Therefore, runners-up Donegal Celtic entered into a two-leg play-off with the bottom club of the 2009–10 IFA Premiership, and achieved promotion with a 1–0 aggregate win.
At the other end of the table, Coagh United and Armagh City finished in the bottom two, and were relegated to Championship 2 for next season.
The bottom 3 clubs (Tobermore United, Killymoon Rangers and Dergview) were relegated to the newly introduced Championship 2 for this season.
10 of the 12 clubs managed to meet the criteria, along with Sport & Leisure Swifts and Knockbreda who both achieved intermediate status, with only Brantwood and Oxford United Stars failing to do so.
Bangor entered Championship 1 after they announced that due to financial problems, they would not be able to renew their domestic licence required to take part in the Premiership.