2018 League of Ireland First Division

The 2018 League of Ireland First Division season is the 34th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The league began on 23 February 2018 and will conclude in October 2018. Contrary to the previous editions, this tournament will have 10 teams, which is the largest number since 2011 season, and will return the promotion/relegation playoffs.

League of Ireland First Division
Season2018
Dates23 February – 22 September, 2018
ChampionsUCD
PromotedUCD
Finn Harps
Matches played135
Goals scored397 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorerDavid O'Sullivan (Shelbourne, 15 goals)
Biggest home winShelbourne 7–0 Athlone Town (6 April 2018); Wexford 7–0 Athlone Town (20 April 2018)
Biggest away winWexford 0–8 UCD (7 May 2018)
Highest scoringWexford 1–8 Drogheda United (16 March 2018)
Average attendance422[1]
2017
2019
All statistics correct as of 2 November 2018.

Overview

The First Division has 10 teams. Each team plays each other three times for a total of 27 matches in the season.

On 22 December 2016, the FAI announced that the league would be restructured into two 10-team divisions from the 2018 season onwards, one of the recommendations made in the 2015 Conroy Report.[2]

Teams

Locations of Dublin First Division teams

Stadia and locations

Team Location Stadium
Athlone TownAthloneAthlone Town Stadium
CabinteelyCabinteelyStradbrook Road
Cobh RamblersCobhSt. Colman's Park
Drogheda UnitedDroghedaUnited Park
Finn HarpsBallybofeyFinn Park
Galway UnitedGalwayEamonn Deacy Park
Longford TownLongfordCity Calling Stadium
ShelbourneDrumcondraTolka Park
UCDBelfieldUCD Bowl
WexfordCrossabegFerrycarrig Park

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Athlone Town Aaron Callaghan Niall Scullion Nike Nitro Sports
Cabinteely Pat Devlin Daire Doyle Uhlsport Geoghegan Home Extensions
Cobh Ramblers Stephen Henderson Paul Hunt Legea Tony & William O'Shea Fuels Rushbrooke
Drogheda United Tim Clancy Sean Thornton CX+ Sport Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Finn Harps Ollie Horgan Ciaran Coll Joma McGettigan Group
Galway United Shane Keegan Colm Horgan Uhlsport Comer Property Management
Longford Town Neale Fenn Kevin O'Connor Legea City Calling
Shelbourne Owen Heary Dean Delaney Macron Dublin City University
UCD Collie O'Neill Gary O'Neill O'Neills O'Neills
Wexford Damian Locke Craig McCabe Bodibro Premier Tickets

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 UCD (C, P) 27 17 6 4 59 29 +30 57 Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2 Finn Harps (Q) 27 16 6 5 46 22 +24 54 Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3 Shelbourne (Q) 27 13 11 3 52 21 +31 50
4 Drogheda United (Q) 27 14 7 6 50 27 +23 49
5 Longford Town 27 13 6 8 54 36 +18 45
6 Galway United 27 10 7 10 41 36 +5 37
7 Cabinteely 27 9 3 15 32 45 13 30
8 Cobh Ramblers 27 8 5 14 24 41 17 29
9 Wexford 27 4 5 18 23 59 36 17
10 Athlone Town 27 1 4 22 16 81 65 7
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[3]
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Results

Top scorers

As of 22 September 2018
Rank Player Club Goals[4]
1 David O'Sullivan Shelbourne 15
2 Georgie Kelly UCD 14
3 Dylan McGlade Longford Town 13
4 Sean Brennan Drogheda United 11
James English Shelbourne
6 Conor Barry Galway United 10
7 Eoin McCormack Galway United 9
Gary O'Neill UCD
Mikey Place Finn Harps
Sam Verdon Longford Town

Promotion/relegation playoffs

The second, third and fourth placed First Division teams played off to decide who would play Limerick, the ninth placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2019 Premier Division.[5]

Semi-finals
5 October 2018 Drogheda United 0–1 Shelbourne United Park
19:45 Report English  25'
8 October 2018 Shelbourne 1–2
(2-4 p)
Drogheda United Tolka Park
19:45 Evans  77' Report Brennan  33'
Lyons  62'
Penalties
O'Sullivan
Evans
Fitzgerald
Farrell
Lyons
Brennan
Gallagher
McCaffrey
Doyle

2–2 on aggregate. Drogheda United win on penalties.

Finals
12 October 2018 Drogheda United 1–1 Finn Harps United Park
19:45 Kelly  13' Report Boyle  67'
19 October 2018 Finn Harps 2–0 Drogheda United Finn Park
19:45 Kavanagh  18'
Boyle  67'
Report

Finn Harps win 3–1 on aggregate.

Relegation-promotion match
29 October 2018 Finn Harps 1–0 Limerick Finn Park
19:45 GMT McCourt  35' (pen.) Report Attendance: 2,379
Referee: Robert Harvey
2 November 2018 Limerick 0–2 Finn Harps Markets Field
19:45 GMT Report Timlin  45+1'
Boyle  80'
Referee: Graham Kelly

Finn Harps won 3–0 on aggregate and were promoted to 2019 Premier Division. Limerick were relegated to the 2019 First Division.


See also

References

  1. "From the Archives - extratime.ie League of Ireland Attendance Report 2019". extratime. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  2. Mackey, Liam (23 December 2016). "It's three down, one up for LOI season". The Irish Examiner. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  3. "First Division 2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  4. http://www.extratime.ie/topscorers/2028/101/first-division/
  5. "Ireland 2018". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
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