# 2018–19 NIFL Championship

The 2018–19 NIFL Championship was the third season of the NIFL Championship since gaining senior status. It is the second-tier of the Northern Ireland Football League - the national football league in Northern Ireland.

## Teams

The 2018–19 NIFL Championship was contested by 12 teams. Institute were champions in the previous season, and were promoted to the 2018–19 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by the bottom team in last season's Premiership, Ballinamallard United. Runners-up Newry City won 6–3 on aggregate in the promotion play-off against Carrick Rangers, also achieving promotion to the Premiership for this season and relegating Carrick Rangers to the Championship.
The bottom team from the previous season, Lurgan Celtic, were relegated to the third-tier NIFL Premier Intermediate League. They were replaced by Dundela, winners of the Premier Intermediate League. The eleventh-placed team from the previous season, Dergview, remained in the Championship this season, after defeating the NIFL Premier Intermediate League runners-up Queen's University 4–1 on aggregate in the relegation play-off.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity |
| Ballinamallard United | Ferney Park | Ballinamallard | 2,000 (250 seated) |
| Ballyclare Comrades | Dixon Park | Ballyclare | 5,333 |
| Carrick Rangers | Loughshore Hotel Arena | Carrickfergus | 4,500 (150 seated) |
| Dergview | Darragh Park | Castlederg | 1,200 |
| Dundela | Wilgar Park | Belfast | 2,500 |
| Harland & Wolff Welders | Tillysburn Park | Belfast | 3,000 |
| Knockbreda | Breda Park | Belfast | 1,000 |
| Larne | Inver Park | Larne | 3,000 |
| Limavady United | The Showgrounds | Limavady | 1,500 |
| Loughgall | Lakeview Park | Loughgall | 3,000 |
| PSNI | Newforge Lane | Belfast | 1,500 |
| Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 3,940 (2,765 seated) |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Larne (C, P) | 32 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 87 | 19 | +68 | 81 | Promotion to the NIFL Premiership |
| 2 | Carrick Rangers (O, P) | 32 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 59 | 42 | +17 | 64 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 3 | Portadown | 32 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 59 | 55 | +4 | 51 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Dundela | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 67 | 60 | +7 | 46 | |
| 5 | Ballinamallard United | 32 | 12 | 3 | 17 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 39 | |
| 6 | Harland & Wolff Welders | 32 | 11 | 2 | 19 | 45 | 68 | −23 | 35 | |
| 7 | Loughgall | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 60 | 52 | +8 | 42 | |
| 8 | Dergview | 32 | 13 | 3 | 16 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 42 | |
| 9 | Ballyclare Comrades | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 58 | 68 | −10 | 40 | |
| 10 | Knockbreda | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 45 | 63 | −18 | 37 | |
| 11 | PSNI (O) | 32 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 48 | 72 | −24 | 34 | Qualification for the relegation play-off |
| 12 | Limavady United (R) | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 45 | 62 | −17 | 32 | Relegation to the NIFL Premier Intermediate League |
* ↑ Teams play each other twice (22 matches), before the league splits into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last ten matches.

## Results
### Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
| Home \ Away | BMD | BCC | CRK | DGV | DUN | H&W | KNB | LAR | LIM | LOU | POR | PSN |
| Ballinamallard United | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 |
| Ballyclare Comrades | 2–0 | — | 1–4 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Carrick Rangers | 1–3 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 |
| Dergview | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Dundela | 3–2 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 2–3 | 3–3 |
| Harland & Wolff Welders | 2–0 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Knockbreda | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 5–3 | 0–4 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Larne | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | — | 6–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 |
| Limavady United | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 |
| Loughgall | 2–2 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Portadown | 5–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 |
| PSNI | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | — |

### Matches 23–32

During matches 23–32 each team plays every other team in their half of the table twice (home and away).

## Play-offs
### NIFL Premiership play-offs

See: 2018–19 NIFL Premiership

### NIFL Championship play-off

The eleventh-placed team from the Championship, PSNI, faced Annagh United, the runners-up from the 2018–19 Premier Intermediate League over two legs for one spot in the 2019–20 NIFL Championship. PSNI won 5–3 on aggregate to retain their place in the Championship for next season. Annagh United remained in the Premier Intermediate League.
PSNI won 5–3 on aggregate and retained their Championship status for the 2019–20 season.