1961–62 Irish League

Irish League
Season1961–62
ChampionsLinfield
26th Irish title
Matches played132
Goals scored523 (3.96 per match)
Top goalscorerMick Lynch (20)
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Location of teams in the Irish League from 1949–1972
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Location of Belfast-based teams in the Irish League from 1949–1971

The 1961–62 Irish League was the 61st edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 12 teams, and Linfield won the championship after a 3-1 playoff win over Portadown.

League standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification
1 Linfield (C) 22 14 3 5 62 32 1.938 31 Qualification for the European Cup preliminary round
2 Portadown 22 14 3 5 56 32 1.750 31 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
3 Ballymena United 22 11 7 4 47 32 1.469 29
4 Ards 22 11 5 6 46 38 1.211 27
5 Glenavon 22 9 8 5 62 43 1.442 26
6 Crusaders 22 11 3 8 42 43 0.977 25
7 Glentoran 22 10 5 7 45 35 1.286 25
8 Distillery 22 8 4 10 56 62 0.903 20
9 Coleraine 22 7 4 11 37 39 0.949 18
10 Derry City 22 3 8 11 22 38 0.579 14
11 Bangor 22 5 3 14 31 56 0.554 13
12 Cliftonville 22 0 5 17 17 73 0.233 5
Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away ARD BAN BLM CLI COL CRU DIS DER GLV GLT LIN POR
Ards 1–1 1–1 5–1 3–2 4–1 3–1 2–0 4–3 4–2 2–4 2–1
Bangor 2–0 0–4 2–0 1–3 3–2 4–5 3–3 1–3 4–1 0–1 2–6
Ballymena United 1–2 2–1 7–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 2–0 3–3 1–1 4–2 1–3
Cliftonville 1–3 0–0 1–3 0–0 1–2 4–5 2–2 1–1 1–2 0–5 0–4
Coleraine 0–1 4–0 0–1 2–1 4–1 2–3 4–2 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–1
Crusaders 3–0 3–0 1–2 6–0 3–1 2–1 1–0 1–3 1–0 3–2 3–4
Distillery 2–2 2–4 1–4 6–0 4–2 2–3 2–3 2–2 4–3 4–6 2–1
Derry City 0–0 1–0 0–0 5–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 2–2 0–1 0–2 0–1
Glenavon 5–2 5–2 2–2 2–2 7–2 1–1 5–1 4–0 2–3 2–1 3–4
Glentoran 1–0 2–0 1–2 6–0 2–1 0–1 3–0 5–1 4–4 1–1 2–2
Linfield 3–2 4–1 6–1 3–1 4–3 9–0 2–2 0–0 2–0 3–1 2–1
Portadown 3–3 4–0 3–1 2–1 1–0 4–2 2–3 3–0 2–1 2–3 2–0
Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Test match

Linfield3–1Portadown

Top scorers (including play-off)

Pos Player Club Pld Goals
1 Mick Lynch Ards 22 20
2 Eamon Gorman Portadown 23 19
= Joe Meldrum Distillery 21 19
4 Billy Johnston Glenavon 19 18
= Trevor Thompson Glentoran 21 18
6 Tommy Dickson Linfield 22 17
= Jimmy Jones Glenavon 20 17
= Jimmy Small Ballymena United 17 17
9 Ken Hamilton Distillery 22 16
10 Hugh Barr Linfield 18 12
= Roy Torrens Derry City 19 12
= Jim Weatherup Crusaders 22 12

References