The All-Ireland League (AIL), known for
sponsorship
Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...
reasons as the Energia All-Ireland League, is the national league system for the 50 senior
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
clubs in
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 ...
, covering both the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. The league was inaugurated in the 1990–91 season.
The league is the second highest level of rugby union in Ireland, as
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
teams representing the four
provinces of Ireland
There have been four Provinces of Ireland: Connacht (Connaught), Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. The Irish language, Irish word for this territorial division, , meaning "fifth part", suggests that there were once five, and at times Kingdom_of_ ...
play in the
United Rugby Championship
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...
.
Division 1 sides may field no more than two professional players in their matchday sides, and only one may be a forward. Division 2 sides may not field professional players. Foreign professional players may not play in the League.
Cork Constitution, the inaugural winners , are the only club to have retained top division status since the inception of the league.
Competition format
The league is divided into five divisions of ten teams each. Teams play each other team in the division twice per season (once at home and once away), for a total of 18 regular-season matches.
The season runs from mid-September until mid-April, with an approximately four-week break in matches from mid-December to early-January. At the end of the season, the top four teams in division 1A enter a play off semi-finals and a final for the championship.
Promotion and relegation
At the end of each season the bottom team in division 1A is replaced by the top team in division 1B, with the second-bottom team entering a promotion/relegation play-off with the second-placed team in 1B. The bottom two teams in 1B, 2A and 2B are relegated and replaced by the top two teams from divisions 2A, 2B and 2C respectively.
The two teams finishing bottom of division 2C are relegated to the relevant provincial league, and replaced by the two teams finishing top of a "round robin" tournament between the four provincial league winners. The four provincial junior leagues are the Connacht Junior League, the
Leinster League
The Leinster League is the second tier of rugby in Leinster, behind the Leinster Senior League. It has five divisions. The champions qualify for a round-robin tournament with the champions of the other three provincial junior leagues for one of tw ...
, the Munster Junior League and the Ulster Championship League.
History
Prior to 1990, there was no national league in Ireland. Each of the four provincial unions had its own cup and league tournament. In 1991, after almost five years of discussion and consultation with clubs, the All-Ireland League (AIL) was introduced with two divisions, division 1 with 9 clubs and division 2 with 10 clubs. The AIL was expanded to four divisions in 1993–94, with small variations in the numbers of teams per division in subsequent seasons.
In 2000–01 the league was restructured to three divisions, each with 16 teams. After the 1995
introduction of professionalism in rugby union
The history of rugby union follows from various football games long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be tr ...
, the IRFU increased the importance of the provinces, which from 2002 participated in the Celtic League (now the
Pro14
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...
) as full-time teams rather than ad hoc selections of club players. Therefore, the best Irish players no longer played in the AIL. In 2004 the IRFU proposed scrapping the All-Ireland League and reintroducing a provincial league system in 2005–06 which would act as qualifiers for a curtailed three division AIL structure in the second half of the season, but this model did not receive the support of clubs or rugby pundits. In 2007 the IRFU agreed that the structure of the All-Ireland League would remain as three divisions with 16 clubs each for seasons 2008–09 and 2009–10. In 2009–10, division 1 was split into 1A and 1B with eight teams in each as a trial and then continued in season 2010–11.
[''Irish Times''. (2010). Rugby News: New Format for All-Ireland League, 29 July, page 22] In 2011–12 division 1A and 1B had 10 clubs each and divisions 2 and 3 were reformatted as divisions 2A and 2B with 16 clubs in each division.
Previous winners
*1990–91
Cork Constitution
The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...
†
*1991–92
Garryowen
*1992–93
Young Munster
Young Munster is a rugby union club based in Limerick, Ireland, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. It was founded in 1895 and plays its games at Tom Clifford Park in Rosbrien, Limerick.
Club honours have included nine wins in th ...
*1993–94
Garryowen
*1994–95
Shannon
*1995–96
Shannon
*1996–97
Shannon
*1997–98
Shannon ‡
*1998–99
Cork Constitution
The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...
(after Extra Time)
*1999–2000
St Mary's College
*2000–01
Dungannon
Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...
*2001–02
Shannon
*2002–03
Ballymena
Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim.
The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...
*2003–04
Shannon
*2004–05
Shannon
*2005–06
Shannon
*2006–07
Garryowen
*2007–08
Cork Constitution
The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...
*2008–09
Shannon (after Extra Time)
*2009–10
Cork Constitution
The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...
(after Extra Time)
*2010–11
Old Belvedere
Old Belvedere R.F.C. is a senior Irish rugby union club based on Anglesea Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland. Old Belvedere was originally founded in 1918–19 by former pupils of Belvedere College. Old Belvedere enters senior men's teams in th ...
*2011–12
St Mary's College
*2012–13
Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to:
People
* Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver
*Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist
* George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...
*2013–14
Clontarf§
*2014–15
Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to:
People
* Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver
*Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist
* George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...
*2015–16
Clontarf
*2016–17
Cork Constitution
The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...
*2017–18
Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to:
People
* Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver
*Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist
* George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...
*2018–19
Cork Constitution
The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...
*2019–20 ''Postponed''
*2020–21 ''Postponed''
*2021–22
Clontarf
*
† From season 1990–91 through to 1996–97, the team placing top of Division 1 was crowned AIL League Champion
‡ From season 1997–98, playoffs were introduced which was contested by the top four teams in Division 1 for the title of AIL League Champion; in the semi-finals the top placed team played the 4th placed team and the 2nd placed team the 3rd placed team
§ The title in 2013–14 was decided on final league position; there were no play-offs.
Club statistics
The All-Ireland League has been dominated by teams from
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
(Shannon, Garryowen, and Young Munster) who have won 13 out of 29 titles. Teams from Munster have won 19 out of 29.
Teams
Divisions for the 2022–23 season.
Division 1A
Division 1B
Division 2A
Division 2B
Division 2C
Sponsorship
The All-Ireland League was not sponsored in the initial season, but was sponsored for six years by Insurance Corporation of Ireland. The League was sponsored by
Allied Irish Banks
Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, trav ...
from 1998 to 2010,
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: National Westminster Bank, trading as Ulster Bank (registere ...
from 2010 to 2019, 2018/19 season was not sponsored and
Energia since the 2019–20 season.
See also
*
All-Ireland Cup
*
Pro14
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...
References
External links
Official results service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aib League
Rugby union leagues in Ireland
Rugby union leagues in Europe
All-Ireland organisations
Irish senior rugby competitions
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 ...
1990 establishments in Ireland
Sports leagues established in 1990