League of Ireland First Division
Season2015
ChampionsWexford Youths
PromotedFinn Harps
Top goalscorerDaniel Furlong: 30
(Wexford Youths)[1]
← 2014
2016 →

The 2015 League of Ireland First Division season was the 31st season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by eight teams. Wexford Youths won the title and Finn Harps were also promoted after winning a play off.

Teams

Map of the Republic of Ireland with the eight League of Ireland First Division teams
Athlone Town
Cobh Ramblers
Finn Harps
Waterford United
Wexford Youths
Dublin
Dublin
Dublin teams Cabinteely Shelbourne UCD
Locations of the First Division teams

Stadia and locations

Team Location Stadium
Athlone Town Athlone Athlone Town Stadium
Cabinteely Cabinteely Stradbrook Road
Cobh Ramblers Cobh St. Colman's Park
Finn Harps Ballybofey Finn Park
Shelbourne Drumcondra Tolka Park
UCD Belfield UCD Bowl
Waterford United Waterford Waterford RSC
Wexford Youths Crossabeg Ferrycarrig Park

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.

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Athlone Town Republic of Ireland Eddie Wallace
Republic of Ireland Alan Mathews 		Republic of Ireland Brian Shortall Nike Nitro Sports
Cabinteely Republic of Ireland Eddie Gormley Umbro
Cobh Ramblers Republic of Ireland Martin Cambridge
Republic of Ireland Stephen Henderson 		Nike Eirgrid
Finn Harps Republic of Ireland Ollie Horgan Republic of Ireland Kevin McHugh Legea McGettigan Group
Shelbourne Republic of Ireland Kevin Doherty (footballer) Macron
UCD Republic of Ireland Collie O'Neill Republic of Ireland Robbie Benson O'Neills O'Neills
Waterford United Republic of Ireland Tommy Griffin
Republic of Ireland Roddy Collins 		Republic of Ireland Vinny Sullivan Macron SportsWorld
Wexford Youths Republic of Ireland Shane Keegan Republic of Ireland Graham Doyle O'Neills Galenisys

Overview

Map of Dublin with the three League of Ireland First Division Dublin teams
Shelbourne
UCD
Cabinteely
Locations of Dublin First Division teams

The 2015 First Division featured eight teams. Each team played each other four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 28 matches during the season.[2] Wexford Youths secured their first League of Ireland First Division title and promotion to the Premier Division with a 3–0 victory against Athlone Town at Ferrycarrig Park. The Youths goals came from Danny Furlong, Eric Molloy and Aidan Keenan.[3]

Final table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Wexford Youths (C, P) 28 20 1 7 63 32 +31 61 Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2 Finn Harps (O, P) 28 16 7 5 42 23 +19 55 Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3 UCD 28 14 7 7 51 26 +25 49
4 Shelbourne 28 13 6 9 37 34 +3 45
5 Athlone Town 28 9 6 13 36 42 −6 33
6 Cobh Ramblers 28 8 6 14 27 45 −18 30
7 Waterford United 28 5 6 17 25 51 −26 21
8 Cabinteely 28 5 5 18 22 50 −28 20
Source: [1]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Matches 1–14

Home \ Away ATH CAB COB FHA SHE UCD WAT WEX
Athlone Town 2–2 4–0 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 0–1
Cabinteely 2–0 2–2 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–0
Cobh Ramblers 1–0 1–0 2–3 1–0 0–3 1–0 1–4
Finn Harps 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–2 3–2 1–3
Shelbourne 1–3 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–2 1–0 2–4
UCD 1–2 6–1 1–1 2–2 0–1 3–0 4–1
Waterford United 1–1 3–1 1–1 0–2 2–2 0–0 1–4
Wexford Youths 2–0 7–0 1–0 0–1 2–3 1–0 1–2
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 15–28

Home \ Away ATH CAB COB FHA SHE UCD WAT WEX
Athlone Town 0–1 1–4 1–1 2–1 2–2 3–4 3–1
Cabinteely 1–3 1–0 2–3 0–1 0–3[a] 1–1 2–3
Cobh Ramblers 2–1 2–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 0–2 0–3
Finn Harps 0–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 4–1
Shelbourne 3–1 0–0 2–0 3–2 2–1 3–0 0–0
UCD 3–1 1–0 3–0 1–0 2–1 5–1 1–2
Waterford United 0–1 1–0 1–3 0–3 1–2 0–1 2–3
Wexford Youths 3–0 3–2 2–1 2–0 4–1 1–0 4–0
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ Cabinteely fielded an ineligible player, Dean Ebbe, in their game against UCD on 31 July 2015. They lost 3–1. The FAI subsequently awarded the match to UCD as a 3–0 win and fined Cabinteely €2,500.[4]

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Republic of Ireland Daniel Furlong Wexford Youths 30
2 Republic of Ireland Ryan Swan UCD 12
3 Republic of Ireland Philip Gorman Athlone Town 10
4 Northern Ireland Kevin McHugh Finn Harps 9

Source:[1][5]

Promotion/relegation playoffs

The second and third placed First Division teams, Finn Harps and UCD, played off to decide who would play Limerick, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2016 Premier Division.[2]

First Division
23 October 2015 UCD 0–1 Finn Harps UCD Bowl
19:45 Coll 1'
30 October 2015 Finn Harps 2–1 UCD Finn Park
19:45 Boyle 76'
Mailey 89'		 O'Connor 59'

Finn Harps won 3 – 1 on aggregate

First Division v Premier Division
2 November 2015 Limerick 1–0 Finn Harps Markets Field
Kelly 34' Report Referee: Rob Rogers
6 November 2015 Finn Harps 2–0
(a.e.t.)		 Limerick Finn Park
Funston 38'
Banda 117'		 Attendance: 3,200
Referee: Derek Tomney

Finn Harps won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2016 Premier Division. Limerick are relegated to the 2016 First Division.

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 "Ireland 2015". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Wexford Youths win promotion to Premier Division". www.rte.ie. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Cabinteely sanctioned for fielding ineligible player". 4 September 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  5. ^ "2015 SSE Airtricity League First Division". inform.fai.ie. Archived from the original on 2015-07-11.
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