The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally used to refer to a single division league. However today the League of Ireland features five divisions – the Premier Division, the First Division, U19 Division, U17 Division, U15 Division and starting U13 Division. The League of Ireland has always worked closely with the FAI and in 2006 the two bodies formally merged. All the divisions are currently sponsored by

Airtricity SSE Airtricity (previously Eirtricity) is an energy company founded in Ireland in 1997, and now a subsidiary SSE plc. SSE Airtricity supplies and distributes electricity and gas to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. History The com ...

and as a result the league is also known as the SSE Airtricity League. In 2007, it became one of the first leagues in Europe to introduce a

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

History

A Division

The League of Ireland was founded in 1921 as a single division known as the A Division. The first season featured eight teams, all from

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. The teams that competed in the first season were

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

, Dublin United, Frankfort,

Jacobs Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations *Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK *Jacobs (coffee), a brand of coffee * Jacobs Aircraft Engine Company, former American aircraft engine compan ...

, Olympia, St. James's Gate, Shelbourne and

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. The eight founding members had spent the 1920–21 season playing in the Leinster Senior League. Bohemians and Shelbourne had played in the

1919–20 Irish League The Irish League in season 1919–20 comprised eight teams. An all Ireland league championship resumed after a four-year suspension due to the First World War; during the war teams had competed locally in the Belfast & District League or th ...

. St James's Gate were the inaugural champions. Gate also went on to complete a treble having already won both the

1921–22 FAI Cup The FAI Cup 1921–22 was the first ever edition of Ireland's premier cup competition, The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup or FAI Cup. The tournament began on 14 January 1922 and concluded on 8 April with the final replay held at ...

and 1921–22 Leinster Senior Cup. In 1922–23 the league was expanded to twelve clubs. Among the new members were Shamrock Rovers, who finished as champions, and

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

who became the first team from outside County Dublin to compete in the league. Together with fellow Dublin clubs teams, Bohemians and Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers would go onto dominate the league during the 1920s and the 1930s. In 1924–25

Bray Unknowns Bray Unknowns Football Club was an Irish association football club based in Bray, County Wicklow. During the 1920s and 1930s the Unknowns were the dominant football club in Bray, playing in the League of Ireland for nineteen seasons from 1924 ...

and Fordsons became the second and third teams from outside County Dublin to join the league. Fordsons also became the first team from Munster to play in the league. The league continued to expand numerically and geographically during its first two decades of existence. In 1926–27

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

were elected to the league and in 1932–33 became the first club from outside County Dublin to win the title. Dundalk were subsequently joined by

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

1930–31 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

, Cork Bohemians in 1932–33, Sligo Rovers in 1934–35 and

Limerick F.C. Limerick Football Club ( ga, Club Peile Luimnigh) was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland. The first Limerick ...

in 1937–38. In 1936–37, Sligo Rovers became the second club from outside County Dublin to win the title. During The Emergency/

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

era Cork United emerged as the league's strongest team. The club won five league titles between 1940–41 and 1945–46, including three in succession. However they subsequently resigned from the league in 1948. The 1950s was marked by the emergence of St Patrick's Athletic and the re-emergence of Shamrock Rovers. The former succeeded in winning the title at the first attempt in 1951–52 and claimed a further two in the middle of the decade. In 1953–54 the ''Coad's Colts'' earned Shamrock Rovers their first title in fifteen years. Drumcondra and Dundalk claimed two League of Ireland titles each during the 1960s but Waterford secured their status as the team of the decade with four league titles, including three in succession between 1967–68 and 1969–70. Six clubs won the League of Ireland title during the 1970s with Waterford, Bohemians and Dundalk winning two titles each.

won two league titles at the start of the 1980s but the decade was marked by the four successive league titles won by Shamrock Rovers between 1983–84 and 1986–87. Following the conclusion of the 1984–85 season the league was restructured and the A Division was replaced by the League of Ireland Premier Division.

Second level

The League of Ireland first organised a second level division in 1964–65. The

B Division B Division, Division B, or variant may refer to: * ''B Division'' (New York City Subway) * ''B Division'' (Irish League), association football * ''Division B'' (Scottish Football League) * ''Divizia B'' (Romanian Football League) * Moldovan "B ...

featured

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 and emerging senior teams. Although there was no

relegation and promotion In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to and from the A Division, a number of B Division teams, including Home Farm, Bray Wanderers,

, UCD,

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

and

Monaghan United Monaghan United F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Mhuineacháin Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Monaghan currently playing in the Ulster Senior League. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1983 and subsequently went on to pl ...

, were subsequently elected to the A Division. In 1985–86 the B Division was replaced as the second level division by the First Division. The First Division featured first teams and a relegation and promotion system operated with the new Premier Division.

Third level

Between

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and 2011 the FAI organised a short lived national third level league known as 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. ...

. Like the earlier the

, the A Championship featured a mixture of League of Ireland

s and emerging senior teams. Unlike the B Division, a

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

system operated between the Premier Division, the First Division and the A Championship.

Youth leagues

Since 2000–01 the League of Ireland has organised a youth league. It was originally an under-21 league, later becoming an under-20 league, but is now an U19 league. The winners of the overall competition are awarded the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup. In 2015, the League of Ireland also introduced an U17 league. An under-15 league was introduced in 2017, beginning with a truncated season, before fully aligning with the League of Ireland calendar in 2018. An under-13 league is planned to start April 2019.

League of Ireland clubs

2023 Premier Division

2023 First Division

Former League of Ireland clubs

Champions

List of winners by season

A Division

League of Ireland Premier Division

General Statistics

List of winners by club

List of winners by county

Media coverage

League of Ireland games are broadcast by both RTÉ and

Eir Sport Eir Sport (stylised as eir Sport; formerly Setanta Sports) was a group of Irish television sports channels operated by Eircom Sport Limited, a subsidiary of Eir. In December 2015, Eir purchased original Setanta Sports operations in the Republi ...

. In 2014 it was announced that RTÉ will show 78 live Premier Division and FAI Cup games as part of a new agreement with the FAI. The agreement expires in November 2018. RTÉ also broadcast a highlights show, ''

Soccer Republic ''Soccer Republic'' is RTÉ's main football television programme. It is shown on RTÉ Two on Monday nights during the Irish football season, showing highlights of recent matches in Irish football's top division, the League of Ireland Premier Divis ...

'', throughout the season. In 2015 the FAI agreed a deal with TrackChamp to stream all Premier Division and First Division outside Ireland - though customers criticised this as they had to sign up for a betting account first.

Premier Division Attendance

European record

UEFA Champions League

1QR/2QR/3QR = First/Second/Third qualifying round; PO = Playoff

UEFA Europa League

1QR/2QR/3QR = First/Second/Third qualifying round; PO = Playoff; Group = Group stage

UEFA Europa Conference League

1QR/2QR/3QR = First/Second/Third qualifying round; PO = Playoff

Notes

References

External links

Official Website

Extratime.ie

LeagueofIreland.ie
{{Authority control Sports leagues established in 1921 1921 establishments in Ireland

History

A Division

Second level

Third level

Youth leagues

League of Ireland clubs

2023 Premier Division

2023 First Division

Former League of Ireland clubs

Champions

List of winners by season

A Division

League of Ireland Premier Division

General Statistics

List of winners by club

List of winners by county

Media coverage

Premier Division Attendance

European record

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Europa League

UEFA Europa Conference League

See also

Notes

References

External links