1895–96 Irish League
Football league season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1895â96 Irish League was the 6th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football.
| Season | 1895â96 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 7 September 1895 â 11 January 1896 |
| Champions | Distillery 1st Irish title |
| Matches | 12 |
| Goals | 54 (4.5 per match) |
| Biggest home win | Distillery 6â1 Glentoran |
| Biggest away win | Linfield 0â4 Cliftonville |
| Highest scoring | Glentoran 6â2 Distillery |
â 1894â95 1896â97 â | |
The league comprised four teams, and Distillery won the championship for the first time after a play-off with Cliftonville.
Season summary
No clubs were excluded or elected to the league for this season, meaning the league again continued with four clubs. For the first time, the top two teams finished level on points, meaning a play-off (referred to contemporaneously as a "test match") was required. Played at Cliftonville's home ground Solitude, Distillery won the match 2â1 with two goals from Olphie Stanfield to win their first league title.[1][2]
Teams and locations
Location of teams in the 1895â96 Irish League; all matches were played in Belfast
| Team | Town | Home Ground |
|---|---|---|
| Cliftonville | Belfast | Solitude |
| Distillery | Belfast | Grosvenor Park |
| Glentoran | Belfast | The Oval |
| Linfield | No home ground | |
League standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Distillery (C) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 12 | 1.417 | 8 | Champions |
| 2 | Cliftonville | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 1.556 | 8 | |
| 3 | Linfield | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 0.714 | 5 | |
| 4 | Glentoran | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 19 | 0.684 | 3 |
Results
League
Championship play-off
| Distillery | 2â1 | Cliftonville |
|---|---|---|
Stanfield  |
Report | Edwards |
