List of League of Ireland champions

The Republic of Ireland football champions are the winners of the highest league in football in the Irish Republic. This is not to be confused with the Irish League Champions who are the National Champions of neighbouring Northern Ireland. Prior to 1921 teams from the Republic of Ireland played in the Irish League, governed from Belfast. They broke from this League after Ireland was partitioned in 1921 after a dispute over the staging of the National cup final. The Irish League continues as the National Championship for Northern Ireland and the champions of both are confusingly referred to as Irish League Champions. Globally the term Irish Champion is more commonly given to the Champions of the Republic of Ireland as the nation is commonly shortened to Ireland in general conversation. Equally the Irish League Champions are more commonly referred to as the Northern Irish League Champions although the word Northern has never officially been added to the League's title. Traditionally the League of Ireland was considered inferior to its Northern parent League up until the late 1960s when a gradual improvement in the game south of the border and a gradual decline north of the border saw the power in Irish Football gradually move from its traditional Belfast power base to the Dublin clubs. In total, 19 teams have won the League of Ireland with Shamrock Rovers the most successful side with 17 titles followed by Shelbourne with 13 titles and Bohemians 11.

Teams in bold are those who won the double of League Championship and FAI Cup.
Teams in italic bold are those who won the treble by adding the either the League of Ireland Shield (1921–1972) or League of Ireland Cup (1973–present) to the double.

