Finally, A Title Race - Irish League 23/24 Review
By Ryan Brolly
The 2023/24 NIFL Premiership has now been and gone, Larne have retained the title they won for the first time last season being pushed into the last games of the championship group split by Linfield. Further down the table Loughgall FC managed to comfortably remain in the top division in their first season. Ballymena United struggled following the departure of long term manager David Jeffrey, under their new boss Jim Ervin the Braidmen only remained in the division via the Promotion/Relegation play off beating Institute following two very late goals from Stephen McCullough and Calvin McCurry in the second leg at the Showgrounds. Newry City did not have similar fortune when replacing long term boss Darren Mullen, following eleven years in charge Mullen called it a day being replaced by his assistant Gary Boyle who lasted until December where he tendered his resignation leading to former Cliftonville manager Barry Gray taking the reins, this was too late however, as Newry City were relegated in 12th position and will be replaced by Portadown in the 2024/25 campaign.
Larne FC with their superior resources were always going to be favourites to retain the Gibson Cup heading into this campaign. The fire power of Lee Bonis and Andy Ryan this season led to 57 goals combined this season in all competitions and the signings of Levi Ives from Cliftonville who made 36 appearances and the highly rated young centre back Craig Farquhar arriving from Ballymena supplemented an already great team. Using their clout to sign Manchester United Academy graduate Ro-Shaun Williams also proved that they can be an attractive prospect for players in England which will boost their strategy in targeting English talent. They will hope to improve their fortunes in European Competition now that they have established their league standing.
Linfield signing Matthew Fitzpatrick from Glenavon was a big signing to spearhead their campaign, this did not work out as expected though as The Blues only have a League Cup triumph to show for the 23/24 season where they once again failed to make a mark in the UEFA Conference League as well. There will be lots of introspection at the club ahead of next season which begins shortly given the Conference League qualifying structure, Healy and co. have a busy few weeks.
Cliftonville can be pleased with their campaign, financially not a competitor with Larne a league title would have been ambitious for The Reds, they did however, bring the Irish Cup back to Solitude for the first time since 1979 with a 3-1 victory in extra time against Linfield thanks to a Ronan Hale brace, a player they will find tricky to hold on to as he has the quality to try his hand again across the Irish sea following his transfer from Birmingham City’s academy to Crusaders in 2019.
A quiet campaign for Crusaders who will lose the longest serving manager in the world Stephen Baxter who resigned at the end of the 23/24 season, they will compete in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Conference League following victory in the European play-off final against Coleraine.
Coleraine FC have an interesting period ahead, in August 2023 the fan ownership group decided it was willing to sell its controlling stake in the club to outside investment which has been forthcoming with it being announced in February 2024 that ‘Bannsider Holdings’ led by London-based businessmen Ranald McGregor-Smith and Patrick Mitchell, have completed their takeover. There has also been a rumoured investment of £2m, time will tell if this was the correct move as clubs have struggled before once they have handed ownership from fans to private companies in the hopes of accelerated development.
Dungannon Swifts have finally escaped the perennial relegation spots in favour of more solid ground, they had a quietly good season under new boss Rodney McAree, they threatened the European play-off, won all their post split games and were three points off Carrick at the top of the split. They have retained the place of top flight football west of the River Bann and in County Tyrone, can they break into the top six next season?
Ryan Brolly is Sport Editor at The Scoop