League of Ireland Premier Division

Main article: League of Ireland

League of Ireland Premier Division

Countries	Republic of Ireland
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Founded	1985
Number of teams	12
Levels on pyramid	1
Relegation to	League of Ireland First Division
Domestic cup(s)	FAI Cup
League cup(s)	League of Ireland Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Current champions	Shamrock Rovers (2011)
Most championships	Shelbourne (6)
TV partners	RTÉ 2 Setanta Sports
Website	AirtricityLeague.ie
2012 League of Ireland

The League of Ireland Premier Division (Irish: Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann) is the top tier of the Republic of Ireland's national football league, the League of Ireland. At the top of the Republic of Ireland football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 10 clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the First Division. Seasons run from March to December, with teams playing 36 matches. Most games are played on Fridays, with a few games held on Saturdays and Sundays. It was known as the Eircom Premier League from 2000 to 2008. It is currently sponsored by Airtricity and therefore officially known as the Airtricity Premier League.

The division was formed as the League of Ireland Premier Division in 1985 as a result of the decision to split the League of Ireland into two divisions, which also created the League of Ireland First Division. The league is ranked thirty first in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, ahead of Lithuania's A Lyga and behind Bosnia and Herzegovina's Premier League. In 2009, the FAI rejected proposals from clubs to remove the division and restore the League of Ireland to its original structure.

Since 1921, a total of 19 clubs have been crowned champions of the Irish football league system. The current champions are Shamrock Rovers, who won the title in the 2011 season.

Competition Format

Competition

There are 10 clubs (The 2012 season will consist of 12 teams) in the Premier Division. During the course of a season (from March to October) each club plays the others four times, twice at their home stadium and twice at that of their opponents, for a total of 36 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. The lowest placed teams participate in a 2-legged play-off against the third placed team of the First Division with the loser being relegated to the First Division and the winner being promoted to the Premier Division.

Trophy

The current League of Ireland trophy was unveiled on October 31, 2007 by the Football Association of Ireland. It stands at 91 cm (36 inches) tall with a circumference of 83 cm (33 inches). It is a Sterling Silver trophy consisting of silver and a mass of other metals including copper. The design of the trophy consists of a silver football at the top, which is encompassed by the cup itself. Drogheda United were the first team to receive the newly created trophy on November 2, 2007.

Sponsorship

The Premier Division has been sponsored the early 1990's. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. There have been three sponsors since the league's formation.

• 1990's: Bord Gáis (Bord Gáis League Premier Division)
• 2000-2008: Eircom (Eircom League Premier Division)
• 2010-present: Airtricity (Airtricity League Premier Division)

The league had no title sponsor in 2009, but had a number of secondary sponsors including Newstalk and Electronic Arts. League of Ireland's three year sponsorship deal with Airtricity will end in 2012. As well as sponsorship for the league itself, the Premier Division has a number of official partners and suppliers. The official ball supplier for the league is Umbro. The official drink for the league is Lucozade. The official radio and newspaper partners are Newstalk and Irish Daily Star.

Clubs

The following 12 clubs are competing in the Premier Division during the 2012 season.

Club	Position in 2011	First season in top division	Number of seasons in the Premier Division	First season of current spell in top division	Top division titles	Last top division title
Bohemiansa,b,c	5th	1921-22	27	1921-22	11	2009
Bray Wanderers	6th	1986-87	16	2005	0	N/A
Cork Citya	1st in the First Division	1984–85	25	2012	2	2005
Derry City	3rd	1987-88	24	2011	2	1996-97
Dundalka	7th	1926-27	18	2009	9	1994-95
Drogheda United	9th	1963-64	17	2002-03	1	2007
Monaghan United	3rd in the First Division	1993–94	3	2012	0	N/A
Shamrock Roversa	1st	1922-23	26	2007	17	2011
Shelbournea,c	2nd in the First Division	1921-22	21	2012	13	2006
Sligo Rovers	2nd	1934-35	17	2006	2	1976-77
St Patrick's Athletica,b	4th	1951-52	27	1951-52	7	1998-99
UCDa	8th	1979-80	17	2010	0	N/A

• Due to the expansion of the Premier Division to 12 teams, only one team was relegated to the First Division for the 2012 Season, while three teams were promoted: Cork City, Monaghan United and Shelbourne. Derry City is the only club in the League of Ireland Premier Division not based in the Republic of Ireland, being based instead in Northern Ireland.

^a: Founding member of the Premier Division
^b: Never been relegated from Premier Division
^c: One of the original 8 League of Ireland teams

Stadia

For the 2011 season, Premier Division football is played in 10 stadia. Since the formation of the Premier Division, football grounds in Ireland have seen some improvements to capacity and facilities, with some clubs moving to new-build stadia such as Shamrock Rovers, who in 2009 moved into Tallaght Stadium. The stadia for the 2011 season show little disparity in capacity: Dalymount Park, the home of Bohemians has a capacity of 7,955, with UCD Bowl, the home of UCD, having a capacity of 3,000. The combined total capacity of the Premier Division in the 2011 season is 54,545 with an average capacity of 5,454.

