The Ulster Senior League is an association football league featuring amateur, intermediate, and
League of Ireland reserve teams. Together with 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 Se ...
and 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 Senior ...
, it forms the third level of the
Republic of Ireland football league system. Ulster Senior League teams also compete in the
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 ...
and the
FAI Intermediate Cup. The winners of the Ulster Senior League have also been invited to play in the
League of Ireland Cup. Despite using the
Ulster name in its title, almost all of its clubs are based in
County Donegal and the City of
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
. The most successful club in the league has been
Fanad United who have won fourteen league titles and ten league cups. Since 2006 the USL has operated as a summer league with the season typically operating from April to October.
History
The Ulster Senior League was formed in 1986. The driving force behind the establishment of the league was Fr. Michael Sweeney, a pioneer of junior and intermediate association football in
County Donegal. In addition to founding the USL, Sweeney had earlier been instrumental in both establishing the Donegal League and forming
Fanad United.
Fanad United were the inaugural USL champions in 1986–87 and they subsequently went on to become the league's most successful club, winning fourteen league titles and ten league cups. In more recent seasons,
Cockhill Celtic
Cockhill Celtic Football Club is an Irish association football (soccer) club based in Buncrana, County Donegal. Their senior men's team currently plays in the Ulster Senior League.
History
The club was founded as ''Westbrook Celtic'' on 28 ...
have challenged Fanad United's dominance, winning their first title in 2010 and then nine consecutive titles between 2013 and 2022.
The winners of the Ulster Senior League have regularly been invited to participate in the
League of Ireland Cup. In 1987–88 Fanad United were semi-finalists. Cockhill Celtic, Culdaff and Swilly Rovers have all represented the USL in the League of Ireland Cup.
Fanad United have also won the
FAI Intermediate Cup twice while
Letterkenny Rovers were finalists in 2015–16.
September 2020 saw the leagues most successful club, Fanad United, announce their withdrawal from the USL to join the
Donegal Junior League
2021 saw
Monaghan United F.C.
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 ...
, a former League of Ireland club, join the Ulster Senior League, the first club from Counties
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...
or
Monaghan
Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony.
The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...
to do so.
2022 teams
Champions
List of winners by season
List of winners by club
Ulster Senior League Cup
The Ulster Senior League Cup has had four different sponsors since first being played for in 1986–87. Initially, the competition was sponsored by the Hotel Glenveagh in
Gweedore before being sponsored by Hydro Seafoods and then
Marine Harvest. It is now known as the ''
Donegal News
The ''Donegal News'' (also known as ''Derry People/Donegal News'' and formerly ''Derry People'') is a twice-weekly local newspaper in the northwest of the island of Ireland, first published in 1902. Originally covering Derry, Northern Ireland, it ...
'' Ulster Senior League Cup.
Finals
;Notes
Representative team
An Ulster Senior League representative team competes in the FAI Intermediate Interprovincial Tournament against teams representing the
Leinster Senior League, the
Munster Senior League and
Connacht.
Notable former players
;
Republic of Ireland internationals
*
Shay Given
;
Northern Ireland U21 international
*
Michael Duffy
;
League of Ireland First Division Top Scorer
A list of League of Ireland top scorers.
A Division
;Notes
Premier Division
First Division
;Notes
All–Time
;Notes
References
{{League of Ireland
Top
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster ...
*
Kevin McHugh
;
League of Ireland manager
*
Paul Hegarty
Paul Anthony Hegarty (born 25 July 1954 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish football player and manager. He was captain of Dundee United during their most successful era in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Scottish league championship in 1983 and the ...
References
{{UEFA third leagues
3
1
Ire
Ire or IRE may refer to:
Ire
* Extreme anger; intense fury
* Irē, the Livonian name for Mazirbe, Latvia
* A town in Oye, Nigeria
* ''Ire'' (album), a 2015 album by the Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive
* Ire (Iliad), a town mentioned in ...
1
Summer association football leagues
1986 establishments in Ireland
Sports leagues established in 1986
Professional sports leagues in Ireland