1897–98 Irish League

Irish League
Season	1897–98
Dates	4 September 1897 –; 21 May 1898
Champions	Linfield; 5th Irish title
Matches played	30
Goals scored	117 (3.9 per match)
Biggest home win	Cliftonville 8–0 North Staffs
Biggest away win	Distillery 0–6 Glentoran
Highest scoring	Cliftonville 8–0 North Staffs
	← 1896–97 1898–99 →

The 1897–98 Irish League was the 8th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Irish football.

The league comprised six teams, and Linfield won the championship for the 5th time.

Teams and locations

1897–98 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

No home ground
North Staffordshire Regiment

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Location of teams in the 1897–98 Irish League; all matches were played in Belfast

Team	Town	Home Ground
Celtic	Belfast	Celtic Park
Cliftonville	Belfast	Solitude
Distillery	Belfast	Grosvenor Park
Glentoran	Belfast	The Oval
Linfield	Belfast	Balmoral
North Staffordshire Regiment	No home ground

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Result
1	Linfield (C)	10	8	1	1	22	10	2.200	17	Champions
2	Cliftonville	10	6	1	3	23	17	1.353	13
3	Glentoran	10	6	1	3	31	12	2.583	13
4	Celtic	10	3	1	6	15	19	0.789	7
5	Distillery	10	2	1	7	13	28	0.464	5
6	North Staffordshire Regiment	10	2	1	7	13	31	0.419	5

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

League

Home \ Away	CEL	CLI	DIS	GLT	LIN	NSR
Celtic		1–2	5–1	1–5	0–3	3–3
Cliftonville	1–0		4–3	1–1	0–1	8–0
Distillery	0–2	5–0		0–6	1–1	1–3
Glentoran	1–0	3–0	6–0		2–4	5–2
Linfield	2–1	2–4	1–0	2–1		3–0
North Staffordshire	1–2	1–3	0–2	2–1	1–3

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

2nd/3rd place play-off

Cliftonville 2–0 Glentoran^[1]

References

^ "Irish League Tables". Retrieved 30 March 2025.

External links

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

[1] "Irish League Tables". Retrieved 30 March 2025.

[1]

v t e NIFL Premiership seasons
Irish League	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Irish Premier League	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
IFA Premiership	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
NIFL Premiership	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Belfast & District League (wartime)	1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19
Northern Regional League (wartime)	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47

v t e 1897–98 in Irish football
« 1896–97 1898–99 »
Domestic leagues	Irish League
Domestic cups	Irish Cup City Cup County Antrim Shield Belfast Charity Cup
Related to national team	British Home Championship

v t e 1897–98 in European football
« 1896–97 1898–99 »
Domestic leagues	Belgium Denmark England Ireland Italy Netherlands Scotland Switzerland
Domestic cups	England Ireland Scotland Sweden '97 '98 Wales