Stadium attendances have been low over the past few years, but some clubs such as Shamrock Rovers have experienced a rise in attendances due to their performance in european competitions. For the 2010 season, average attendances across the league clubs were 1,657 for Premier Division matches. This represents an increase from the average attendance recorded in the last few years.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Bohemians	Dublin	Dalymount Park	4,300
Bray Wanderers	Bray	Carlisle Grounds	3,250
Cork City	Cork	Turners Cross	7,300
Derry City	Derry	Brandywell	3,000
Drogheda United	Drogheda	Hunky Dorys Park	2,000
Dundalk	Dundalk	Oriel Park	6,000
Monaghan United	Monaghan	Gortakeegan	5,620
Shamrock Rovers	Dublin	Tallaght Stadium	8,513 (until end of 2011)
Shelbourne	Dublin	Tolka Park	9,600
Sligo Rovers	Sligo	The Showgrounds	5,500
St. Patrick's Athletic	Dublin	Richmond Park	5,340
UCD	Dublin	UCD Bowl	3,000

Managers

The longest reigning manager is Paul Cook, who has remained in his position at Sligo Rovers, since April 2007. Stephen Kenny,winner of 1 League of Ireland medal, is the manager of Shamrock Rovers. The most recent appointment was Mick Cooke of Drogheda United. 11 Irish managers have won the Premier Division, with the most recent being Pat Fenlon of Bohemians in 2010. 4 managers from outside Ireland, have won the Premier Division including 3 Northern Irish managers, Jim McLaughlin (Shamrock Rovers, Derry City and Shelbourne, 3 wins), Felix Healy (Derry City, 1 win), Michael O’Neill (Shamrock Rovers, 2 wins) and 1 English manager, Pat Dolan (St. Patrick’s Athletic, 1 win). No manager from outside the British Isles have won the Premier Division. Currently 6 of the managers are from Republic of Ireland, 2 are from Northern Ireland and 2 are from England.

The current managers in the Premier Division are:

Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon is the winner of 5 League of Ireland trophies as manager with Shelbourne and Bohemians.

	Name	Club	Appointed
IRL !	Pat Devlin	Bray Wanderers	N/A
ENG !	Paul Cook	Sligo Rovers	02007-04-27 27 April 2007
IRL !	Declan Devine	Derry City	02012-01-06 6 January 2012
NIR !	Stephen Kenny	Shamrock Rovers	02011-12-27 27 December 2011
IRL !	Martin Russell	UCD	02009-01-18 18 January 2009
IRL !	Tommy Dunne	Cork City	02010-02-24 24 February 2010
IRL !	Alan Mathews	Shelbourne	02010-07-12 12 July 2010
IRL !	Mick Cooke	Drogheda United	02011-02-27 27 February 2011
IRL !	Roddy Collins	Monaghan United	02011-03-08 8 March 2011
IRL !	Liam Buckley	St Patrick's Athletic	02011-12-02 2 December 2011
IRL !	Sean McCaffrey	Dundalk	02011-12-23 23 December 2011
IRL !	Aaron Callaghan	Bohemians	02011-12-31 31 December 2011

