NIFL Charity Shield - all you need to know

Cahal McGinty of Dungannon Swifts in action against Linfield's Matthew Fitzpatrick

In recent years, the NIFL Charity Shield has been re-established as part of Northern Ireland's domestic football calendar and this season it will be contested by Irish Premiership winners Linfield and Irish Cup victors Dungannon Swifts who meet at Windsor Park on Friday night.

In common with its English counterpart, the game was traditionally held as a curtain-raiser to the new Irish League season.

Since 2023 however the fixture has been used as preparation for clubs to prepare for their impending participation in European club competition.

Linfield are targeting a fifth Charity Shield success in this year's edition (19:45 BST) while the Swifts are taking part in the match for the first time as they attempt to add more silverware to their cabinet.

You can follow live text commentary of the game on the BBC Sport website.

Successful seasons

Linfield secured their place in this year's Charity Shield by emphatically lifting the Gibson Cup for a record-extending 57th time.

The Blues built an unassailable lead before the five sets of post-split fixtures and finished 22 points ahead of second-placed finishers Larne.

The south Belfast side go into the game boosted by the news that manager David Healy has signed a three-year extension to his contract as boss.

Dungannon followed up their hugely impressive fourth-place finish in the Premiership by collecting the Irish Cup for the first time in their history.

The early-May decider with holders Cliftonville ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time, but Rodney McAree's side prevailed 4-3 in a penalty shootout.

NI Charity Shield history

The NI Charity Shield has been contested periodically since its inauguration in 1992 and this will be the 14th edition.

Following Linfield's 2-0 win over Glentoran in front of a crowd of 10,500 in August 2000, it would be another 14 years before the fixture was re-introduced.

Cliftonville, Glentoran, Glenavon and Linfield collected the trophy between 2014 and 2017, before another five-year hiatus until the 2022 staging.

Crusaders beat Linfield 2-0 at Windsor Park on that occasion.

The match was moved to early July and played at Inver Park in the subsequent two years, Crusaders retaining the Shield by defeating Larne 2-0 in 2023 and then the Invermen seeing off Cliftonville 2-1 last year.

European preparation

Five days after the Charity Shield encounter, Linfield begin their Champions League campaign with a first qualifying round, first-leg tie against League of Ireland champions Shelbourne at Tolka Park in Dublin on Wednesday 9 July.

The sides will meet in the second leg at Windsor Park in Belfast on 16 July, with both matches being broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

The winners of the tie will face Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the second qualifying round, with the losers dropping into the Conference League qualifying second round where they will play the defeated side between FK Zalgiris of Lithuania and Hamrun Spartans of Malta.

As Irish Cup winners, Dungannon Swifts go straight into the second qualifying round of Uefa Conference League qualifying where they will take on Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz in their first European fixture in 18 years.

The Stangmore Park outfit will be away for the first leg on Thursday 24 July and at home for the second leg on 31 July.

The two Charity Shield participants are scheduled to meet again on the first weekend of the new Irish Premiership season.

Summer signings

During the close season to date, Linfield have added defender Sean Brown to their ranks while Joel Cooper and Stephen Fallon have departed for Coleraine, Darragh McBrien has returned to Dungannon and Ethan Devine left to join H&W Welders.

In addition to the arrival of forward McBrien, additions to the Dungannon squad so far include Mal Smith from Crusaders, Peter Maguire from Ballinamallard United and Tiernan Kelly from Loughgall.

Dean Curry has retired and forward John McGovern completed his long-mooted move to Irish Premier Division leaders Shamrock Rovers.

What they say

Linfield defender Euan East: "Spirits are high in the camp and we want to get going again and try to retain what we did last year.

"It's good to get into a competitive game so quickly. You need that competitive edge to a game that that will give us. It's a good way to start the season.

"Dungannon always give you a hard game and we know they will always be up for it."

Dungannon winger Thomas Maguire: "It's a bit of a bonus having this game to look forward to. It's not a friendly, there's something to play for against good opposition on a good pitch with something on the line.

"Everyone is looking forward to the game and then just kicking on and hopefully it will stand us in good stead for Europe."