2010 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2010 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 26th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 10 teams. Shamrock Rovers were champions while Bohemians finished as runners-up.

League of Ireland Premier Division

Season	2010
Champions	Shamrock Rovers (16th title)
UEFA Champions League	Shamrock Rovers
UEFA Europa League	Bohemians Sligo Rovers St. Patrick's Athletic
Setanta Cup	Shamrock Rovers Bohemians Sligo Rovers St. Patrick's Athletic Dundalk UCD
Matches played	180
Goals scored	479 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Twigg: 20 (Shamrock Rovers)[1]
Biggest home win	Sligo Rovers 6–0 Drogheda United
Biggest away win	Bray Wanderers 0–6 UCD
Highest scoring	Sligo Rovers 4–3 Sporting Fingal
Longest winning run	Shamrock Rovers (6)
Longest unbeaten run	Shamrock Rovers (17)
Longest losing run	Drogheda United (5)[citation needed]
Highest attendance	Shamrock Rovers–St. Patrick's Athletic (5500)
Lowest attendance	Bray Wanderers–Sligo Rovers (300)[citation needed]
Average attendance	1,657[citation needed]
← 2009 2011 →

Teams

Bray Wanderers

Drogheda United

Dublin

Dundalk

Sligo Rovers

Dublin teams
Bohemians
Shamrock Rovers
Sporting Fingal
St Patrick's Athletic
UCD

Galway United

Location of teams in the 2010 League of Ireland Premier Division

Team	Base	Stadium
Bohemians	Phibsborough	Dalymount Park
Bray Wanderers	Bray	Carlisle Grounds
Drogheda United	Drogheda	United Park
Dundalk	Dundalk	Oriel Park
Galway United	Galway	Terryland Park
Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght	Tallaght Stadium
Sligo Rovers	Sligo	The Showgrounds
Sporting Fingal	Fingal	Morton Stadium
St. Patrick's Athletic	Inchicore	Richmond Park
UCD	Belfield	UCD Bowl

Overview

Airtricity were announced as the new main sponsor for the League of Ireland on 26 February.^[2][3] The prize fund for the season was set at €911,000.^[4][5] The 2010 Premier Division featured 10 clubs. The regular season began on 5 March and concluded on 29 October. Each team played every other team four times, totalling 36 matches.^[6] On the final day of the season, Shamrock Rovers won the title with a 2–2 draw away to Bray Wanderers.^[7][8] Second placed Bohemians finished level on points with Rovers but lost out on goal difference.^[9][10]

Final table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Shamrock Rovers (C)	36	19	10	7	57	34	+23	67	Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2	Bohemians	36	19	10	7	50	29	+21	67	Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round
3	Sligo Rovers	36	17	12	7	61	36	+25	63	Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round[a]
4	Sporting Fingal (R)	36	16	14	6	60	38	+22	62	Withdrew from league[b]
5	St Patrick's Athletic	36	16	9	11	55	33	+22	57	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
6	Dundalk	36	14	6	16	46	50	−4	48
7	UCD	36	11	8	17	47	54	−7	41
8	Galway United (O)	36	9	11	16	38	59	−21	38	Qualification for relegation play-off
9	Bray Wanderers (O)	36	6	9	21	35	72	−37	27
10	Drogheda United	36	4	9	23	30	74	−44	21	Spared from relegation[c]

Source: ^[11][12]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Sligo Rovers qualified for the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round after winning the 2010 FAI Cup Final.
2. Sporting Fingal withdrew from League of Ireland due to financial difficulties shortly before the 2011 Premier Division season.
3. Drogheda United were originally relegated but retained there place in the Premier Division after Sporting Fingal withdrew.

Results

Matches 1–18

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	DRO	DUN	GAL	SHM	SLI	SFI	StP	UCD
Bohemians	—	2–0	1–0	3–0	2–3	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	0–0
Bray Wanderers	0–2	—	2–2	0–1	0–2	0–0	2–3	1–3	0–4	0–6
Drogheda United	2–4	0–0	—	1–3	0–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	0–3
Dundalk	1–0	2–3	2–2	—	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	3–0
Galway United	2–2	2–1	3–1	0–1	—	0–1	0–0	2–2	0–2	2–2
Shamrock Rovers	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–0
Sligo Rovers	1–2	5–1	6–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	—	0–1	0–0	2–1
Sporting Fingal	0–2	1–0	4–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—	2–3	1–2
St Patrick's Athletic	3–1	3–0	0–1	1–0	2–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	—	3–0
UCD	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–1	0–0	1–2	0–2	0–0	1–0	—

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

Matches 19–36

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	DRO	DUN	GAL	SHM	SLI	SFI	StP	UCD
Bohemians	—	0–0	2–0	3–1	0–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1
Bray Wanderers	0–3	—	1–1	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–3	0–3	3–2	2–2
Drogheda United	0–1	0–2	—	1–3	3–3	0–2	2–3	0–4	0–3	1–0
Dundalk	1–2	0–2	2–1	—	3–0	5–1	2–4	0–2	0–3	1–1
Galway United	3–2	2–2	2–1	1–1	—	0–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	1–4
Shamrock Rovers	3–0	4–1	2–0	4–0	3–0	—	1–0	1–2	2–1	4–1
Sligo Rovers	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–2	—	4–3	1–0	4–0
Sporting Fingal	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–0	3–1	3–3	1–1	—	2–2	4–1
St Patrick's Athletic	0–1	2–0	2–0	1–2	4–2	1–3	0–0	1–1	—	2–1
UCD	0–2	4–0	1–1	0–2	0–1	3–2	1–2	1–2	3–2	—

Source: soccerway.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Team	Goals
1	Gary Twigg	Shamrock Rovers[1]	20
2	Pádraig Amond	Sligo Rovers	17
3	Ciarán Kilduff	UCD	15
4	Jake Kelly	Bray Wanderers	14
5	Jason Byrne	Bohemians	12
	Fahrudin Kuduzović	Dundalk	12

Promotion/relegation play-off

The eighth and ninth placed teams from the Premier Division, Galway United and Bray Wanderers, played off after the regular season was completed. The winner would retain a place in the 2011 Premier Division. The loser would play off against the winner of the 2010 First Division play off. The winner of this match would also gain a place in the 2010 Premier Division.

Premier Division

Galway United v Bray Wanderers

2 November 2010	Galway United	1 – 0	Bray Wanderers	Terryland Park
19:45 GMT	Karl Sheppard 16' Derek O'Brien  90+2'	Report	Adam Mitchell  82'	Attendance: 1,432 Referee: Damien Hancock (Dublin)

Galway United retain their place in the 2011 Premier Division

Premier Division v First 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

See also

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