List of Champions

Year	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Leading goalscorer	Goals
1921-22	St. James's Gate (1)	Bohemians	Shelbourne	Jack Kelly (St. James's Gate)	11
1922-23	Shamrock Rovers (1)	Shelbourne	Bohemians	Bob Fullam (Shamrock Rovers)	27
1923-24	Bohemians (1)	Shelbourne	Jacobs	Dave Roberts (Bohemians)	20
1924-25	Shamrock Rovers (2)	Bohemians	Shelbourne	Billy Farrell (Shamrock Rovers)	25
1925-26	Shelbourne (1)	Shamrock Rovers	Fordsons	Billy Farrell (Shamrock Rovers)	24
1926-27	Shamrock Rovers (3)	Shelbourne	Bohemians	David Byrne (footballer born 1905) (Shamrock Rovers) / John McMillan (Shelbourne)	17
1927-28	Bohemians (2)	Shelbourne	Shamrock Rovers	Charlie Heinemann (Fordsons)	24
1928-29	Shelbourne(2)	Bohemians	Shamrock Rovers	Eddie Carroll (Dundalk)	17
1929-30	Bohemians (3)	Shelbourne	Shamrock Rovers	Johnny Ledwidge (Shelbourne)	16
1930-31	Shelbourne (3)	Dundalk	Bohemians	Alex Hair (Shelbourne)	29
1931-32	Shamrock Rovers (4)	Cork	Waterford	Pearson Ferguson (Cork) / Jack Forster (Waterford)	21
1932-33	Dundalk (1)	Shamrock Rovers	Shelbourne	George Ebbs (St. James Gate)	20
1933-34	Bohemians (4)	Cork	Shamrock Rovers	Alf Rigby (St. James Gate)	13
1934-35	Dolphin (1)	St. James's Gate	Sligo Rovers	Alf Rigby (St. James Gate)	17
1935-36	Bohemians (5)	Dolphin	Cork	Jimmy Turnbull (Cork)	37
1936-37	Sligo Rovers (1)	Waterford	Dundalk	Bob Slater (Shelbourne)	20
1937-38	Shamrock Rovers (5)	Waterford	Dundalk	Willie Byrne (St James Gate)	25
1938-39	Shamrock Rovers (6)	Sligo Rovers	Dundalk	Paddy Bradshaw (St James Gate)	22
1939-40	St. James's Gate (2)	Shamrock Rovers	Sligo Rovers	Paddy Bradshaw (St James Gate)	29
1940-41	Cork United (1)	Waterford	Bohemians	Mick O'Flanagan (Bohemians)	19
1941-42	Cork United (2)	Shamrock Rovers	Shelbourne	Tommy Byrne (Limerick)	20
1942-43	Cork United (3)	Dundalk	Drumcondra	Sean McCarthy (Cork United)	16
1943-44	Shelbourne (4)	Limerick	Shamrock Rovers	Sean McCarthy (Cork United)	16
1944-45	Cork United (4)	Limerick	Shamrock Rovers	Sean McCarthy (Cork United)	26
1945-46	Cork United (5)	Drumcondra	Waterford	Paddy O'Leary (Cork United)	15
1946-47	Shelbourne (5)	Drumcondra	Shamrock Rovers	Paddy Coad (Shamrock Rovers) / Alf Hanson (Shelbourne)	11
1947-48	Drumcondra (1)	Dundalk	Shelbourne	Sean McCarthy (Cork United)	13
1948-49	Drumcondra (2)	Shelbourne	Dundalk	Bernard Lester (Transport) / Eugene Noonan (Waterford) / Paddy O'Leary (Cork Athletic)	12
1949-50	Cork Athletic (1)	Drumcondra	Shelbourne	Dave McCulloch (Waterford)	19
1950-51	Cork Athletic (2)	Sligo Rovers	Drumcondra	Dessie Glynn (Drumcondra)	20
1951-52	St. Patrick's Athletic (1)	Shelbourne	Shamrock Rovers	Shay Gibbons (St. Patrick's Athletic)	26
1952-53	Shelbourne (6)	Drumcondra	Shamrock Rovers	Shay Gibbons (St. Patrick's Athletic)	22
1953-54	Shamrock Rovers (7)	Evergreen United	Drumcondra	Danny Jordan (Bohemians)	14
1954-55	St. Patrick's Athletic (2)	Waterford	Shamrock Rovers	Jimmy Gauld (Waterford)	30
1955-56	St. Patrick's Athletic (3)	Shamrock Rovers	Waterford	Shay Gibbons (St. Patrick's Athletic)	21
1956-57	Shamrock Rovers (8)	Dumcondra	Sligo Rovers	Tommy Hamilton (Shamrock Rovers) / Donal Leahy (Evergreen)	15
1957-58	Dumcondra (3)	Shamrock Rovers	Evergreen United	Donal Leahy (Evergreen)	16
1958-59	Shamrock Rovers (9)	Evergreen United	Waterford	Donal Leahy (Evergreen)	22
1959-60	Limerick (1)	Cork Celtic	Shelbourne	Austin Noonan (Cork Celtic)	27
1960-61	Dumcondra (4)	St. Patrick's Athletic	Waterford	Dan McCaffrey (Drumcondra)	29
1961-62	Shelbourne (7)	Cork Celtic	Shamrock Rovers	Eddie Bailham (Shamrock Rovers)	21
1962-63	Dundalk (2)	Waterford	Drumcondra	Mick Lynch (Waterford)	12
1963-64	Shamrock Rovers (10)	Dundalk	Limerick	Eddie Bailham (Shamrock Rovers) / Jimmy Hasty (Dundalk) / Johnny Kingston (Cork Hibernians)	18
1964-65	Drumcondra (5)	Shamrock Rovers	Bohemians	Jackie Mooney (Shamrock Rovers)	16
1965-66	Waterford (1)	Shamrock Rovers	Bohemians	Mick Lynch (Waterford)	17
1966-67	Dundalk (3)	Bohemians	Sligo Rovers	Johnny Brooks (Sligo Rovers) / Danny Hale (footballer) (Dundalk)	15
