2000–01 Irish League

Irish League First Division
Champions	Ards
Promoted	Ards
Matches played	180
Goals scored	527 (2.93 per match)
	← 1999–00 2001–02 →

Irish League Premier Division
Season	2000–01
Champions	Linfield; 44th Irish title
Relegated	Ballymena United
Matches played	180
Goals scored	507 (2.82 per match)
Top goalscorer	Davy Larmour (17)
	← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

The 2000–01 Irish League was the 100th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 10 teams, and Linfield won the championship.

Premier Division

Belfast

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Location of teams in the 2000–01 Irish League Premier Division

Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2000–01 Irish League Premier Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Relegation
1	Linfield (C)	36	22	9	5	75	31	+44	75	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Glenavon	36	18	8	10	56	42	+14	62	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Glentoran	36	15	12	9	52	37	+15	57	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round
4	Coleraine	36	14	11	11	48	44	+4	53
5	Cliftonville	36	12	11	13	53	57	−4	47	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round
6	Newry Town	36	12	8	16	42	55	−13	44
7	Omagh Town	36	11	10	15	48	54	−6	43
8	Portadown	36	10	11	15	48	60	−12	41
9	Crusaders	36	8	11	17	44	59	−15	35	Qualification for the promotion/relegation play-off
10	Ballymena United (R)	36	9	7	20	41	68	−27	34	Relegation to the First Division

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–18

Home \ Away	BLM	CLI	COL	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	NEW	OMA	POR
Ballymena United		2–1	0–1	0–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–1
Cliftonville	2–2		1–0	0–3	2–1	1–0	1–3	1–0	1–2	0–0
Coleraine	0–2	2–2		1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–0
Crusaders	2–3	0–4	1–1		0–2	0–1	0–2	1–3	0–0	0–1
Glenavon	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–0		0–0	0–1^[a]	0–1	3–0	1–2
Glentoran	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1		0–1	0–0	1–2	3–1
Linfield	2–2	3–0	0–3	0–0	3–0	1–1		1–3	1–1	0–0
Newry Town	0–2	0–3	0–0	2–0	1–2	0–0	0–0		0–2	0–0
Omagh Town	0–1	0–1	1–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–0	2–2		0–0
Portadown	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	0–3	2–0	1–2

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

^ The 1st round match between Glenavon and Linfield (originally finished 0–0) was rated 0–1. Glenavon had substituted an ineligible player.

Matches 19–36

Home \ Away	BLM	CLI	COL	CRU	GLV	GLT	LIN	NEW	OMA	POR
Ballymena United		2–2	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–3	1–5	1–0	2–1	3–3
Cliftonville	3–1		1–1	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–4	2–2	2–2	5–3
Coleraine	1–0	3–1		2–2	0–2	5–2	1–1	5–2	1–3	3–3
Crusaders	3–1	1–2	2–3		4–3	1–1	1–3	2–2	2–1	2–1
Glenavon	4–0	1–0	2–1	1–1		3–0	0–4	1–0	3–0	3–3
Glentoran	2–1	4–0	0–1	2–0	2–2		2–0	1–0	2–0	4–1
Linfield	4–1	4–2	3–1	3–1	4–2	2–0		2–0	3–2	4–1
Newry Town	5–2	2–1	2–0	3–2	1–4	1–3	0–2		1–0	4–3
Omagh Town	4–0	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–2	2–1	1–5	2–3		2–1
Portadown	3–2	1–1	1–0	3–2	1–2	4–1	1–0	4–0	1–4

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

First Division

Location of teams in the 2000–01 Irish League First Division

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or Promotion
1	Ards (C, P)	36	21	10	5	69	31	+38	73	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Lisburn Distillery	36	20	11	5	66	37	+29	71	Qualification for the promotion/relegation play-off
3	Armagh City	36	19	9	8	74	52	+22	66
4	Bangor	36	18	9	9	56	42	+14	63
5	Institute	36	16	7	13	58	48	+10	55
6	Larne	36	12	9	15	53	62	−9	45
7	Dungannon Swifts	36	10	11	15	45	48	−3	41
8	Limavady United	36	9	10	17	37	51	−14	37
9	Ballyclare Comrades	36	5	8	23	35	69	−34	23
10	Carrick Rangers	36	6	4	26	34	87	−53	22

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

Promotion/relegation play-off

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

1 May 2001

Lisburn Distillery	2 – 1	Crusaders

New Grosvenor Stadium, Ballyskeagh

4 May 2001

Crusaders	3 – 1	Lisburn Distillery

Seaview, Belfast

Crusaders won 4–3 on aggregate

References

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

[table_note_1_GLV_LIN0.06746632329536-1] The 1st round match between Glenavon and Linfield (originally finished 0–0) was rated 0–1. Glenavon had substituted an ineligible player.

[a]