1890–91 Irish League

Irish League
Season	1890–91
Dates	6 September 1890 –; 30 April 1891
Champions	Linfield; 1st Irish title
Matches played	49
Goals scored	337 (6.88 per match)
Top goalscorer	Robert Hill (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Linfield 14–0 Oldpark
Biggest away win	Cliftonville 0–8 Linfield; Milford 0–8 Glentoran; Milford 1–9 Distillery; Oldpark 2–10 Ulster
Highest scoring	Linfield 14–0 Oldpark; Linfield 9–5 Ulster
	1891–92 →

The 1890–91 Irish League was the inaugural edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football organised by the Irish Football Association.

For this season, the league used a double round-robin format, where teams played each other both home and away once. It comprised eight teams, and was won by Linfield.

Formation

On 14 March 1890, on the invitation of J. W. Gordon, representative from eight clubs - Clarence, Cliftonville, Distillery, Glentoran, Linfield, Milford, Oldpark and Ulster - met in the Belfast Estate Office of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. Within fifteen, minutes, the league was constituted. The twelve attendees of the meeting were W. McNeice, J. R. Spiller, W. Finlay, W. Couser, J. McClatchley, S. Monroe, J. McKnight, C. Birkby, J. Torrans, J. W. Gordon, J. Henderson and W. S. Dawson. The first officials appointed were W. McNeice (chairman), W. Finlay (treasurer) and J. W. Gordon (honorary secretary).^[1]

Teams and locations

Belfast

Milford

Belfast teams:
Clarence
Cliftonville
Distillery
Glentoran
Linfield
Oldpark
Ulster

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Location of teams in the 1890–91 Irish League

1890–91 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

Location of Belfast teams in the 1890–91 Irish League

Team	Town	Home Ground
Clarence	Belfast	Stranmillis
Cliftonville	Belfast	Solitude
Distillery	Belfast	Grosvenor Park
Glentoran	Belfast	King's Field
Linfield	Belfast	Ulsterville
Milford	Armagh	Milford
Oldpark	Belfast	Oldpark
Ulster	Belfast	Ulster Cricket Ground

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Result
1	Linfield (C)	14	12	1	1	89	18	4.944	25	Champions
2	Ulster	14	9	3	2	72	39	1.846	21
3	Distillery	14	9	1	4	46	37	1.243	19
4	Cliftonville	14	7	3	4	37	46	0.804	17
5	Glentoran	14	6	1	7	39	38	1.026	13
6	Oldpark	14	4	2	8	22	48	0.458	10
7	Clarence	14	3	1	10	21	49	0.429	7	Withdrew
8	Milford^[a]	14	0	0	14	10	61	0.164	0	Withdrew

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

^ Milford resigned from the league on 20 January 1891 with five games still to play. These remaining games were awarded to their opponents and a 0–0 scoreline was registered.^[2]

Results

Home \ Away	CLA	CLI	DIS	GLT	LIN	MIL	OLD	ULS
Clarence		2–5	3–4	5–4	1–3	+:-^[a]	1–3	2–6
Cliftonville	2–2		7–3	0–0	0–8	3–2	2–2	4–1
Distillery	4–0	1–6		4–2	2–1	+:-^[a]	2–0	3–5
Glentoran	9–1	4–3	0–3		0–7	4–2	2–0	-:+^[b]
Linfield	5–2	10–2	6–2	6–0		9–1	14–0	9–5
Milford	-:+^[b]	-:+^[b]	1–9	0–8	1–6		-:+^[b]	2–7
Oldpark	+:-^[a]	2–3	2–4	2–3	0–3	5–0		2–10
Ulster	4–2	9–0	4–4	5–2	2–2	10–1	4–4

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

^ ^a ^b ^c Match rated as goalless home win.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Match rated as goalless away win.

Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
1	Robert Hill	Linfield	20
2	John Peden	Linfield	19
3	Sam Torrans	Linfield	18

References

^ Malcolm Brodie (1963). The History of Irish Soccer. p. 22.
^ Alex Graham (2005). Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005. p. 8.

External links

[3] Milford resigned from the league on 20 January 1891 with five games still to play. These remaining games were awarded to their opponents and a 0–0 scoreline was registered.^[2]

[table_note_1_DIS_MIL0.91616080464616-4] Match rated as goalless home win.

[table_note_1_GLT_ULS0.91616080464616-5] Match rated as goalless away win.

[1] Malcolm Brodie (1963). The History of Irish Soccer. p. 22.

[2] Alex Graham (2005). Football in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Record 1881-2005. p. 8.

[1]

[a]

[2]

[a]

[b]

v t e NIFL Premiership seasons
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Northern Regional League (wartime)	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47

v t e 1890–91 in Irish football
« 1889–90 1891–92 »
Domestic leagues	Irish League
Domestic cups	Irish Cup County Antrim Shield Belfast Charity Cup
Domestic cups	FA Cup
Related to national team	British Home Championship

v t e 1890–91 in European football
« 1889–90 1891–92 »
Domestic leagues	Denmark England Netherlands Ireland Scotland
Domestic cups	England Ireland Scotland Sweden '91 Wales