1967-68	Waterford (2)	Dundalk	Cork Celtic	Carl Davenport (Cork Celtic) / Ben Hannigan (Dundalk)	15
1968-69	Waterford (3)	Shamrock Rovers	Cork Hibernians	Mick Leech (Shamrock Rovers)	19
1969-70	Waterford (4)	Shamrock Rovers	Cork Hibernians	Brendan Bradley (Finn Harps)	18
1970-71	Cork Hibernians (1)	Shamrock Rovers	Waterford	Brendan Bradley (Finn Harps)	20
1971-72	Waterford (5)	Cork Hibernians	Bohemians	Alfie Hale (Waterford) / Tony Marsden (Cork Hibernians)	22
1972-73	Waterford (6)	Finn Harps	Bohemians	Alfie Hale (Waterford) / Terry Harkin (Finn Harps)	20
1973-74	Cork Celtic (1)	Bohemians	Cork Hibernians	Terry Flanagan (footballer) (Bohemians) / Turlough O'Connor (footballer) (Bohemians)	18
1974-75	Bohemians (6)	Athlone Town	Finn Harps	Brendan Bradley (Finn Harps)	21
1975-76	Dundalk (4)	Finn Harps	Waterford	Brendan Bradley (Finn Harps)	29
1976-77	Sligo Rovers (2)	Bohemians	Drogheda United	Syd Wallace (Waterford)	16
1977-78	Bohemians (7)	Finn Harps	Drogheda United	Turlough O'Connor (footballer) (Bohemians)	24
1978-79	Dundalk (5)	Bohemians	Drogheda United	John Delamere (Sligo Rovers / Shelbourne)	17
1979-80	Limerick United (2)	Dundalk	Athlone Town	Alan Campbell (Shamrock Rovers)	22
1980-81	Athlone Town (1)	Dundalk	Limerick United	Eugene Davis (Athlone Town)	23
1981-82	Dundalk (6)	Shamrock Rovers	Bohemains	Michael O'Connor (Athlone Town)	22
1982-83	Athlone Town (2)	Drogheda United	Dundalk	Noel Larkin (Athlone Town)	18
1983-84	Shamrock Rovers (11)	Bohemians	Athlone Town	Alan Campbell (Shamrock Rovers)	24
1984-85	Shamrock Rovers (12)	Bohemians	Athlone Town	Tommy Gaynor (Limerick City) / Michael O'Connor (Athlone Town)	17
1985-86	Shamrock Rovers (13)	Galway United	Dundalk	Tommy Gaynor (Limerick City)	15
1986-87	Shamrock Rovers (14)	Dundalk	Bohemians	Mick Byrne (Shamrock Rovers)	12
1987-88	Dundalk (7)	St. Patrick's Athletic	Bohemians	Jonathan Speak (Derry City)	24
1988-89	Derry City (1)	Dundalk	Limerick City	Billy Hamilton (Limerick City)	21
1989-90	St. Patrick's Athletic (4)	Derry City	Dundalk	Mark Ennis (St. Patrick's Athletic)	19
1990-91	Dundalk (8)	Cork City	St. Patrick's Athletic	Peter Hanrahan (Dundalk)	18
1991-92	Shelbourne (8)	Derry City	Cork City	John Caulfield (Cork City)	16
1992-93	Cork City (2)	Bohemians	Shelbourne	Pat Morley (Cork City)	20
1993-94	Shamrock Rovers (15)	Cork City	Galway United	Stephen Geoghegan (Shamrock Rovers)	23
1994-95	Dundalk (9)	Derry City	Shelbourne	John Caulfield (Cork City)	16
1995-96	St. Patrick's Athletic (5)	Bohemians	Sligo Rovers	Stephen Geoghegan (Shelbourne)	19
1996-97	Derry City (2)	Bohemians	Shelbourne	Tony Cousins (Shamrock Rovers) / Stephen Geoghegan (Shelbourne)	16
1997-98	St. Patrick's Athletic (6)	Shelbourne	Cork City	Stephen Geoghegan (Shelbourne)	17
1998-99	St. Patrick's Athletic (7)	Cork City	Shelbourne	Trevor Molloy (St. Patrick's Athletic)	15
1999–2000	Shelbourne (9)	Cork City	Bohemians	Pat Morley (Cork City)	20
2000-01	Bohemians (8)	Shelbourne	Cork City	Glen Crowe (Bohemians)	25
2001-02	Shelbourne (10)	Shamrock Rovers	St. Patrick's Athletic	Glen Crowe (Bohemians)	21
2002-03	Bohemians (9)	Shelbourne	Shamrock Rovers	Glen Crowe (Bohemians)	18
2003	Shelbourne (11)	Bohemians	Cork City	Jason Byrne (Shelbourne)	21
2004	Shelbourne (12)	Cork City	Bohemians	Jason Byrne (Shelbourne)	25
2005	Cork City (2)	Derry City	Shelbourne	Jason Byrne (Shelbourne)	22
2006	Shelbourne (13)	Derry City	Drogheda United	Jason Byrne (Shelbourne)	15
2007	Drogheda United (1)	St. Patrick's Athletic	Bohemians	David Mooney (Longford Town)	19
2008	Bohemians (10)	St. Patrick's Athletic	Derry City	Mark Farren (Derry City)	16
2009	Bohemians (11)	Shamrock Rovers	Cork City	Gary Twigg (Shamrock Rovers)	24
2010	Shamrock Rovers (16)	Bohemians	Sligo Rovers	Gary Twigg (Shamrock Rovers)	20
2011	Shamrock Rovers (17)	Sligo Rovers	Derry City	Éamon Zayed (Derry City)	22
2012	Sligo Rovers (3)	Drogheda United	St. Patrick's Athletic	Gary Twigg (Shamrock Rovers)	20
2013	St. Patrick's Athletic (8)	Dundalk	Sligo Rovers	Rory Patterson (Derry City)	18

