2022–23 NIFL Championship

The 2022–23 NIFL Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth 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. The season began on 13 August 2022 and concluded on 29 April 2023.

NIFL Championship

Season	2022–23
Dates	13 Aug 2022 – 29 Apr 2023
Champions	Loughgall
Promoted	Loughgall
Relegated	Warrenpoint Town
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

Newry City were the champions of the previous season and promoted to the 2022–23 NIFL Premiership. They were replaced by Warrenpoint Town, who were relegated from the 2021–22 NIFL Premiership. Queen's University were relegated to the 2022–23 NIFL Premier Intermediate League and replaced by Newington, the champions of the 2021–22 NIFL Premier Intermediate League.

Teams

Belfast

Annagh United

Ards

Ballinamallard United

Ballyclare Comrades

Dergview

Institute

Loughgall

Warrenpoint Town

Belfast teams : Dundela
H&W Welders
Knockbreda
Newington

Locations of the 2022–23 NIFL Championship teams

Dundela

H&W Welders

Knockbreda

Locations of the Belfast-based 2022–23 NIFL Championship teams

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity[1]
Annagh United	Tandragee Road	Portadown	1,250 (100 seated)
Ards	Bangor Fuels Arena	Bangor	1,895 (500 seated)
Ballinamallard United	Ferney Park	Ballinamallard	2,000 (250 seated)
Ballyclare Comrades	Dixon Park	Ballyclare	5,333
Dergview	Darragh Park	Castlederg	1,200
Dundela	Wilgar Park	Belfast	2,500
Harland & Wolff Welders	Tillysburn Park	Belfast	3,000
Institute	Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium	Derry	8,200
Knockbreda	Breda Park	Belfast	1,000
Loughgall	Lakeview Park	Loughgall	3,000
Newington	Solitude	Belfast	8,000 (3,000 seated)
Warrenpoint Town	Milltown	Warrenpoint	1,450

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation[a]
1	Loughgall (C, P)	38	23	8	7	76	25	+51	77	Promotion to the NIFL Premiership
2	Warrenpoint Town (D, R)	38	21	8	9	67	45	+22	71	[b]
3	Annagh United	38	17	8	13	58	43	+15	59	Qualification for the NIFL Premiership play-off
4	Dundela	38	18	4	16	57	58	−1	58
5	Ards	38	17	5	16	72	75	−3	56
6	Harland & Wolff Welders	38	17	4	17	69	65	+4	55
7	Ballyclare Comrades	38	14	13	11	66	63	+3	55
8	Ballinamallard United	38	14	10	14	50	59	−9	52
9	Newington	38	12	7	19	64	73	−9	43
10	Dergview	38	11	8	19	51	68	−17	41
11	Institute	38	10	8	20	50	63	−13	38
12	Knockbreda (O)	38	8	9	21	47	90	−43	33	Qualification for the NIFL Championship play-off

Source: NIFL Championship
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots^[2]
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
2. Warrenpoint Town were refused an NIFL Championship license, resulting in disqualification from this season and demotion to the NIFL Intermediate League for the next season. Annagh United, who were in third place, accepted the NIFL's invite to take Warrenpoint's place in the NIFL Premiership play-off. Institute were reprieved from the NIFL Championship play-off and thus reprieved from relegation and replaced by Knockbreda, who were reprieved from automatic relegation, but had to compete again to stay in the division.

Results

Matches 1–22 During matches 1–22 each team plays every other team twice (home and away). Home \ Away ANN ARD BMD BCC DGV DUN HAR INS KNB LGL NEW WAR Annagh United — 2–1 4–0 1–1 3–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 Ards 2–1 — 2–0 2–1 5–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 4–1 0–5 1–2 3–5 Ballinamallard United 0–3 4–1 — 1–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 Ballyclare Comrades 2–2 3–2 0–0 — 0–1 5–2 0–0 1–0 3–2 0–4 1–1 1–1 Dergview 1–0 2–3 1–2 0–3 — 0–1 2–3 0–3 2–3 2–0 3–0 0–3 Dundela 1–2 1–5 4–0 0–2 1–1 — 3–0 1–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 Harland & Wolff Welders 1–3 0–2 0–1 0–5 3–2 2–1 — 5–0 7–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 Institute 1–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–2 0–2 1–0 — 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 Knockbreda 1–1 1–4 1–2 1–1 3–3 0–0 4–2 2–3 — 0–1 1–0 1–2 Loughgall 3–0 6–1 3–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 4–0 1–0 3–0 — 2–1 3–0[a] Newington 1–4 2–2 3–4 5–2 4–1 2–3 2–1 3–3 3–0[b] 0–2 — 0–1 Warrenpoint Town 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 4–2 0–3 3–2 2–0 4–0 2–0 2–0 — Source: NIFL Championship Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants. Notes: Originally a 2–0 win for Loughall; Loughall awarded a 3–0 win after Warrenpoint Town fielded an ineligible player. Originally a 0–2 win for Knockbreda; Newington awarded a 3–0 win after Knockbreda fielded an ineligible player.

