The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Bluefin Sport Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championship can be promoted to the highest national division - the Irish Premiership, and relegated to the third level - the NIFL Premier Intermediate League.
It was founded in 2008 as the Premier Intermediate League for members of the previous IFA Intermediate League that met the new stricter membership criteria,[1] though was marketed as the IFA Championship.[2] In 2009, it was extended to two divisions: Championship 1 and Championship 2 with promotion and relegation between the two.[3] In 2013, the Championship and IFA Premiership were replaced by a single Northern Ireland Football League, independent of the Irish Football Association (IFA).
Under reforms agreed by the Irish League clubs in 2014, from 2016–17, Championship 1 acquired senior status, continuing as the Irish League Championship, while Championship 2 continued as the Premier Intermediate League, retaining its intermediate status.[4]
