2012–13 IFA Premiership
| Season | 2012–13 |
|---|---|
| Champions |
Cliftonville 4th Irish title (inc. 1 shared) |
| Relegated |
Donegal Celtic Lisburn Distillery |
| Champions League | Cliftonville |
| Europa League |
Crusaders Linfield Glentoran |
| Matches played | 228 |
| Goals scored | 684 (3 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Liam Boyce (29 goals) |
| Biggest home win |
Glenavon 7–0 Ballymena United Glenavon 7–0 Lisburn Distillery |
| Biggest away win | Ballymena United 0–8 Cliftonville |
| Highest scoring | Glentoran 4–5 Crusaders |
| Highest attendance | 5,458 Linfield 2–1 Glentoran (26 December 2012) |
| Lowest attendance | 39 Donegal Celtic 2–1 Dungannon Swifts (16 April 2013) |
| Average attendance | 828 |
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← 2011–12
2013–14 →
|
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The 2012–13 IFA Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of Northern Ireland's national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, and the 112th season of Irish league football overall.
The season began on 11 August 2012 and ended on 27 April 2013. This was the last season of the league under the control of the Irish Football Association. From the following season onwards, the league became part of the newly created Northern Ireland Football League.
Linfield were the defending champions after winning their third consecutive title – their 51st league title overall last season. This season however, Cliftonville were the champions for the fourth time overall and the first time since the 1997–98 season. It was also the first time in eleven years that neither Linfield or Glentoran had won the title, with the previous occasion being 2001–02 when Portadown won their fourth title.
Lisburn Distillery finished bottom of the table and were relegated to Championship 1 after a 2–0 defeat to Ballymena United on 16 April 2013. The club had participated in all 112 seasons of senior football so far, and at the time were one of only four clubs to have done so; the others being Cliftonville, Linfield and Glentoran. The club had not been outside the top division since winning the 2001–02 Irish League First Division title, which at the time was the second tier of senior football. However, the restructuring of the league system in 2003 consolidated senior football into one division, which meant that this was the first time in the club's history that they had been relegated to intermediate football. This brought an end to both their 123-year stay in senior football, and their 11-year stay in the top flight. 11th-placed Donegal Celtic joined them in Championship 1, after losing on the away goals rule to Warrenpoint Town in the Promotion/relegation play-off following a 2–2 draw on aggregate. This was the first time since the 2005–06 season that two clubs had been promoted to, and relegated from the top flight.
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