Northern Ireland Football League CEO Gerard Lawlor has said member clubs “cannot continue doing the same things” after falling to 51st in Uefa’s association coefficient rankings.
Iberia 1999’s 1-1 draw at home to Mjallby in the Uefa Conference League on Thursday night moved Georgia’s domestic league up the standings, dropping Northern Ireland out of the crucial top 50.
While NIFL have said that their “final position remains subject to UEFA’s rankings and access arrangements”, as it stands that would mean the Irish Premiership will have only three European spots in the 2028-29 season.
Currently the Irish Premiership’s top two and Irish Cup winners automatically qualify for the next season’s Uefa competitions, while the league’s final spot is decided by an end-of-season play-off.
Lawlor called the expected loss of a European spot “a major concern and a potentially significant setback” for the game in Northern Ireland.
“The reality is that we are now facing the very real prospect of having just three clubs competing in Europe rather than four,” he said.
“European football provides vital opportunities for our clubs, players and supporters, alongside important financial investment that benefits the wider game.
“While we have witnessed some excellent individual European performances, collectively we must acknowledge that our results have not been good enough.”
Places in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League are allocated on the basis of a five-year performance ranking.
This season, Glentoran, Linfield and Coleraine all fell at the first hurdle, while Larne squandered a two-goal aggregate advantage to lose to Lincoln Red Imps when 90 minutes away from the league phase of Conference League.
Poor showings in Europe are one factor in the ongoing debate over so-called summer football in the Irish Premiership, with 75% of NIFL’s 38 member clubs required to vote in favour of a calendar change.
“We cannot continue doing the same things, in the same way, and expect different outcomes,” said Lawlor.
“This reinforces why NIFL has been challenging clubs to think differently about their future, including seasonality, investment, player development and how we create a more competitive domestic environment.
“We must ask whether our current structures give clubs the best possible opportunity to succeed in Europe. We need to stop measuring ourselves solely against each other domestically and start measuring ourselves against European standards.”