The 2017 League of Ireland First Division season is the 33rd season of 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 ...

. The league began on 24 February 2017 and concludes on 7 October 2017. The 2017 season had no promotion/relegation play-off system like the previous years, only one team would be eligible for promotion whilst three teams would be relegated from the League of Ireland Premier Division in a revamp of the leagues by the FAI. And returning to the League of Ireland Premier Division for the first time in 10 years was

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 ...

who won promotion with two games to spare as their 3–0 win over south east rivals

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

coupled with nearest rivals

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) ( ga, Cumann Peile Chóstóirí Chóbh) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colm ...

3–0 defeat to

Cabinteely Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. Geography Cabinteely lies around the crossroads of Johnstown Road / Brennanstown Road and the Old Bray Road, and on either side of ...

secured the league title.

Overview

The First Division has 8 teams. Each team played each other four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 28 matches in the season. On 22 December 2016, the FAI announced that the league would be restructured into two 10-team divisions from the 2018 season onwards, one of the recommendations made in the 2015 Conroy Report. This meant the cancellation of the promotion/relegation playoff and relegation at the end of the 2017 season of 3 teams from the Premier Division, with only the champions of the First Division promoted in return.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

League table

Results

Matches 1–14

Teams play each other twice (once at home, once away).

Matches 15–28

Teams play each other twice (once at home, once away).

Top scorers

Awards

The PFAI First Division player of the year nominees were

striker David McDaid,

midfielder Kieran Marty Waters and UCD striker George Kelly.

PFAI First Division Team of Year

The PFAI First Division Team of the Year was: *Goalkeeper: Niall Corbett (UCD) *Defence: Daniel O'Reilly (Longford Town), Kenny Browne (Waterford), Chris McCarthy (Cobh Ramblers), Evan Osam (UCD) *Midfield: Garry Comerford (Waterford), Greg Sloggett (UCD), Kirean Marty Waters (Cabinteely),

Derek Daly Derek Patrick Daly (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former racing driver. He won the 1977 British Formula 3 Championship, and competed as a professional racing driver for 17 years participating in 64 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix ...

(Waterford) *Attack: David McDaid (Waterford), George Kelly (UCD)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017 League of Ireland First Division League of Ireland First Division seasons 2017 League of Ireland 2017 in Republic of Ireland association football leagues

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 ...