2012 League of Ireland First Division

The 2012 League of Ireland First Division season was the 28th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 8 teams and Limerick won the title.

League of Ireland First Division

Season	2012
Champions	Limerick
Matches played	112
Goals scored	305 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer	Danny Furlong: 13 (Wexford Youths) Kevin McHugh: 13 (Finn Harps) Sean Maguire: 13 (Waterford United) [1]
← 2011 2013 →

Teams

Athlone Town

Finn Harps

Limerick

Mervue United
SD Galway

Waterford United

Wexford 
Youths

Longford Town

Locations of First Division teams

Team	Location	Manager	Stadium
Athlone Town	Athlone	Mike Kerley	Athlone Town Stadium
Finn Harps	Ballybofey	Peter Hutton	Finn Park
Limerick	Limerick	Pat Scully	Jackman Park
Longford Town	Longford	Tony Cousins	Flancare Park
Mervue United	Galway	Johnny Glynn	Fahy's Field
SD Galway	Galway	Tony Mannion	Terryland Park
Waterford United	Waterford	Paul O'Brien	Waterford RSC
Wexford Youths	Wexford	Shane Keegan	Ferrycarraig Park

Overview

Due to the expansion of the Premier Division, coupled with the withdrawal of Galway United during the off-season, the 2012 First Division consisted of just eight teams. Applications to join the Division from Cobh Ramblers and Tralee Dynamos, both of whom had played in the 2011 A Championship, were rejected. Each team played every other team four times, totalling twenty eight games.^[2][3]

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Limerick (C, P)	28	20	2	6	51	20	+31	62	Promoted to Premier Division
2	Waterford United	28	18	4	6	46	29	+17	58	Lost promotion/relegation play-offs
3	Longford Town	28	15	5	8	42	33	+9	50
4	Wexford Youths	28	11	6	11	45	40	+5	39
5	Finn Harps	28	10	6	12	40	43	−3	36
6	Athlone Town	28	8	5	15	25	41	−16	29
7	Mervue United	28	6	5	17	34	49	−15	23
8	SD Galway[a]	28	5	5	18	23	51	−28	20

Source: ^[2][4]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:

1. Salthill Devon changed their name to SD Galway

Results

Matches 1–14

Home \ Away	ATH	FHA	LIM	LON	MER	SDG	WAT	WEX
Athlone Town		2–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–4	0–1
Finn Harps	1–2		1–3	1–3	4–3	3–0	0–1	0–1
Limerick	2–1	2–1		1–2	2–0	3–0	0–1	4–0
Longford Town	2–1	1–3	0–2		4–2	1–0	3–2	1–0
Mervue United	0–1	3–0	1–2	0–1		1–2	0–0	3–0
SD Galway	0–1	1–5	2–5	1–1	2–2		0–2	1–1
Waterford United	1–1	0–2	3–1	0–2	3–1	1–0		4–0
Wexford Youths	1–2	3–0	0–1	1–2	2–0	2–0	6–0

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

Matches 15–28

Home \ Away	ATH	FHA	LIM	LON	MER	SDG	WAT	WEX
Athlone Town		1–1	0–1	1–1	0–3	2–0	2–3	0–3
Finn Harps	2–0		1–1	1–0	3–2	2–0	1–2	3–3
Limerick	1–0	3–0		0–0	4–0	1–0	0–1	1–3
Longford Town	0–0	0–1	0–2		2–0	1–2	0–1	2–0
Mervue United	2–0	1–1	0–3	4–5		0–0	0–2	0–0
SD Galway	3–0	2–0	0–1	1–3	2–1		0–1	2–2
Waterford United	0–0	1–1	2–1	4–2	1–2	3–0		1–2
Wexford Youths	4–2	2–2	1–3	1–1	1–2	4–1	1–2

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

Promotion/relegation play-off

The second and third placed First Division teams, Waterford United and Longford Town, played off to decide who would play Dundalk, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2013 Premier Division.

First Division

Longford Town v Waterford United

20 October 2012	Longford Town	0–2	Waterford United	Flancare Park[5]
		[ Report]	Peter White 1' Craig Burns 52'	Attendance: 550 Referee: Kevin O'Regan (Kerry)

Waterford United v Longford Town

26 October 2012	Waterford United	1–1	Longford Town	Waterford RSC[6]
	Kirby ?'	[ Report]	Peter Higgins 9'	Referee: Keith Callanan

Waterford United win 3–1 on aggregate

First Division v Premier Division

Dundalk v Waterford United

30 October 2012	Dundalk	2–2	Waterford United	Oriel Park[7]
	Lorcan Shannon 23' Stephen McDonnell 75'	[ Report]	Paul Phelan 50' Ben Ryan 60'	Referee: Paul McLaughlin (Monaghan)

Waterford United v Dundalk

2 November 2012	Waterford United	0–2	Dundalk	Waterford RSC[8]
		[ Report]	Michael Rafter 45' (68)	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Padraig Sutton (Clare)

Dundalk win 4–2 on aggregate and retained their place in the Premier Division. Waterford United appealed the result of the playoff, claiming Michael Rafter was ineligible as Dundalk had incorrectly registered him when they signed him earlier that season. However the appeal was unsuccessful. ^[8][9][10]

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Danny Furlong	Wexford Youths	13
	Kevin McHugh	Finn Harps	13
	Sean Maguire	Waterford United	13
4	Tom Elmes	Wexford Youths	11
5	Shane Tracy	Limerick	10
	Rory Gaffney	Limerick	10

See also

• 2012 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2012 League of Ireland Cup