League of Ireland First Division
Season2008
ChampionsDundalk
Top goalscorerRobbie Doyle: 16
(Sporting Fingal)[1]
← 2007
2009 →

The 2008 League of Ireland First Division season was the 24th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 10 teams and Dundalk won the division.

Club information

Team Base Manager Main sponsor Kit supplier Stadium Capacity
Athlone Town Athlone Republic of Ireland Brendan Place Ganly's Hardware O'Neills Athlone Town Stadium 2,000
Dundalk Dundalk Republic of Ireland John Gill IJM Umbro Oriel Park 6,000
Kildare County Newbridge Republic of Ireland Joe Somerville Cill Dara Betting O'Neills Station Road 2,500
Limerick 37 Limerick Republic of Ireland Michael Kerley Limerick's Live 95FM Jako Jackman Park 8,000
Longford Town Longford Republic of Ireland Alan Gough Flancare Umbro Flancare Park 4,500
Monaghan United Monaghan Republic of Ireland Mick Cooke The Squeeling Pig Nike Century Homes Park 3,000
Shelbourne Drumcondra Republic of Ireland Dermot Keely Cab 2000 Umbro Tolka Park 9,700
Sporting Fingal Fingal Republic of Ireland Liam Buckley Keelings O'Neills Morton Stadium 10,000
Waterford United Waterford Republic of Ireland Gareth Cronin Hutchison 3G Azzurri Waterford RSC 8,000
Wexford Youths Crossabeg Republic of Ireland Mick Wallace Wallace Construction O'Neills Ferrycarraig Park 5,000

Overview

The regular season began on 7 March and concluded on 15 November. Each team played the other teams four times, totaling 36 games. Only the champions, Dundalk, were automatically promoted and there was no promotion/relegation play-off between Premier Division and First Division teams. This was because the 2009 Premier Division would be reduced to 10 clubs.[2]

Final table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dundalk (C) 36 21 8 7 69 30 +39 71 Premier Division
2 Shelbourne 36 20 10 6 55 25 +30 70
3 Waterford United 36 18 9 9 55 35 +20 63
4 Sporting Fingal[a] 36 17 11 8 53 32 +21 62
5 Limerick 37 36 15 7 14 49 45 +4 52
6 Monaghan United 36 13 8 15 38 51 −13 47
7 Wexford Youths 36 10 7 19 36 51 −15 37
8 Longford Town 36 9 8 19 36 55 −19 35
9 Athlone Town 36 6 14 16 23 51 −28 32
10 Kildare County[b] 36 6 8 22 34 73 −39 26 Lost promotion/relegation play-off
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Sporting Fingal replaced Kilkenny City who withdrew from the league before the season started.
  2. ^ Kildare County were initially relegated to the A Championship after losing a promotion/relegation play-off. However they subsequently gained a reprieve after Cobh Ramblers were refused a First Division licence and were relegated directly from the Premier Division to the A Championship .

Results

Matches 1 to 18

Home \ Away ATH DUN KIL L37 LON MON SHE SFI WAT WEX
Athlone Town 0–3 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–0 3–1
Dundalk 1–0 6–0 0–2 0–0 3–0 1–3 3–2 1–0 2–1
Kildare County 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–1 4–0 1–3 0–2 1–2 2–0
Limerick 37 0–0 1–2 4–0 2–1 2–2 0–3 1–3 0–3 2–0
Longford Town 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 3–0 2–0 5–1 0–2 0–1
Monaghan United 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–2
Shelbourne 2–0 0–0 5–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0
Sporting Fingal 2–0 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 4–0 0–0 3–1 2–0
Waterford United 1–1 1–0 3–2 3–1 1–1 5–0 1–1 2–0 1–0
Wexford Youths 2–0 0–5 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 0–1 1–2
Source: www.rsssf.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 19 and 36

Home \ Away ATH DUN KIL L37 LON MON SHE SFI WAT WEX
Athlone Town 2–2 3–0 0–3 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0
Dundalk 7–0 4–1 0–1 1–2 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–0
Kildare County 1–0 1–6 0–2 0–2 1–2 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–2
Limerick 37 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–3 2–1 1–2 1–1 5–1 1–1
Longford Town 1–1 0–3 0–1 1–2 1–3 1–2 0–3 0–3 2–4
Monaghan United 3–0 2–2 3–3 0–2 5–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–2
Shelbourne 3–3 0–0 3–1 1–1 5–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–0
Sporting Fingal 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 3–1 2–3
Waterford United 3–0 0–1 3–1 3–1 4–0 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–0
Wexford Youths 0–0 3–1 0–1 3–0 0–2 1–3 0–3 2–2 1–1
Source: www.rsssf.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

Kildare County and Mervue United, the highest ranked non-reserve team from the 2008 A Championship, played off to see who would play in the 2009 First Division.

18 November 2008 Mervue United 2 – 2 Kildare County Fahy's Field
20:00 Keogh 10'
Goldbey 28'		 Report Hughes 54' 76' Referee: Pádraig Sutton (Clare)
21 November 2008 Kildare County 0 – 3 Mervue United Station Road
19:45 Report O'Brien 15'
Goldbey 64' 81'		 Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford)

Mervue United won 5–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the First Division.[2]

Top scorers

Goalscorers Goals Team
Republic of Ireland Robbie Doyle 16 Sporting Fingal[1]
Republic of Ireland Anthony Flood 15 Shelbourne
Republic of Ireland Darren McKenna 13 Longford Town
Republic of Ireland Robbie Farrell 11 Dundalk
Republic of Ireland Vinny Sullivan 11 Waterford United

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Ireland 2008". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
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