2007 League of Ireland First Division

The 2007 League of Ireland First Division season was the 23rd season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 10 teams and Cobh Ramblers won the division. Finn Harps were also promoted to the Premier Division after a play-off and Wexford Youths made their League of Ireland debut.

League of Ireland First Division

Season	2007
Champions	Cobh Ramblers
Promoted	Finn Harps
Setanta Sports Cup	Cobh Ramblers
Top goalscorer	Conor Gethins: 15 (Finn Harps)[1]
← 2006 2008 →

Club information

Team	Base	Manager	Main sponsor	Kit supplier	Stadium	Capacity
Athlone Town	Athlone	Michael O'Connor	Ganly's Hardware	O'Neills	Athlone Town Stadium	6,000
Cobh Ramblers	Cobh	Stephen Henderson	Goodyear	Uhlsport	St. Colman's Park	5,000
Dundalk	Dundalk	John Gill	IJM Timber Frame Company	Umbro	Oriel Park	6,000
Finn Harps	Ballybofey	Paul Hegarty	Crawford Furnishings	PF Sports	Finn Park	7,900
Kildare County	Newbridge	John Ryan	Swifts	Umbro	Station Road	2,500
Kilkenny City	Kilkenny	Brendan Rea	The Kilkenny Voice	Umbro	Buckley Park	6,500
Limerick 37	Limerick	Paul McGee	Limerick's Live 95FM	Errea	Jackman Park	2,500
Monaghan United	Monaghan	Mick Cooke	The Squeeling Pig	Diadora	Century Homes Park	3,000
Shelbourne	Drumcondra	Dermot Keely	JW Hire	Umbro	Tolka Park	12,000
Wexford Youths	Crossabeg	Mick Wallace	Wallace Construction	O'Neills	Ferrycarrig Park	2,500

Overview

The regular season began on 8 March and concluded on 10 November. Each team played the other teams four times, totalling 36 games.^[2]

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Cobh Ramblers (C)	36	22	11	3	57	17	+40	77	Premier Division / Setanta Cup play-off
2	Finn Harps	36	23	7	6	61	20	+41	76	Premier Division after play-off
3	Dundalk	36	19	9	8	56	30	+26	66	Lost promotion/relegation play-off
4	Limerick 37[a]	36	14	11	11	46	41	+5	53
5	Shelbourne	36	11	10	15	46	46	0	43
6	Athlone Town	36	11	8	17	40	55	−15	41
7	Kildare County	36	9	12	15	48	62	−14	39
8	Monaghan United	36	9	11	16	38	52	−14	38
9	Wexford Youths[b]	36	7	10	19	32	55	−23	31
10	Kilkenny City	36	5	11	20	33	79	−46	26

Source: ^[2][3]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Limerick 37 replaced Limerick F.C. as members of League of Ireland.
2. Wexford Youths replaced Dublin City as members of League of Ireland.

Play-offs

Promotion/Relegation

Finn Harps and Dundalk who finished second and third in the First Division played off against Waterford United who finished eleventh in the Premier Division.

First Round

Finn Harps v Dundalk

16 November 2007

Finn Harps

2–0

Dundalk

Finn Harps qualified for second round.

Second Round

Finn Harps v Waterford United

20 November 2007

Finn Harps

3–0

Waterford United

Waterford United v Finn Harps

23 November 2007

Waterford United

3–3

Finn Harps

Finn Harps win 6–3 on aggregate and are promoted to Premier Division.

Setanta Sports Cup

After winning the First Division, Cobh Ramblers also qualified for the new Setanta Sports Cup play-off. Their opponents were Derry City, the winners of the 2007 League of Ireland Cup.

Derry City v Cobh Ramblers

19 November 2007	Derry City	2–1	Cobh Ramblers	Brandywell Stadium
	McCourt 16' Hargan 23'		O'Neill 62'

Derry City qualify for 2008 Setanta Sports Cup.^[4]

Top scorers

Goalscorers	Goals	Team
Conor Gethins	15	Finn Harps[1]
Davin O'Neill	14	Cobh Ramblers
Anthony Flood	13	Shelbourne/Dundalk
Philip Gorman	13	Kildare County
Mark Leech	12	Shelbourne

Gallery

• 
  The clubs competing in the 2007 FAI eircom League of Ireland.

See also

• 2007 Shelbourne F.C. season
• 2007 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2007 League of Ireland Cup