The Northern Ireland Football Premiership Football League, commonly shortened to NIFL Premiership, is the Northern Irish Football League. The NIFL operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football League.
The NIFL works closely with clubs and fans and commits to being an open and transparent organization. The league aims to offer vibrant and exciting championships for Clubs, players and their fans.
NIFL Premiership History
The NIFL Premiership is known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes. The league took an independent and collective approach within the top three levels of the Northern Ireland football league system. This includes the Premiership, Championship and Premier Intermediate League.
The Premiership was established as the IFA Premiership in 2008 before the Northern Ireland Football League was created and started in the 2013-14 season.
The format for the NIFL Premiership today was introduced back in the 2008-09 season, where Northern Ireland’s league system was re-organized.
The size for the top flight was reduced in size from 16 to 12 clubs which included based on their performance from the 2007-08 season and the previous two seasons and other off-the-field factors as well.
NIFL Premiership Football League All-Time Top Goalscorer
Players from the NIFL have made some high scoring goals in the past decades, with the Northern Ireland players making some high scores in the Premier League.
Let's look at the highest scoring players from the NIFL. Note that these players are the top scorers in the last 5-10 seasons and the data can change during the upcoming season for 2022 and beyond.
Shay McCartan – 13 goals
Seamus Vincent McCartan is a Northern Irish football player born on 18th May 1994. He is currently playing in forward for Glentoran.
In May 2010, Shay McCartan joined Burnley on a two-year scholarship. He made his debut in the championship for the club in April 2012 and spent the 2012-13 season at Hyde on loan. In July 2013, he joined Accrington Stanley on a free transfer and played 126 matches over the next four seasons. He then continued on to the 2018-19 season on a loan at Lincoln City before finally joining Glentoran in August 2021 and signed for an Irish League record fee of £100,000.
Andrew Waterworth – 14 goals
Andrew Waterworth is a footballer from Northern Ireland born on 11th April 1986. He plays forward for the NIFL Premiership side for Glenavon.
In January of 2008, Waterworth joined Hamilton for £20,000. He then moved to Glentoran and joined Linfield for a two-year contract in May 2013. On his debut in Linfield, Waterworth broke the bone in his leg, which got him sidelined for two months.
In May of 2021, Waterworth signed for Glenavon due to the expiry of their contracts in Linfield.
Ryan Curran – 15 goals
Ryan Curran is a Northern Ireland footballer born on 13th October 1993. He plays for Cliftonville in the NIFL Premiership.
Curran started his career at Derry City and made eleven appearances before he was sent out on loan to Finns Harps in August 2012. In 2015, Curran signed for the newly promoted League of Ireland side Finns Harps. In 2016, he left Harps and joined the NIFL Premiership outfit Ballinamallard United in 2017. Curran made 10 appearances in his first season at Ballinamallard and left for Cliftonville in May 2018.
Jay Donnelly – 17 goals
Jay Donnelly is an Irish footballer who was born on 10th April 1995. He plays for Glentoran in the NIFL Premiership and previously played for Cliftonville and Belfast Celtic.
Donelly started as a star player in his first two team squad during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 season, with his side winning the League cup. Unfortunately, he was given a four-month prison sentence in January 2019 for sharing an incident image of a 16-year-old girl.
In September 2020, the NIFL Premiership side Glentoran announced that they are signing Donelly as part of the team. And since joining the Glens, Donelly has been scoring prolifically, with 17 goals in his first season during the Irish Premiership.
Shayne Lavery – 22 goals
Shayne Francis Lavery was born on 8th December 1998 and is a Northern Irish professional football player. He plays as a striker for Blackpool and previously played for Everton, Falkirk and Lindfield.
Shayne Lavery played in youth football for Oxford Sunnyside, Glenavon and Portadown. In March 205, he moved to Everton after a successful trial, and in December 2017, he was an unused substitute in Everton's first-team squad for the Europa League match.
Lavery continued on loan to Scottish Championship club Falkirk in early 2019. And at the end of his loan, Lavery left Everton during the end of the 2018-19 season.
In May 2019, Lavery was announced to join Lindfield on a one-year deal, extended to another year in May 2020. He then signed for Blackpool in July 2021 on a two-year contract, with the option to extend it for a further 12 months.
Top Goalscorer 17 May 2022
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