 winners Loughgall were not eligible for promotion as they were not awarded the required domestic licence by the IFA.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity |
| Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 1,418 (all seated) |
| Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 2,180 (1,878 seats) |
| Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 2,496 (1,106 seats) |
| Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 1,977 (663 seats) |
| Donegal Celtic | Donegal Celtic Park | Belfast | 2,254 (988 seats) |
| Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 5,000 (300 seats) |
| Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 5,000 (4,000 seats) |
| Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 5,056 (3,991 seats) |
| Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 12,342 (all seated) |
| Lisburn Distillery | New Grosvenor Stadium | Lisburn | 7,000 (540 seats) |
| Newry City | The Showgrounds | Newry | 2,275 (797 seats) |
| Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 2,227 (all seated) |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Linfield (C) | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 80 | 29 | +51 | 85 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Crusaders | 38 | 23 | 5 | 10 | 78 | 59 | +19 | 74 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Glentoran | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 63 | 41 | +22 | 66 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Cliftonville | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 60 | 56 | +4 | 58 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Portadown | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 49 | 58 | −9 | 50 | |
| 6 | Lisburn Distillery | 38 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 50 | 66 | −16 | 48 | |
| 7 | Coleraine | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 56 | |
| 8 | Dungannon Swifts | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 50 | 53 | −3 | 51 | |
| 9 | Ballymena United | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 48 | 56 | −8 | 49 | |
| 10 | Glenavon | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 60 | 59 | +1 | 45 | |
| 11 | Donegal Celtic | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 55 | 89 | −34 | 32 | |
| 12 | Newry City (R) | 38 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 37 | 65 | −28 | 26 | Relegation to IFA Championship 1 |
* ↑ Crusaders qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League as they were the highest-placed Europa League qualifier, and 2010–11 Irish Cup winners Linfield had already qualified for the Champions League.
* 1 2 3 After 33 games, clubs in the bottom half of the table at the split cannot climb into the top half, regardless of the number of points earned during matches 34–38.

## Results
### Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once. As this was the fourth time that teams played each other this season, home sides in this round were chosen so that teams had played each other twice at home and twice away.

## Promotion/relegation

The promotion/relegation play-off was not played this season, because Championship 1 runners-up Limavady United were not eligible for promotion as they did not hold a domestic licence. This meant that Newry City were automatically relegated, with Championship 1 winners Carrick Rangers replacing them in next season's Premiership.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Peter Thompson | Linfield | 23 |
| 2 | Paul McVeigh | Donegal Celtic | 19 |
| 2 | Jordan Owens | Crusaders | 19 |
| 4 | Daryl Fordyce | Glentoran | 17 |
| 5 | Stuart Dallas | Crusaders | 16 |
| 6 | Matthew Burrows | Glentoran | 15 |
| 7 | Leon Knight | Coleraine | 14 |
| 7 | Gary McCutcheon | Ballymena United | 14 |
| 9 | Gary Hamilton | Glenavon | 13 |
| 9 | Ryan Henderson | Donegal Celtic | 13 |