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 Association football (Irish: ''Sacar'') commonly referred to as football or Soccer, is the team sport with the highest level of participation in the Republic of Ireland (with five-a-side games being included). It is the second most popular s ...

. 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 compa ...

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 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

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 The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

, 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 in London, originally ...

. 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 IFA Premiership, 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 1918–19 Belfas ...

. 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 Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

, 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 Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

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 ...

in 1930–31, Cork Bohemians in 1932–33,

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

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 opposin ...

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 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. The 1950s was marked by the emergence of

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

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 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 ...

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 Bray Wanderers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fánaithe Bhré) are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''B ...

, 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 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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 The League of Ireland U19 Division is the under-19 division of the League of Ireland. The current division is the successor of earlier U21 and U20 divisions. Like the Premier Division and First Division, the U19 Division is currently sponsored ...

. 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 (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

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 Republic ...

. In 2014 it was announced that RTÉ will show 78 live Premier Division and

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

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