1895–96 Irish League

Irish League
Season	1895–96
Dates	7 September 1895 –; 11 January 1896
Champions	Distillery; 1st Irish title
Matches played	12
Goals scored	54 (4.5 per match)
Biggest home win	Distillery 6–1 Glentoran
Biggest away win	Linfield 0–4 Cliftonville
Highest scoring	Glentoran 6–2 Distillery
	← 1894–95 1896–97 →

The 1895–96 Irish League was the 6th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football.

The league comprised four teams, and Distillery won the championship for the first time after a play-off with Cliftonville.

Season summary

No clubs were excluded or elected to the league for this season, meaning the league again continued with four clubs. For the first time, the top two teams finished level on points, meaning a play-off (referred to contemporaneously as a "test match") was required. Played at Cliftonville's home ground Solitude, Distillery won the match 2–1 with two goals from Olphie Stanfield to win their first league title.^[1]^[2]

Teams and locations

Cliftonville

Distillery

Glentoran

No home ground
Linfield

Location of teams in the 1895–96 Irish League; all matches were played in Belfast

Team	Town	Home Ground
Cliftonville	Belfast	Solitude
Distillery	Belfast	Grosvenor Park
Glentoran	Belfast	The Oval
Linfield	No home ground

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Result
1	Distillery (C)	6	3	2	1	17	12	1.417	8	Champions
2	Cliftonville	6	3	2	1	14	9	1.556	8
3	Linfield	6	2	1	3	10	14	0.714	5
4	Glentoran	6	1	1	4	13	19	0.684	3

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

League

Home \ Away	CLI	DIS	GLT	LIN
Cliftonville		2–2	2–1	1–3
Distillery	2–2		6–1	2–1
Glentoran	1–3	6–2		2–4
Linfield	0–4	0–3	2–2

Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship play-off

11 January 1896

Distillery	2–1	Cliftonville
Stanfield	Report	Edwards

Solitude, Belfast

References

^ Alex Graham (2005). Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005. pp. 13–14.
^ "Championship - Final Tie". Ireland's Saturday Night. 11 January 1896. p. 3.

External links

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

[Graham-1] Alex Graham (2005). Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005. pp. 13–14.

[2] "Championship - Final Tie". Ireland's Saturday Night. 11 January 1896. p. 3.

[1]

[2]

NIFL Premiership seasons
Irish League	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Irish Premier League	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
IFA Premiership	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
NIFL Premiership	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Belfast & District League (wartime)	1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19
Northern Regional League (wartime)	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47

1895–96 in Irish football
« 1894–95 1896–97 »
Domestic leagues
Domestic cups	Irish Cup City Cup County Antrim Shield Belfast Charity Cup
Related to national team	British Home Championship

1895–96 in European football
« 1894–95 1896–97 »
Domestic leagues	Belgium Denmark England Netherlands Scotland
Domestic cups	England Ireland Scotland Sweden '96 Wales