2018 League of Ireland First Division

The 2018 League of Ireland First Division season was the 34th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The league began on 23 February 2018 and concluded on 22 September 2018. Contrary to the previous editions, this tournament had 10 teams, which was the largest number since the 2011 season, and saw the return of the promotion/relegation playoffs.

League of Ireland First Division

Season	2018
Dates	23 February – 22 September 2018
Champions	UCD
Promoted	UCD Finn Harps
Matches played	135
Goals scored	397 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorer	David O'Sullivan (Shelbourne, 15 goals)
Biggest home win	Shelbourne 7–0 Athlone Town (6 April 2018); Wexford 7–0 Athlone Town (20 April 2018)
Biggest away win	Wexford 0–8 UCD (7 May 2018)
Highest scoring	Wexford 1–8 Drogheda United (16 March 2018)
Total attendance	59,946
Average attendance	422[1]
← 2017 2019 → All statistics correct as of 2 November 2018.

Overview

The First Division has 10 teams. Each team plays each other three times for a total of 27 matches in the season.

On 22 December 2016, the FAI announced that the league would be restructured into two 10-team divisions from the 2018 season onwards, one of the recommendations made in the 2015 Conroy Report.^[2]

Teams

Athlone Town

Cobh Ramblers

Drogheda United

Finn Harps

Galway United

Longford Town

Wexford

Dublin

Dublin teams
Cabinteely
Shelbourne
UCD

Locations of the First Division teams

Shelbourne

UCD

Cabinteely

Locations of Dublin 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
Drogheda United	Drogheda	United Park
Finn Harps	Ballybofey	Finn Park
Galway United	Galway	Eamonn Deacy Park
Longford Town	Longford	City Calling Stadium
Shelbourne	Drumcondra	Tolka Park
UCD	Belfield	UCD Bowl
Wexford	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	Aaron Callaghan	Niall Scullion	Nike	Nitro Sports
Cabinteely	Pat Devlin	Daire Doyle	Uhlsport	Geoghegan Home Extensions
Cobh Ramblers	Stephen Henderson	Paul Hunt	Legea	Tony & William O'Shea Fuels Rushbrooke
Drogheda United	Tim Clancy	Sean Thornton	CX+ Sport	Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Finn Harps	Ollie Horgan	Ciaran Coll	Joma	McGettigan Group
Galway United	Shane Keegan	Colm Horgan	Uhlsport	Comer Property Management
Longford Town	Neale Fenn	Kevin O'Connor	Legea	City Calling
Shelbourne	Owen Heary	Dean Delaney	Macron	Dublin City University
UCD	Collie O'Neill	Gary O'Neill	O'Neills	O'Neills
Wexford	Damian Locke	Craig McCabe	Bodibro	Premier Tickets

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UCD (C, P)	27	17	6	4	59	29	+30	57	Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2	Finn Harps (Q)	27	16	6	5	46	22	+24	54	Qualification for Promotion play-offs
3	Shelbourne (Q)	27	13	11	3	52	21	+31	50
4	Drogheda United (Q)	27	14	7	6	50	27	+23	49
5	Longford Town	27	13	6	8	54	36	+18	45
6	Galway United	27	10	7	10	41	36	+5	37
7	Cabinteely	27	9	3	15	32	45	−13	30
8	Cobh Ramblers	27	8	5	14	24	41	−17	29
9	Wexford	27	4	5	18	23	59	−36	17
10	Athlone Town	27	1	4	22	16	81	−65	7

Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[3]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Results