Total Champions

Clubs in italics no longer exist.

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Championship seasons
Shamrock Rovers	17	14	1922–23, 1924–25, 1926–27, 1931–32, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1963–64, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1993–94, 2010, 2011
Shelbourne	13	10	1925–26, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1952–53, 1961–62, 1991–92, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003, 2004, 2006
Bohemians	11	13	1923–24, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1974–75, 1977–78, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2008, 2009
Dundalk	9	11	1932–33, 1962–63, 1966–67, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1994–95
St Patrick's Athletic	8	4	1951–52, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1989–90, 1995–96, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2013
Waterford	6	4	1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73
Drumcondra	5	5	1947–48, 1948–49, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1964–65
Cork United	5	0	1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45, 1945–46
Sligo Rovers	3	3	1936–37, 1976–77, 2012
Cork City	2	5	1992–93, 2005
Derry City	2	5	1988–89, 1996–97
Limerick	2	2	1959–60, 1979–80
Athlone Town	2	1	1980–81, 1982–83
St James's Gate	2	1	1921–22, 1939–40
Cork Athletic	2	0	1949–50, 1950–51
Cork Celtic	1	2	1973–74
Drogheda United	1	2	2007
Cork Hibernians	1	1	1970–71
Dolphin	1	1	1934–35

Total titles won by town or city

Nineteen clubs have been champions, from a total of 9 towns and cities. Most have come from Dublin.

Town or city	Number of titles	Clubs
Dublin	57	Shamrock Rovers (17), Shelbourne (13), Bohemians (11), St Patrick's Athletic (8), Drumcondra (5), St James's Gate (2), Dolphin (1)
Cork	11	Cork United (5), Cork City (2), Cork Athletic (2), Cork Celtic (1), Cork Hibernians (1)
Dundalk	9	Dundalk (9)
Waterford	6	Waterford United (6)
Sligo	3	Sligo Rovers (3)
Derry	2	Derry City (2)
Limerick	2	Limerick (2)
Athlone	2	Athlone Town (2)
Drogheda	1	Drogheda United (1)

Total titles won by province

Province	Number of titles	Clubs
Leinster	69	Shamrock Rovers (17), Shelbourne (13), Bohemians (11), Dundalk (9), St Patrick's Athletic (8), Drumcondra (5), St James's Gate (2), Athlone Town (2), Dolphin (1), Drogheda United (1)
Munster	19	Waterford United (6), Cork United (5), Cork City (2), Cork Athletic (2), Limerick (2), Cork Celtic (1), Cork Hibernians (1)
Connacht	3	Sligo Rovers (3)
Ulster	2	Derry City (2)

Titles by decade

Clubs with two or more titles per decade

Decade	Number of titles	Club(s)	Number of titles	Club(s)
1920's	3	Shamrock Rovers	2	Bohemians, Shelbourne
1930's	3	Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers
1940's	5	Cork United	3	Shelbourne, Drumcondra
1950's	3	St. Patrick's Athletic, Shamrock Rovers	2	Cork Celtic
1960's	3	Waterford	2	Drumcondra, Dundalk
1970's	3	Waterford	2	Bohemians, Dundalk
1980's	4	Shamrock Rovers	2	Athlone Town, Dundalk
1990's	4	St. Patrick's Athletic	2	Dundalk
2000's	5	Shelbourne	4	Bohemians

External links

• Republic of Ireland - Champions, RSSSF.com