1997–98 Irish League

The 1997–98 Irish League was the 97th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 10 teams, and Cliftonville won the championship.

Irish League Premier Division

Season	1997–98
Champions	Cliftonville 3rd Irish title
Relegated	Ards
Matches played	180
Goals scored	469 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer	Vinny Arkins (22)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Premier Division

Belfast

Ards

Ballymena United

Coleraine

Glenavon

Omagh Town

Portadown

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

Location of teams in the 1997–98 Irish League Premier Division

Cliftonville

Crusaders

Glentoran

Linfield

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 1997–98 Irish League Premier Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Relegation
1	Cliftonville (C)	36	20	8	8	49	37	+12	68	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Linfield	36	17	13	6	50	19	+31	64	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Portadown	36	17	9	10	50	38	+12	60
4	Glentoran	36	17	8	11	52	34	+18	59	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
5	Ballymena United	36	14	9	13	55	55	0	51
6	Crusaders	36	13	12	11	51	51	0	51
7	Coleraine	36	11	10	15	41	48	−7	43
8	Glenavon	36	9	12	15	47	56	−9	39
9	Omagh Town	36	7	10	19	43	68	−25	31	Promotion/relegation play-off and Intertoto Cup first round
10	Ards (R)	36	4	11	21	31	63	−32	23	Relegation to the First Division

Source: Irish League Archive
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–18 Home \ Away ARD BLM CLI COL CRU GLV GLT LIN OMA POR Ards 0–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–2 0–1 Ballymena United 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–2 0–2 2–1 1–2 Cliftonville 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–3 1–0 1–0 Coleraine 2–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 1–2 1–5 0–0 1–1 0–1 Crusaders 1–0 3–4 0–2 1–3 3–2 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–3 Glenavon 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–3 2–2 1–5 Glentoran 2–0 1–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–3 1–0 1–1 Linfield 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 Omagh Town 2–1 3–0 0–1 1–3 1–1 2–1 0–5 0–3 0–2 Portadown 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 Source: Irish League Archive Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36 Home \ Away ARD BLM CLI COL CRU GLV GLT LIN OMA POR Ards 2–1 2–3 1–0 1–1 3–4 1–1 1–5 2–2 1–1 Ballymena United 3–1 4–0 2–2 2–3 2–1 1–2 1–1 4–2 1–2 Cliftonville 2–2 5–2 3–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 4–0 3–1 Coleraine 2–2 0–1 5–1 4–0 0–1 2–1 1–0 4–3 2–0 Crusaders 4–0 4–2 2–2 3–0 4–1 0–3 1–2 2–2 2–1 Glenavon 1–2 3–3 0–0 4–0 2–2 1–0 2–4 2–4 3–0 Glentoran 3–0 2–2 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 Linfield 4–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 Omagh Town 2–4 3–2 0–1 1–3 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–0 1–2 Portadown 1–0 4–0 1–2 1–1 3–2 2–1 3–2 0–2 3–1 Source: Irish League Archive Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

First Division

Irish League First Division

Champions	Newry Town
Promoted	Newry Town
Matches played	112
Goals scored	350 (3.13 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Ballyclare Comrades

Bangor

Carrick

Distillery

Dungannon Swifts

Larne

Limavady United

Newry Town

Location of teams in the 1997–98 Irish League First Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Promotion
1	Newry Town (C, P)	28	20	5	3	61	18	+43	65	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Bangor	28	18	4	6	51	26	+25	58	Qualification for the promotion/relegation play-off
3	Distillery	28	15	6	7	48	34	+14	51
4	Dungannon Swifts	28	14	6	8	63	49	+14	48
5	Ballyclare Comrades	28	13	3	12	47	45	+2	42
6	Larne	28	8	2	18	30	58	−28	26
7	Limavady United	28	5	3	20	29	61	−32	18
8	Carrick Rangers	28	3	3	22	21	59	−38	12

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promotion/relegation play-off

Omagh Town, who finished in the relegation play-off place, faced Bangor, the 2nd-placed team in the First Division, in a two-legged tie for a place in next season's Irish League Premier Division.

Bangor	0 – 5	Omagh Town

27 April 1998

Clandeboye Park, Bangor

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Omagh Town	1 – 0	Bangor

30 April 1998

St Julian's Road, Omagh

Omagh Town won 6–0 on aggregate

References

• Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)