The Irish Intermediate League was a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, which also included reserve sides of senior teams. The league ran from 1915 until 1954.

History It began in 1915 after the amalgamation of the Irish Junior League and Irish Senior Reserve League, and ran until 1954, when the majority of the remaining clubs applied to join the Irish League B Division, which had been formed in 1951. Until the introduction of the Irish League B Division it was the second tier of the Northern Ireland football league system.

The tournament also ran a cup tournament for members of the league, the McElroy Cup.

List of champions

1915–16 Glentoran II* 1916–17 Belfast Celtic II* 1917–18 Belfast Celtic II* 1918–19 Glentoran II* 1919–20 Glentoran II* 1920–21 Brantwood 1921–22 Dundela 1922–23 Crusaders 1923–24 Dunmurry 1924–25 Brantwood 1925–26 Crusaders 1926–27 Crusaders 1927–28 Willowfield 1928–29 Crusaders 1929–30 Glentoran II* 1930–31 Crusaders 1931–32 Belfast Celtic II* 1932–33 Crusaders 1933–34 Belfast Celtic II* 1934–35 Belfast Celtic II* 1935–36 Belfast Celtic II* 1936–37 Belfast Celtic II* 1937–38 Crusaders 1938–39 Crusaders 1939–40 Linfield Swifts* 1940–41 Bangor Reserves* 1941–42 Aircraft United 1942–43 Bangor Reserves* 1943–44 Bangor Reserves* 1944–45 Dundela 1945–46 Linfield Swifts* 1946–47 Dundela 1947–48 Brantwood 1948–49 Crusaders 1949–50 Dundela 1950–51 Dundela 1951–52 Brantwood 1952–53 Larne 1953–54 Brantwood

NB - * denotes reserve teams of senior clubs

Performance by club Team No. of wins Winning yearsCrusaders 9 1922–23, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1948–49Belfast Celtic II* 7 1916–17, 1917–18, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37Dundela 5 1921–22, 1944–45, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1950–51Brantwood 5 1920–21, 1924–25, 1947–48, 1951–52, 1953–54Glentoran II* 4 1915–16, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1929–30Bangor Reserves* 3 1940–41, 1942–43, 1943–44Linfield Swifts* 2 1939–40, 1945–46Aircraft United 1 1941–42Willowfield 1 1927–28

NB - * indicates reserve team

List of McElroy Cup winners

1915–16 Glentoran II* 1916–17 Belfast Celtic II* 1917–18 Glentoran II* 1918–19 Distillery II* 1919–20 Cliftonville Olympic* 1920–21 Distillery II* 1921–22 St Mary's 1922–23 Belfast United 1923–24 St Mary's 1924–25 Brantwood / Dunmurry (shared) 1925–26 Linfield Rangers 1926–27 Dunmurry 1927–28 Broadway United 1928–29 Linfield Swifts* 1929–30 Crusaders 1930–31 Newington Rangers 1931–32 Crusaders 1932–33 Belfast Celtic II* 1933–34 Summerfield / Glentoran II* (shared) 1934–35 Belfast Celtic II* 1935–36 Belfast Celtic II* 1936–37 Belfast Celtic II* 1937–38 Linfield Swifts* 1938–39 Glentoran II* 1939–40 Linfield Swifts* 1940–41 Ards II* 1941–42 Ballyclare Comrades* 1942–43 Belfast Celtic II* 1943–44 Belfast Celtic II* 1944–45 Linfield Swifts* 1945–46 Dundela / Linfield Swifts* (shared) 1946–47 Bangor Reserves 1947–48 Crusaders 1948–49 Larne

NB - * denotes reserve teams of senior clubs

Performance by club Team No. of wins Winning yearsBelfast Celtic II* 7 1916–17, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1942–43, 1943–44Linfield Swifts* 5 1928–29, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1944–45, 1945–46 (shared)Glentoran II* 4 1915–16, 1917–18, 1933–34 (shared), 1938–39Crusaders 3 1929–30, 1931–32, 1947–48Distillery II* 2 1918–19, 1920–21St Mary's 2 1921–22, 1922–24Dunmurry 2 1924–25 (shared), 1926–27Cliftonville Olympic* 1 1919–20Belfast United 1 1922–23Linfield Rangers 1 1925–26Broadway United 1 1927–28Newington Rangers 1 1930–31Ards II 1 1940–41Ballyclare Comrades 1 1941–42Bangor Reserves* 1 1946–47Larne 1 1948–49Brantwood 1 1924–25 (shared)Summerfield 1 1933–34 (shared)Dundela 1 1945–46 (shared)

NB - * indicates reserve team

References

External links Intermediate League Archive at the Irish Football Club Project McElroy Cup Archive at the Irish Football Club Project