The Republic of Ireland football league system currently consists of 12 levels. Traditionally association football leagues in 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. ...

have been classified as either senior, intermediate or junior. These leagues are effectively national, provincial and district leagues respectively. The two highest level leagues/divisions, 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 ...

and 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 ...

are both national leagues. Together they make up the

League of Ireland 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 use ...

. The third level currently consists of three provincial leagues – the

Leinster Senior League Senior Division The Leinster Senior League Senior Division is the top division of the Leinster Senior League. It is organized by the Leinster Football Association. Together with the Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division and the Ulster Senior League S ...

, the

Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division The Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division is the top division of the Munster Senior League. It is organized by the Munster Football Association. Together with the Leinster Senior League Senior Division and the Ulster Senior League Senio ...

and the Ulster Senior League Senior Division.

History

Senior

The original top-level league for what is now the

was the Irish Football League. Founded in

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship '' ...

, this league is now the

Northern Ireland Football League The Northern Ireland Football League (commonly abbreviated to NIFL), known historically, and still colloquially, as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the l ...

. Before the

partition of Ireland The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. ...

, three

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

clubs – Bohemians, Shelbourne and Tritonville – played in the Irish Football League. The

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 Brazil. ** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' bre ...

and its Premier Division is now the top level division.

Intermediate

The two oldest association football leagues in what is now the

are the Leinster Senior League and the Munster Senior League. The former was founded in 1896 while the latter first appeared in the early 1900s. The Leinster Senior League's jurisdiction included the Greater Dublin Area, the most populated region in the country, and as a result it was effectively a ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' second-level league between 1896–97 and 1964–65. In 1964 the

formed the first formal national second level division, the League of Ireland B Division. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, following a reorganisation, the B Division was replaced as the second-level league by the

. As part of this reorganisation, 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 involving the top two national divisions was introduced for the first time.

Junior

From 1964–65 until 2008 the Leinster Senior League and the Munster Senior League formed the third level. They were subsequently joined at this level by the Connacht Senior League in 1981 and the Ulster Senior League in 1986. 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 celebrates ...

, the provincial leagues were briefly replaced as the third level by a short lived national third level league known as the A Championship. Following the demise of the A Championship, the provincial leagues regained their third level status.

Promotion and relegation

system has existed between the

and the

since 1985–86. Between

and

, A Championship teams were also eligible for promotion to the First Division. Promotion and relegation systems also operate within the separate provincial league systems. There is no formal promotion and relegation relationship between the provincial leagues and the

. Teams have been invited to join the League of Ireland however. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, Cabinteely of the Leinster Senior League became the most recent team to accept an invite. In 2022, it was revealed that a third tier in the League of Ireland would be launched in 2023, but although not formally announced by the FAI, the third tier got postponed until 2024, due to lack of interest from clubs in the country.

The current system

Organised in the structure of a football pyramid, but in reality operates as a number of separate unconnected entities with no movement between each of them.

Notes

References

{{League systems

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...