1937–38 Irish League

Irish League
Season	1937–38
Champions	Belfast Celtic; 11th Irish title
Matches played	182
Goals scored	797 (4.38 per match)
	← 1936–37 1938–39 →

Belfast

Belfast teams : Belfast Celtic
Cliftonville
Distillery
Glentoran
Linfield

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Location of teams in the Irish League from 1934–40

1937–38 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

Location of Belfast-based teams in the Irish League from 1934–40

The 1937–38 Irish League was the 44th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league comprised 14 teams, and Belfast Celtic won the championship after a play-off with Derry City.

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Result
1	Belfast Celtic (C)	26	18	5	3	88	24	3.667	41	Champions
2	Derry City	26	20	1	5	81	40	2.025	41
3	Portadown	26	16	5	5	67	32	2.094	37
4	Linfield	26	16	5	5	78	38	2.053	37
5	Ballymena United	26	14	5	7	72	55	1.309	33
6	Glentoran	26	15	2	9	64	57	1.123	32
7	Newry Town	26	10	6	10	63	49	1.286	26
8	Distillery	26	10	6	10	51	61	0.836	26
9	Ards	26	7	4	15	43	66	0.652	18
10	Glenavon	26	6	5	15	36	65	0.554	17
11	Bangor	26	7	2	17	39	62	0.629	16
12	Larne	26	6	3	17	48	87	0.552	15
13	Coleraine	26	5	5	16	40	75	0.533	15
14	Cliftonville	26	2	6	18	27	86	0.314	10

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	ARD	BAN	BLM	BCE	CLI	COL	DER	DIS	GLV	GLT	LAR	LIN	NEW	POR
Ards		2–1	1–3	1–4	6–0	2–1	2–5	1–1	1–3	3–4	3–0	0–3	6–2	2–2
Bangor	1–3		0–3	1–2	3–2	2–1	1–2	3–3	1–2	2–1	4–3	1–2	2–0	1–2
Ballymena United	1–4	2–1		1–0	3–1	6–2	5–0	5–1	7–2	0–1	3–2	2–2	2–2	1–1
Belfast Celtic	6–0	4–0	3–1		8–0	4–1	6–1	3–3	6–0	6–1	5–1	2–1	1–1	4–0
Cliftonville	1–1	1–3	1–3	1–4		3–0	1–2	1–3	1–1	1–3	4–3	0–2	1–1	0–8
Coleraine	3–1	1–1	3–6	0–3	8–2		1–2	2–0	2–2	2–4	3–2	0–4	2–2	0–2
Derry City	3–0	4–1	9–1	1–0	4–0	4–0		3–0	2–0	3–0	7–1	7–1	3–1	3–0
Distillery	3–1	3–2	4–4	1–0	0–0	4–1	1–3		2–1	3–1	5–2	1–5	1–2	2–1
Glenavon	4–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–3	1–4	2–1		0–4	3–4	1–3	2–4	0–2
Glentoran	2–0	1–5	1–2	1–4	3–2	1–1	3–3	5–3	2–0		3–2	2–0	4–2	1–2
Larne	1–1	3–0	2–6	0–4	3–1	1–1	2–3	4–2	1–1	3–8		0–4	2–1	3–2
Linfield	6–0	4–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	8–0	6–1	2–2	3–2	5–2	6–3		4–1	2–5
Newry Town	4–1	5–0	5–2	3–3	6–0	5–0	4–1	1–2	4–1	2–3	4–0	0–2		0–0
Portadown	2–0	3–0	4–2	3–3	5–0	4–2	2–1	6–0	2–0	1–3	3–0	1–1	4–1

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

Test match

16 February 1938

Belfast Celtic	2–2	Derry City

The Oval, Belfast

Replay

25 April 1938

Belfast Celtic	3–1	Derry City

Windsor Park, Belfast

References

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

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 1937–38 in European football
« 1936–37 1938–39 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Estonia Finland '37 '38 France Germany (Finals) Greece Hungary Iceland '37 '38 Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Palestine Poland '37 '38 Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '37 '38 Sweden Switzerland Turkey (National Division '37 '38) Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Austria Bulgaria '38 Cyprus England France Germany '37 '38 Italy Latvia '37 '38 Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '37 '38 Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union '37 '38 Switzerland Wales
International competitions	Mitropa Cup '37 '38