2010 League of Ireland First Division

The 2010 League of Ireland First Division season was the 26th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 12 teams and Derry City won the title.

League of Ireland First Division

Season	2010
Champions	Derry City
Matches	198
Goals	547 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Graham Cummins: 18 (Cork City) Mark Farren: 18 (Derry City) Willie John Kiely: 18 (Waterford United) [1]
Biggest home win	Waterford United 8–0 Salthill Devon
Biggest away win	Salthill Devon 0–7 Derry City
Highest scoring	Shelbourne 6–3 Athlone Town
Longest winning run	Derry City (8)[citation needed]
Longest unbeaten run	Derry City (15)[citation needed]
Longest losing run	Mervue United(6)
Highest attendance	Cork City v Waterford United (4401)[2]
Lowest attendance	Mervue United v Monaghan United (50)[citation needed]
Average attendance	741[citation needed]
← 2009 2011 →

Teams

Athlone Town

Cork City

Derry City

Finn Harps

Limerick

Longford Town

Mervue United

Monaghan United

Salthill Devon

Shelbourne

Waterford United

Wexford Youths

Location of teams in the 2010 League of Ireland First Division

Team	Base	Stadium
Athlone Town	Athlone	Athlone Town Stadium
Cork City FORAS Co-op	Cork	Turner's Cross
Derry City	Derry	Brandywell Stadium
Finn Harps	Ballybofey	Finn Park
Limerick	Limerick	Jackman Park
Longford Town	Longford	Flancare Park
Mervue United	Galway	Terryland Park
Monaghan United	Monaghan	Kingspan Century Park
Salthill Devon	Salthill	Drom Soccer Park
Shelbourne	Drumcondra	Tolka Park
Waterford United	Waterford	Waterford RSC
Wexford Youths	Crossabeg	Ferrycarraig Park

Overview

This season the division featured 12 clubs. The regular season began on 6 March and concluded on 30 October. Each team played the other teams three times, totaling 33 games. Derry City finished as champions and were automatically promoted to the Premier Division.^[3]

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Derry City (C)	33	20	9	4	65	24	+41	69	Promoted to Premier Division
2	Waterford United	33	20	6	7	59	27	+32	66	Lost promotion/relegation play off
3	Monaghan United	33	18	8	7	59	29	+30	62
4	Shelbourne	33	18	7	8	57	31	+26	61
5	Limerick F.C.	33	17	6	10	55	35	+20	57
6	Cork City FORAS Co-op[a]	33	15	7	11	39	31	+8	52
7	Wexford Youths	33	12	6	15	42	54	−12	42
8	Finn Harps	33	10	10	13	37	43	−6	40
9	Longford Town	33	9	8	16	39	53	−14	35
10	Athlone Town	33	6	13	14	35	50	−15	31
11	Mervue United	33	5	4	24	34	84	−50	19
12	Salthill Devon	33	3	6	24	26	86	−60	15	Won promotion/relegation play off

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

1. After Cork City were liquidated following the 2009 Premier Division season, the supporters' trust, FORAS, re-entered the club in the First Division under a temporary name.

Results

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away	ATH	COR	DER	FHA	LIM	LON	MER	MON	SAL	SHE	WAT	WEX
Athlone Town		1–1	1–3	0–1	1–3	2–0	1–0	4–4	2–2	0–0	1–1	1–1
Cork City	0–1		1–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	4–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–0
Derry City	1–0	1–1		2–0	0–0	0–0	4–1	2–3	1–0	1–0	2–0	3–1
Finn Harps	0–0	0–0	1–1		0–3	2–0	2–3	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–1
Limerick	3–2	1–3	0–1	2–1		2–0	2–0	1–1	5–0	1–0	0–0	2–0
Longford Town	2–1	1–1	1–3	3–2	1–0		2–1	0–3	2–2	3–5	2–1	0–1
Mervue United	1–0	2–4	1–2	1–3	1–1	4–3		1–1	2–2	0–1	2–3	0–1
Monaghan United	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	2–2	4–0		3–0	0–2	1–0	4–2
Salthill Devon	0–1	1–3	0–7	0–1	2–3	0–3	2–0	1–6		0–2	0–1	0–0
Shelbourne	6–3	1–1	1–2	1–0	0–4	1–1	4–0	1–1	3–0		0–1	1–2
Waterford United	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–2	8–0	0–3		3–0
Wexford Youths	2–1	0–2	1–5	3–0	5–3	1–2	3–2	0–1	0–3[a]	1–1	1–0

Source: loi.ie
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. The match was awarded to Salthill Devon by 3–0 after Wexford Youths fielded an ineligible player.

