2008–09 IFA Premiership
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The IFA Premiership 2008-09 is the first season after a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland. It was scheduled to begin on August 9, 2008. However, the start of the league was postponed for a week due to a referees' strike. [1][2]The last games will be in May 2009. Linfield FC are the defending champions.
The league has been reduced from sixteen to twelve teams due to a competition restructuration by the Irish FA. Template:Location map start Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map marker Template:Location map end
Clubs and venues
| Overall Rank |
Club | Stadium | Town/city | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linfield | Windsor Park | Belfast | 20,400 (14,400 seats) |
| 2 | Glentoran | The Oval | Belfast | 15,250 (5000 seats) |
| 3 | Ballymena United | The Showgrounds | Ballymena | 8,000 (4000 seats) |
| 4 | Cliftonville | Solitude | Belfast | 8,000 (2099 seats) |
| 5 | Lisburn Distillery | New Grosvenor Stadium | Lisburn | 8,000 (2000 seats) |
| 6 | Coleraine | The Showgrounds | Coleraine | 6,500 (1500 seats) |
| 7 | Newry City | The Showgrounds | Newry | 6,500 (800 seats) |
| 8 | Crusaders | Seaview | Belfast | 6,500 |
| 9 | Glenavon | Mourneview Park | Lurgan | 5,500 (4000 seats) |
| =10 | Institute | YMCA Grounds | Drumahoe | 4,000 (600 seats) |
| =10 | Bangor | Clandeboye Park | Bangor | 4,000 |
| 12 | Dungannon Swifts | Stangmore Park | Dungannon | 3,000 (300 seats) |
Team changes from last season
Five of last season's sixteen Premier League teams failed to gain a place in the new twelve-team Premiership, and one new team - Bangor - gained entry from the IFA Intermediate League.
Of the five teams who missed out, three - Armagh City, Larne and Limavady United failed to obtain the necessary domestic licence. Portadown obtained a licence, but was controversially excluded because a club official missed a deadline for submitting an application form by several minutes. Finally, Donegal Celtic obtained a licence, but was ranked thirteenth in the entry list, and thus missed out by one place.
Standings
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Results
Matches 1-22
During matches 1-22 each team plays every other team twice (home and away). Template:Fb r2 header
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2The matches of Round 1, originally postponed to October 7, 2008 due to a referees' strike, were postponed again to later dates because of U19 matches on both home team grounds the following day.
3The match of Round 2 has been postponed to September 30, 2008 due to inclement weather.
4The matches of Round 2 were either suspended or postponed due to inclement weather. No make-up date has been announced yet.
5The match of Round 6 was postponed due to inclement weather. No make-up date has been announced yet.
6The match of Round 10 was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. No make-up date has been announced yet.[3]
Matches 23-33
During matches 23-33 each team will play every other team once (either at home or away). This means that during matches 1-33 each team will play every other team 3 times (either 1 home, 2 away or 2 home, 1 away). Template:Fb r2 header
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Matches 34-38
During matches 34-38 each team will play every other team in their half of the table once (either at home or away).
Relegation play-offs
The 11th placed team will play a two-legged play-off against the runners-up of the IFA Championship 2008-09.