History

See also: League of Ireland Champions

Season Champions Runners-up Third Place Top goalscorer Player of the Year Teams Relegated UEFA coefficient Ranking 1921–85 League of Ireland N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1985-86 Shamrock Rovers Galway United Dundalk Tommy Gaynor (Limerick F.C.) (15) Paul Doolin (Shamrock Rovers) Shelbourne UCD 24 (6.332) 1986-87 Shamrock Rovers Dundalk Bohemians Mick Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) (12) Mick Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) Home Farm Athlone Town 29 (5.665) −5 1987-88 Dundalk St. Patrick's Athletic Bohemians Jonathan Speak (Derry City) (24) Paddy Dillon (St. Patrick's Athletic) Bray Wanderers Sligo Rovers 30 (3.665) −1 1988-89 Derry City Dundalk Limerick City Billy Hamilton (Limerick F.C.) (21) Paul Doolin (Derry City) Cobh Ramblers Waterford United 31 (2.665) −1 1989-90 St. Patrick's Athletic Derry City Dundalk Mark Ennis (St. Patrick's Athletic) (19) Mark Ennis (St. Patrick's Athletic) Drogheda United UCD 31 (2.998) 1990-91 Dundalk Cork City St. Patrick's Athletic Peter Hanrahan (Dundalk) (18) Pat Morley (Cork City) Waterford United Limerick City 32 (1.332) −1 1991-92 Shelbourne Derry City Cork City John Caulfield (Cork City) (16) Pat Fenlon (Bohemians) Athlone Town Galway United 31 (1.999) +1 1992-93 Cork City Bohemians Shelbourne Pat Morley (Cork City) (20) Donal O'Brien (Derry City) Waterford United Sligo Rovers Bray Wanderers 31 (2.665) 1993-94 Shamrock Rovers Cork City Galway United Stephen Geoghegan (Shamrock Rovers) (23) Stephen Geoghegan (Shamrock Rovers) Limerick F.C. Drogheda United 32 (2.665) −1 1994-95 Dundalk Derry City Shelbourne John Caulfield (Cork City) (16) Liam Coyle (Derry City) Cobh Ramblers Monaghan United 33 (3.665) −1 1995-96 St. Patrick's Athletic Bohemians Sligo Rovers Stephen Geoghegan (Shelbourne) (19) Eddie Gormley (St. Patrick's Athletic) Athlone Town Drogheda United Galway United 35 (4.665) −2 1996-97 Derry City Bohemians Shelbourne Tony Cousins (Shamrock Rovers) (16) Stephen Geoghegan (Shelbourne) (16) Peter Hutton (Derry City) Bray Wanderers Home Farm Everton 37 (4.331) −2 1997-98 St. Patrick's Athletic Shelbourne Cork City Stephen Geoghegan (Shelbourne) (17) Pat Scully (Shelbourne) Kilkenny City Drogheda United 43 (4.331) −6 1998-99 St. Patrick's Athletic Cork City Shelbourne Trevor Molloy (St. Patrick's Athletic) (15) Paul Osam (St. Patrick's Athletic) Bray Wanderers Dundalk 44 (3.998) −1 1999-00 Shelbourne Cork City Bohemians Pat Morley (Cork City) (20) Pat Fenlon (Shelbourne) Waterford United Sligo Rovers Drogheda United 41 (1.832) +3 2000-01 Bohemians Shelbourne Cork City Glen Crowe (Bohemians) (25) Glen Crowe (Bohemians) Finn Harps Kilkenny City 41 (1.665) 2001-02 Shelbourne Shamrock Rovers St. Patrick's Athletic Glen Crowe (Bohemians) (21) Owen Heary (Shelbourne) Dundalk Galway United Monaghan United 38 (2.998) +3 2002-03 Bohemians Shelbourne Shamrock Rovers Glen Crowe (Bohemians) (18) Glen Crowe (Bohemians) Bray Wanderers 37 (3.331) +1 2003 Shelbourne Bohemians Cork City Jason Byrne (Shelbourne) (21) Jason Byrne (Shelbourne) UCD 39 (3.331) −2 2004 Shelbourne Cork City Bohemians Jason Byrne (Shelbourne) (25) Jason Byrne (Shelbourne) Dublin City 40 (3.164) −1 2005 Cork City Derry City Shelbourne Jason Byrne (Shelbourne) (22) Mark Farren (Derry City) Shamrock Rovers Finn Harps 38 (4.164) +2 2006 Shelbourne Derry City Drogheda United Jason Byrne (Shelbourne) (15) Joseph Ndo (Shelbourne) Shelbournea 40 (4.331) −2 2007 Drogheda United St Patrick's Athletic Bohemians David Mooney (Longford Town) (19) Brian Shelley (Drogheda United) Waterford United Longford Town 35 (6.498) +5 2008 Bohemians St Patrick's Athletic Derry City Mark Farren (Derry City) (16) Keith Fahey (St. Patrick's Athletic) Finn Harps Cobh Ramblers UCD 35 (7.332) 2009 Bohemians Shamrock Rovers Cork City Gary Twigg (Shamrock Rovers) (24) Gary Twigg (Shamrock Rovers) Cork City Derry Cityb 30 (9.499) +5 2010 Shamrock Rovers Bohemians Sligo Rovers Gary Twigg (Shamrock Rovers) (20) Richie Ryan (Sligo Rovers) N/Ac 29 (9.541) +1 2011 Shamrock Rovers Sligo Rovers Derry City Éamon Zayed (Derry City) (22) Éamon Zayed (Derry City) Galway United 31 (8.708) −2 a: Relegated by the Independent Assessment Group due to financial problems b: Both clubs were demoted due to financial problems c: As per rules, Drogheda United were to be relegated. This did not occur due to the closure of Sporting Fingal See also League of Ireland League of Ireland First Division All-time League of Ireland table Republic of Ireland football league system Notes A. ^ The League of Ireland was founded in 1921. The league split into 2 divisions in 1985, creating the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland First Division. However, the winners of the Premier Division, having finished at the top of League of Ireland football, are considered to be League of Ireland Champions. References External links Official Website Extratime.ie