Matches 23–33

Home \ Away	ATH	COR	DER	FHA	LIM	LON	MER	MON	SAL	SHE	WAT	WEX
Athlone Town		0–1			1–5	0–0	1–0			0–2
Cork City						1–0	2–1	1–0	1–2		0–1
Derry City	2–2	0–1		2–2			6–0			3–0
Finn Harps	2–2	1–0			1–1		4–0		3–2			1–1
Limerick		1–3	0–1			3–1				0–1		1–0
Longford Town			1–1	1–0			2–2			1–2	0–2	1–2
Mervue United					0–1			2–1	2–1		1–6	2–5
Monaghan United	2–0		0–1	2–0	0–0	2–0					4–2
Salthill Devon	1–1		1–5		1–3	1–4		0–3			1–1
Shelbourne		2–0		3–1			3–0	2–1	5–0		1–2
Waterford United	3–2		2–0	3–1	3–0							1–0
Wexford Youths	1–3	2–1	1–1					1–4	2–1	1–1

Source: loi.ie
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

Premier Division

The second and third placed First Division teams, Waterford United and Monaghan United, played off to decide who would play the winner of the Premier Division play-off. The winner of this play off would play in the 2011 Premier Division.^[3]

First Division

Waterford United v Monaghan United

2 November 2010	Waterford United	1 – 3	Monaghan United	Waterford RSC
19:45 GMT	Liam Kearney 65'	Report	Aidan Lynch 28' Philip Hughes 58', 85'	Attendance: 1,462 Referee: Paul McLoughlin (Donegal)

First Division v Premier Division

Monaghan United v Bray Wanderers

5 November 2010	Monaghan United	0 – 0	Bray Wanderers	Kingspan Century Park
19.45 GMT		Report	Matt Gregg  89'	Referee: Damien Hancock (Dublin)

Bray Wanderers v Monaghan United

8 November 2010	Bray Wanderers	1 – 1 (a.e.t.) (7 – 6 p)	Monaghan United	Carlisle Grounds
19.45 GMT	Jake Kelly 120+2'	Report	Chris Shields 118' (o.g.)	Referee: Declan Hanney (Dublin)
	Penalties
	Gary Dempsey Jake Kelly Gary Shaw Dane Massey Danny O'Connor Daire Doyle Shane O'Neill Chris Shields		Karl Bermingham Philip Hughes Brian Gartland Barry Clancy Alan Byrne Dom Tierney Stephen McCrossan Paul Whelan

Bray Wanderers won 7 – 6 on penalties and retained their place in the Premier Division

First Division

The tenth placed First Division team, Salthill Devon, played the highest placed non-reserve team, Cobh Ramblers, from the 2010 A Championship. The winner of this play off would play in the 2011 First Division.^[3]

Cobh Ramblers v Salthill Devon

2 November 2010	Cobh Ramblers	0 – 1	Salthill Devon	St Colman's Park
19:45 GMT		Report	Mikey Gilmore 35'	Referee: Graham Kelly (Cork)

Salthill Devon v Cobh Ramblers

6 November 2010	Salthill Devon	2 – 1	Cobh Ramblers	Drom Soccer Park
19:45 GMT	Robbie Porter 8' Ciprian Straut 90+3'	Report	Jamie Murphy 55'	Referee: John Grimes (Dublin)

Salthill Devon won 3 – 1 on aggregate and retained their place in the 2011 First Division

Top goalscorers

Includes goals scored in regular season only.

Rank	Scorer	Team	Goals
1	Graham Cummins	Cork City[1]	18
	Mark Farren	Derry City[1]	18
	Willie John Kiely	Waterford United[1]	18
4	Philip Hughes	Monaghan United	14
5	Patrick McEleney	Derry City	12
	Kevin McHugh	Finn Harps	12

See also

• 2010 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2010 League of Ireland Cup
• 2010 A Championship
• List of 2009–10 League of Ireland transfers
• 2010 Shamrock Rovers F.C. season
• 2010 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. season