Irish Premiership: Linfield begin title defence against

Linfield will begin the defence of their Irish Premiership title against Dungannon Swifts on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 season.

The Irish League champions will host the Irish Cup winners at Windsor Park on the weekend of Saturday 9 August.

Before that, the teams will meet in the Charity Shield on 4 July, before embarking on their European adventures in the Champions League and Uefa Conference League qualifiers, prior to the start of the domestic season.

Other opening day fixtures see newly promoted Championship winners Bangor host Cliftonville on their return to the top flight, while last season’s runner-up Larne face a trip to big-spending Coleraine.

Crusaders are at home to Carrick Rangers, Glenavon entertain Ballymena United and Portadown host Glentoran in the first round of fixtures.

Highlights of the following weekend see Linfield travel to Ballymena United, Cliftonville play Coleraine and Larne against Crusaders.

A set of six matches are scheduled for the evening of Tuesday 19 August.

The first Belfast ‘Big Two’ encounter of the campaign is scheduled for Saturday 13 September at the Oval.

Ballymena United are set to face Coleraine in their first derby meeting at Warden Street on 11 October, with Crusaders at home to Cliftonville on the same day.

Portadown host Glenavon a week previous on 4 October in the opening mid-Ulster derby.

Larne have home advantage against Carrick Rangers in the east Antrim derby on 20 September.

This year’s traditional Boxing Day matches will see Linfield at home to Glentoran, Ballymena United up against Coleraine, Carrick host Larne, Cliftonville entertain Crusaders, Portadown at home to Glenavon and Dungannon come up against Bangor.

The final set of games in the regular season are set for Friday 20 March, with the post-split fixtures on 28 March, 7 April, 11 April, 18 April and 25 April.

All fixtures are subject to change, with the full list of preliminary fixtures as produced by the Northern Ireland Football League available to view here, external.