At a Special General Meeting of the Union held on 15 October 1897 in the Royal Avenue Hotel, Belfast, the clubs present resolved to form the Ulster Senior League.
[1] Eight teams participated in the first season: Antrim, Ards, Cliftonville, King's (Liverpool) Regiment, Lisburn, North Down, North Staffordshire Regiment and Ulster[2] In 2024–25, there are 10 clubs in the Ulster Senior League season.
The size of the Senior League varied between seven competing clubs in the 1900s to as many as eighteen in the late 1920s.
Prior to the start of the 1957–58 season, the Council of the Ulster Branch made a controversial decision.
The report and debate lead to the league reorganising to allow for promotion and relegation prior to the start of the 1958–59 season.
The top three teams in the Premier League at the end of the season qualify for the All-Ireland Club Championship.
The League champions now qualify for the Provincial play-offs where they compete for promotion to the IHL.