The 2008–09 competition onwards would be re-branded as the IFA Premiership, with stricter rules governing the eligibility of clubs wishing to take part.
The top tier of the Northern Irish league system would also be reduced in size from sixteen clubs, to twelve.
Each applicant club was assessed by an independent panel and awarded points against the following criteria: Five of this season's sixteen Premier League teams failed to gain a place in the new twelve-team Premiership and were relegated to the newly introduced IFA Championship.
Of the five teams that missed out, two of them - Armagh City and Limavady United failed to obtain the necessary domestic licence, while Larne did not apply.
[1] That left thirteen clubs to be ranked - twelve from this season's Premier League plus Bangor, who had finished fourth in the First Division.