The Blues were crowned Irish Premiership champions on Tuesday evening after Glentoran drew 2-2 at The Oval with Larne, giving their Big Two rivals an unassailable 19-point lead with both sides to play six more games. It is the Windsor Park club’s first Gibson Cup success since 2022 as David Healy’s side become the first team to win the league before the end-of-season ‘split’. McCoist, speaking on Talksport yesterday, said: “Congratulations to the Blues at Linfield at the weekend, they beat Glenavon 2-0, a couple of (Joel) Cooper goals, for another league title. “My wee pal David Healy doing a fantastic job there and the Glens drew last night, so the title is going to Linfield which is fantastic.” Joel Cooper’s second-half brace against Glenavon on Saturday moved Linfield within two points of the title and the outcome was put beyond all doubt after Glentoran failed to win against Larne, with Declan Devine’s side held to a draw despite taking a 2-0 lead at home. Linfield chairman Roy McGivern said the club’s next objective was to try and emulate Larne – champions for the past two campaigns – who made history by becoming the first Irish Premiership team to reach the Uefa Conference League this season. “There's no doubt when you reach the league phase of one of the European competitions then that is a massive challenge. “We'll embrace that challenge next year and try to emulate what Larne have achieved. It will be very hard getting through a number of qualifying games, but that's the challenge we face at Linfield.”