# 2016–17 NIFL Premiership

The 2016–17 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 116th season of Irish league football overall, and the 4th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.
Linfield were champions, winning the league for the 52nd time.

## Summary

The fixtures were announced on 7 July 2016. The season began on 6 August 2016 and ended on 29 April 2017, with the play-offs taking place in May 2017.
Crusaders were the two-time defending champions after winning the title for the previous two seasons. On 29 April 2017, Linfield beat Cliftonville 3–1 to win their 52nd league title on the final day of the season.
It was an unlikely title win for Linfield, as after a 1–0 home defeat to Coleraine in January 2017, they sat seven points behind defending champions, Crusaders. A 1–1 draw at home against Portadown on 17 February 2017 meant the gap had grown to nine points with nine games left to play. However, Linfield won all nine of their remaining games, going unbeaten in their last 14 games of the season since the Coleraine defeat, winning 13 of them and drawing the other (the 1–1 draw against Portadown). They picked up 40 out of a possible 42 points to capitalise on Crusaders dropping points, and pipped them to the title on the final day of the season by two points.
Linfield qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League. The runners-up, Crusaders, along with third-placed Coleraine and the play-off winners, Ballymena United, qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.

## Teams

Twelve teams competed in the 2016–17 NIFL Premiership. Warrenpoint Town were relegated after finishing bottom of the 2015–16 NIFL Premiership and after a failed appeal against an IFA ruling not to deduct points from Carrick Rangers after their manager incorrectly served a touchline ban. Warrenpoint Town were replaced by Ards as the winners of the 2015–16 NIFL Championship.
Ballinamallard United finished second from bottom but retained their Premiership place after winning the promotion-relegation play-off against NIFL Championship runners-up Institute 5–4 on aggregate. Portadown started this season with a 12-point deduction, after the IFA found the club guilty of breaching the rules by paying Peter McMahon, despite the player being contracted to the club as an amateur. The club appealed against the decision, but this was rejected in October 2016.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Stadium | Location | Capacity |
| Ards | Clandeboye Park | Bangor | 1,895 (500 seated) |
| Ballinamallard United | Ferney Park | Ballinamallard | 2,000 (250 seated) |
| Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 3,050 (2,200 seated) |
| Carrick Rangers | Taylors Avenue | Carrickfergus | 4,500 (150 seated) |
| Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 2,530 (all seated) |
| Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 2,496 (1,106 seated) |
| Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 3,383 (all seated) |
| Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 5,000 (300 seated) |
| Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 4,160 (4,000 seated) |
| Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 6,054 (4,989 seated) |
| Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 18,614 (all seated) |
| Portadown | Shamrock Park | Portadown | 3,940 (2,765 seated) |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Linfield (C) | 38 | 27 | 8 | 3 | 87 | 24 | +63 | 89 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Crusaders | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 83 | 36 | +47 | 87 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Coleraine | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 56 | 42 | +14 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Ballymena United (O) | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 75 | 73 | +2 | 59 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 5 | Cliftonville | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 58 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 6 | Glenavon | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 7 | Dungannon Swifts | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 67 | 59 | +8 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 8 | Ards | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 61 | 70 | −9 | 47 | |
| 9 | Glentoran | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 46 | |
| 10 | Ballinamallard United | 38 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 45 | 72 | −27 | 35 | |
| 11 | Carrick Rangers (O) | 38 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 31 | 79 | −48 | 22 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | Portadown (R) | 38 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 28 | 75 | −47 | 13 | Relegation to the NIFL Championship |
* ↑ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
* ↑ 2016–17 Irish Cup winners, Linfield, had already qualified for the Champions League as league champions. As a result, a Europa League berth was passed down to third-placed Coleraine.
* 1 2 Ballymena United qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the Europa League play-offs.
* ↑ After 33 games, clubs in the bottom half of the table at the split cannot climb into the top half, regardless of the results during matches 34–38.
* ↑ Portadown were deducted 12 points for a player registration breach.

## 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 were chosen so that they will have played each other twice at home and twice away.

## Play-offs
### UEFA Europa League play-offs

Teams finishing fourth to seventh took part in Europa League play-offs to decide which team would qualify for next season's Europa League first qualifying round.

#### Final
### NIFL Premiership play-offs
#### Pre-play-off

The runners-up and third-placed teams from the Championship, Institute and Ballyclare Comrades respectively, took part (over two legs) in a pre-play-off.
Institute won 3–2 on aggregate.

#### Play-off

The eleventh-placed team from the Premiership, Carrick Rangers, played the winners of the pre-play-off, Institute, over two legs for one spot in the 2017–18 NIFL Premiership.
Carrick Rangers won 5–2 on aggregate and retained their spot in the NIFL Premiership for the 2017–18 season; Institute remained in the NIFL Championship.

## Top goalscorers

    As of 18 April 2017
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Andrew Mitchell | Dungannon Swifts | 25 |
| 2 | Paul Heatley | Crusaders | 21 |
| 3 | Andrew Waterworth | Linfield | 20 |
| 3 | Jordan Owens | Crusaders | 20 |
| 5 | Cathair Friel | Ballymena United | 17 |
| 6 | Curtis Allen | Glentoran | 16 |
| 7 | Tony Kane | Ballymena United | 14 |
| 7 | Aaron Burns | Linfield | 14 |
| 7 | Jamie McGonigle | Coleraine | 14 |
| 10 | Johnny McMurray | Ballymena United | 12 |
| 11 | Adam Lecky | Ballinamallard United | 11 |
| 11 | Michael Ruddy | Ards | 11 |
| 13 | Greg Moorhouse | Glenavon | 10 |
| 13 | Gavin Whyte | Crusaders | 10 |
| 13 | James Mclaughlin | Coleraine | 10 |