# 2005–06 Irish Premier League

The 2005–06 Irish Premier League was the 105th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football, and the 3rd edition in its current format (as the Irish Premier League) since its inception in 2003. The league consisted of 16 teams, and Linfield won the championship.

## Summary

Ards were relegated after finishing bottom of the table, and Institute were relegated after a 3-1 defeat on aggregate to Donegal Celtic in the promotion play-off.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Linfield (C) | 30 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 88 | 23 | +65 | 75 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Glentoran | 30 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 60 | 28 | +32 | 63 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Portadown | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 56 | 36 | +20 | 54 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 4 | Dungannon Swifts | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 61 | 41 | +20 | 49 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 5 | Cliftonville | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 47 | |
| 6 | Newry City | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 45 | |
| 7 | Ballymena United | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 45 | |
| 8 | Lisburn Distillery | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 44 | 38 | +6 | 44 | |
| 9 | Coleraine | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 40 | 57 | −17 | 37 | |
| 10 | Limavady United | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 42 | 49 | −7 | 36 | |
| 11 | Loughgall | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 33 | 38 | −5 | 34 | |
| 12 | Larne | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 42 | 63 | −21 | 30 | |
| 13 | Glenavon | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 35 | 59 | −24 | 30 | |
| 14 | Armagh City | 30 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 38 | 69 | −31 | 30 | |
| 15 | Institute (R) | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 37 | 58 | −21 | 26 | Qualification to Promotion/relegation play-off |
| 16 | Ards (R) | 30 | 6 | 2 | 22 | 31 | 62 | −31 | 20 | 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 | ARM | BYM | CLI | COL | DUN | GLA | GLT | INS | LRN | LIM | LIN | LIS | LOU | NEW | POR |
| Ards | | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 |
| Armagh City | 3–0 | | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 5–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–6 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Ballymena United | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Cliftonville | 0–1 | 8–1 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Coleraine | 2–4 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Dungannon Swifts | 4–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 6–1 | | 6–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Glenavon | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–5 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 0–1 |
| Glentoran | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 5–1 |
| Institute | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–9 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Larne | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | | 2–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Limavady United | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 |
| Linfield | 2–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 7–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 8–1 | 2–0 | | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 |
| Lisburn Distillery | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–6 | | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Loughgall | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | | 0–3 | 0–0 |
| Newry City | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | | 0–2 |
| Portadown | 3–2 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 5–1 | |
* ↑ The match between Ards and Glenavon (originally finished 0–3) was rated 1–0 due to the use of a player who was not eligible to play.

## Promotion/relegation play-off

Institute, the club that finished in the relegation play-off place, faced Donegal Celtic, the runners-up of the 2005–06 Irish First Division in a two-legged tie for a place in next season's Irish Premier League.
Donegal Celtic won 3–1 on aggregate and were promoted, Institute were relegated.