1971–72 Irish League
# 1971–72 Irish League

The 1971–72 Irish League was the 71st edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 12 teams, and Glentoran won the championship.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Glentoran (C) | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 50 | 17 | 2.941 | 33 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Portadown | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 49 | 25 | 1.960 | 30 | |
| 3 | Ards | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 30 | 1.633 | 29 | |
| 4 | Linfield | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 48 | 29 | 1.655 | 27 | |
| 5 | Crusaders | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 36 | 35 | 1.029 | 25 | |
| 6 | Coleraine | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 51 | 40 | 1.275 | 25 | |
| 7 | Ballymena United | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 34 | 34 | 1.000 | 21 | |
| 8 | Distillery | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 44 | 0.773 | 21 | |
| 9 | Glenavon | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 40 | 0.900 | 20 | |
| 10 | Derry City | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 55 | 0.745 | 16 | Withdrew |
| 11 | Bangor | 22 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 28 | 62 | 0.452 | 9 | |
| 12 | Cliftonville | 22 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 64 | 0.297 | 8 | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARD | BAN | BLM | CLI | COL | CRU | DIS | DER | GLV | GLT | LIN | POR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ards | | 3–1 | 1–0 | 8–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–3 |
| Bangor | 2–4 | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 4–4 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–7 | 0–1 |
| Ballymena United | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–6 |
| Cliftonville | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–6 | 0–5 | 0–2 |
| Coleraine | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | | 5–5 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Crusaders | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 4–7 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–5 |
| Distillery | 1–4 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 4–4 | 3–3 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–6 | 2–1 | 0–3 |
| Derry City | 0–4 | 4–4 | 0–5 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | | 3–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Glenavon | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 4–3 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Glentoran | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| Linfield | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | | 2–2 |
| Portadown | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | |
