Premiership (Northern-Ireland)

Premiership (Northern Ireland) (NIFL Premiership) - the top tier of club football in Northern Ireland, organised by the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL). Regulations: the league has 12 clubs, each team plays every other team three times, after 33 matches the table splits into Section A (places 1-6) and Section B (places 7-12), points from the first phase carry over and each section then plays five additional matches within the section, making 38 matches per club. A win is worth 3 points, a draw 1 and a loss 0, with ties on points broken by overall goal difference, overall goals scored, points in head-to-head matches, head-to-head goal difference, then drawing of lots. The league champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League subject to a UEFA licence, the runners-up and the winners of the Irish Challenge Cup take UEFA Conference League qualifying places depending on the UEFA access list, and if the cup winners have already qualified via finishing 1st or 2nd the cup place passes to the team finishing 3rd. An additional UEFA Conference League place is decided by European play-offs for teams finishing 3rd to 7th: 6th plays the top team from the bottom section, then 3rd plays the winner, 4th plays 5th, and the winners meet in the final, with each tie played to a finish using extra time and penalties if level. For movement between divisions, the bottom club is relegated to the NIFL Championship, the Championship winners are promoted, and the 11th-placed Premiership club plays a two-leg promotion and relegation play-off against an eligible Championship club from 2nd to 6th, with extra time and penalties in the second leg if the aggregate score is level.