The 2008 A Championship was the inaugural season of the

A Championship The A Championship, also known as the Newstalk A Championship, was an association football league featuring League of Ireland reserve teams and emerging senior teams. It was a third level league in the Republic of Ireland football league system. ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The league featured 16 teams. UCD A were the inaugural champions, Cork City A won the Shield competition and Mervue United were promoted to the First Division after a play off.

A Championship Shield

Between March and June the twelve

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

s competed in the A Championship Shield. Mervue United,

Salthill Devon Salthill Devon Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in Salthill, Galway. Their senior team currently plays in the Galway & District League. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, the A Champi ...

and Tullamore Town did not play in the Shield as they were still playing in their previous junior/intermediate leagues which operated as winter leagues. This resulted in an overlap with the A Championship which operated as a summer league. The twelve teams were divided into four regionalised groups with the group winners then qualifying for the semi-finals. ;Group Stage ;Semi-finals ;Final

Regular season

The regular season saw the twelve

s joined by Limerick 37 A plus the first teams of Mervue United,

and Tullamore Town. The format saw the sixteen teams split into two groups of eight, divided roughly into southern and northern groups. The two groups used a traditional round-robin format. The two group winners, UCD A and Bohemians A, then played off in a final. UCD won the inaugural title. As the highest placed non-reserve team, Mervue United qualified for a promotion/relegation play-off and after defeating

Kildare County Kildare County F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Chontae Chill Dara) was an Irish association football club based in Newbridge, County Kildare. Between 2002–03 and 2009 they played in the League of Ireland First Division. During this time they also e ...

, they were promoted to the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

Group 1

Teams

Final table

Results

Group 2

Teams

Final table

Results

Play-Offs

A Championship Final

Bohemians A and UCD A competed in a playoff to decide the overall A Championship title. UCD A won 2–1.

Promotion/Relegation

and Mervue United, the highest ranked non-

from the A Championship, played off to see who would play in the 2009 First Division. '' Mervue United won 5–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the First Division.''

References

{{2008 in Republic of Ireland association football 3 A Championship seasons

A Championship Shield

Regular season

Group 1

Teams

Final table

Results

Group 2

Teams

Final table

Results

Play-Offs

A Championship Final

Promotion/Relegation

See also

References