Matches 1–18 Teams played each other twice (once at home, once away). Home \ Away ATH CAB COB DRO FHA GAL LON SHE UCD WEX Athlone Town — 1–2 1–4 0–1 1–1 0–3 1–1 0–5 1–3 3–0 Cabinteely 4–0 — 0–1 3–2 0–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 Cobh Ramblers 1–0 1–0 — 1–5 0–2 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–2 2–1 Drogheda United 6–0 2–0 2–1 — 2–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 Finn Harps 4–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 — 1–0 2–4 1–1 1–3 1–0 Galway United 4–1 3–1 3–0 0–1 1–2 — 0–0 1–2 2–0 4–1 Longford Town 5–1 3–0 2–2 1–0 1–2 3–2 — 1–1 0–2 3–0 Shelbourne 7–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 3–2 — 1–1 4–1 UCD 3–0 3–1 3–1 2–0 3–2 1–1 1–5 2–1 — 3–2 Wexford 7–0 0–1 1–1 1–8 1–1 0–0 0–2 0–1 0–8 — Updated to match(es) played on 29 June 2018. Source: SSE Airtricity League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–27 Teams play each other once. Home \ Away ATH CAB COB DRO FHA GAL LON SHE UCD WEX Athlone Town — 1–3 0–0 — 1–3 — — — 0–1 — Cabinteely — — 2–0 2–2 — — — 1–1 — 1–2 Cobh Ramblers — — — 0–2 0–1 1–2 — — 2–2 — Drogheda United 2–1 — — — 0–1 2–2 2–1 — 0–3 — Finn Harps — 7–1 — — — 2–0 3–0 0–0 — 3–0 Galway United 4–1 3–2 — — — — 1–4 — — 1–1 Longford Town 3–0 4–1 1–2 — — — — — 2–2 3–0 Shelbourne 2–2 — 3–1 0–1 — 3–0 6–1 — — — UCD — 4–1 — — 1–1 2–0 — 1–1 — — Wexford 2–0 — 0–2 0–0 — — — 1–2 0–3 — Updated to match(es) played on 22 September 2018. Source: SSE Airtricity League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of 22 September 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[4]
1	David O'Sullivan	Shelbourne	15
2	Georgie Kelly	UCD	14
3	Dylan McGlade	Longford Town	13
4	Sean Brennan	Drogheda United	11
	James English	Shelbourne
6	Conor Barry	Galway United	10
7	Eoin McCormack	Galway United	9
	Gary O'Neill	UCD
	Mikey Place	Finn Harps
	Sam Verdon	Longford Town

Play-Offs

The second, third and fourth placed First Division teams played off to decide who would play Limerick, the ninth placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2019 Premier Division.^[5]

Semi-finals

Drogheda United v Shelbourne

5 October 2018	Drogheda United	0–1	Shelbourne	United Park
19:45		Report	English 25'

Shelbourne v Drogheda United

8 October 2018	Shelbourne	1–2 (2-4 p)	Drogheda United	Tolka Park
19:45	Evans 77'	Report	Brennan 33' Lyons 62'
	Penalties
	O'Sullivan Evans Fitzgerald Farrell		Lyons Brennan Gallagher McCaffrey Doyle

2–2 on aggregate. Drogheda United win on penalties.

Finals

Drogheda United v Finn Harps

12 October 2018	Drogheda United	1–1	Finn Harps	United Park
19:45	Kelly 13'	Report	Boyle 67'

Finn Harps v Drogheda United

19 October 2018	Finn Harps	2–0	Drogheda United	Finn Park
19:45	Kavanagh 18' Boyle 67'	Report

Finn Harps win 3–1 on aggregate.

Relegation-promotion match

Finn Harps v Limerick

29 October 2018	Finn Harps	1–0	Limerick	Finn Park
19:45 GMT	McCourt 35' (pen.)	Report		Attendance: 2,379 Referee: Robert Harvey

Limerick v Finn Harps

2 November 2018	Limerick	0–2	Finn Harps	Markets Field
19:45 GMT		Report	Timlin 45+1' Boyle 80'	Referee: Graham Kelly

Finn Harps won 3–0 on aggregate and were promoted to 2019 Premier Division. Limerick were relegated to the 2019 First Division.

See also

• 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2018 League of Ireland Cup