Matches 23–33 During matches 23–33 each team plays every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). Home \ Away ANN ARD BMD BCC DGV DUN HAR INS KNB LGL NEW WAR Annagh United — — 0–2 1–3 2–1 — — — 0–0 — — 0–1 Ards 2–0 — — 3–3 — 1–1 — — — 0–3 2–1 — Ballinamallard United — 1–0 — 2–0 2–2 1–3 — — — — 2–2 — Ballyclare Comrades — — — — 0–4 1–0 — 6–2 1–2 2–2 — 3–2 Dergview — 2–1 — — — 2–3 — 2–1 1–1 — 3–0 — Dundela 0–3 — — — — — 2–3 1–0 2–3 — 3–4 2–1 Harland & Wolff Welders 0–0 2–5 3–1 5–1 3–0 — — — — 0–0 — — Institute 2–0 1–1 0–2 — — — 0–1 — 8–1 — — — Knockbreda — 3–2 3–2 — — — 0–3 — — 0–0 0–3 1–4 Loughgall 4–1 — 1–1 — 0–1 0–1 — 5–1 — — 1–0 — Newington 1–2 — — 2–2 — — 0–3 1–4 — — — 1–4 Warrenpoint Town — 1–4 2–1 — 3–0 — 3–1 2–1 — 1–3 — — Source: NIFL Championship Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches, the table splits into two halves, with the top six teams forming Section A and the bottom six teams forming Section B. Each team plays every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures are reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams have played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

Section A Home \ Away ANN ARD BCC DUN LGL WAR Annagh United — 1–2 — 4–0 0–0 — Ards — — — — — 1–0 Ballyclare Comrades 2–1 5–1 — — — — Dundela — 2–4 4–0 — 1–3 — Loughgall — 5–0 2–2 — — 1–2 Warrenpoint Town 2–1 — 1–1 1–1 — — Source: NIFL Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Section B Home \ Away BMD DGV HAR INS KNB NEW Ballinamallard United — — 3–2 0–1 4–1 — Dergview 1–0 — 2–0 — — — Harland & Wolff Welders — — — 3–1 3–2 5–4 Institute — 1–1 — — — 0–2 Knockbreda — 1–1 — 3–2 — — Newington 4–1 3–1 — — 1–1 — Source: NIFL Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

NIFL Championship play-off

The eleventh-placed club (Institute) were expected to face the second-placed club from the 2022–23 NIFL Premier Intermediate League (Ballymacash Rangers) for one place in the following season's Championship. However, after Warrenpoint Town were disqualified and expelled from the NIFL Championship, Institute were reprieved from the play-off and replaced by the bottom-placed NIFL Championship club, Knockbreda.^[3]

First leg

Ballymacash Rangers v Knockbreda

30 May 2023	Ballymacash Rangers	2–4	Knockbreda	The Bluebell Stadium
19:45 BST (UTC+01)	Barr 34' Morrison 90+3'		Rutkowski 45+5', 70' McGreevy 47' Greer 55'

Second leg

Knockbreda v Ballymacash Rangers

3 June 2023	Knockbreda	0–0 (4–2 agg.)	Ballymacash Rangers	Breda Park
13:00 BST (UTC+01)

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Adam Salley	Ards	27
2	Matthew Ferguson	H&W Welders	26
3	Stephen Murray	Annagh United	18
-	Darius Roohi	Ballyclare Comrades	18