1965–66 Irish League
# 1965–66 Irish League

The 1965–66 Irish League was the 65th 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.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Linfield (C) | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 68 | 23 | 2.957 | 34 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Derry City | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 61 | 33 | 1.848 | 32 | |
| 3 | Glentoran | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 50 | 29 | 1.724 | 32 | European Cup Winners' Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup |
| 4 | Ballymena United | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 51 | 33 | 1.545 | 28 | |
| 5 | Glenavon | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 62 | 38 | 1.632 | 25 | |
| 6 | Coleraine | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 52 | 36 | 1.444 | 25 | |
| 7 | Crusaders | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 49 | 47 | 1.043 | 21 | |
| 8 | Portadown | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 43 | 53 | 0.811 | 17 | |
| 9 | Distillery | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 39 | 52 | 0.750 | 16 | |
| 10 | Ards | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 29 | 54 | 0.537 | 14 | |
| 11 | Bangor | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 59 | 0.441 | 14 | |
| 12 | Cliftonville | 22 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 23 | 96 | 0.240 | 6 | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARD | BAN | BLM | CLI | COL | CRU | DIS | DER | GLV | GLT | LIN | POR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ards | | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–4 |
| Bangor | 2–2 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–5 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 4–1 |
| Ballymena United | 2–2 | 2–0 | | 8–0 | 1–2 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 3–4 | 5–5 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Cliftonville | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–5 | | 3–3 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–6 | 3–5 | 0–10 | 0–6 |
| Coleraine | 5–1 | 6–0 | 1–3 | 6–2 | | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Crusaders | 6–1 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 7–1 | 4–2 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 5–0 |
| Distillery | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | | 2–5 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Derry City | 4–1 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 3–1 | | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 5–0 |
| Glenavon | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 6–1 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 8–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Glentoran | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 7–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Linfield | 5–1 | 8–0 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 3–0 |
| Portadown | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 7–2 | 3–5 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 5–3 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | |
