2018 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 34th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on 16 February 2018 and concluded on 26 October 2018.^[3]

League of Ireland Premier Division

Season	2018
Dates	16 February – 26 October 2018
Champions	Dundalk (13th title)
Relegated	Limerick Bray Wanderers
Champions League	Dundalk
Europa League	Cork City Shamrock Rovers Waterford
Matches played	180
Goals scored	501 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorer	Patrick Hoban (29 Goals)
Biggest home win	Dundalk 8-0 Limerick
Biggest away win	Bray Wanderers 0-5 Bohemians
Highest scoring	Waterford 3-6 Limerick
Highest attendance	6,672[1] Cork City 1–0 Dundalk F.C.
Total attendance	384,520
Average attendance	2,136[2]
← 2017 2019 → All statistics correct as of 2 November 2018.

On 5 October, Dundalk won the title after a 1–1 draw with St Patrick's Athletic.^[4][5]

Overview

The Premier Division consists of 10 teams. Each team plays each other four times for a total of 36 matches in the season.

Waterford, the 2017 First Division champion, were promoted to the league for the first time since 2007.

On 22 December 2016, the Football Association of Ireland 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.^[6]

Teams

Stadia and locations

Bray Wanderers

Cork City

Derry City

Dublin

Dundalk

Limerick

Sligo Rovers

Waterford

Dublin teams
Bohemians
Shamrock Rovers
St Patrick's Athletic

Locations of Premier Division teams

Bohemians

St Patrick's Athletic

Shamrock Rovers

Locations of Dublin Premier Division teams

Team	Location	Stadium
Bohemians	Phibsborough	Dalymount Park
Bray Wanderers	Bray	Carlisle Grounds
Cork City	Cork	Turners Cross
Derry City	Derry	The Brandywell
Dundalk	Dundalk	Oriel Park
Limerick	Limerick	Markets Field
St Patrick's Athletic	Inchicore	Richmond Park
Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght	Tallaght Stadium
Sligo Rovers	Sligo	The Showgrounds
Waterford	Waterford	RSC

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
Bohemians	Keith Long	Derek Pender	Hummel	Mr Green Sport
Bray Wanderers	Gary Cronin	Gary McCabe	Nike	O Driscoll O Neil Insurance
Cork City	John Caulfield	Conor McCormack	Adidas	University College Cork
Derry City	Declan Devine	Gerard Doherty	Adidas	Diamond Corrugated
Dundalk	Stephen Kenny	Stephen O'Donnell	CX+ Sport	Fyffes
Limerick	Tommy Barrett	Shane Duggan	Umbro	Betsat.com
St Patrick's Athletic	Liam Buckley	Ian Bermingham	Umbro	MIG Insurance Brokers
Shamrock Rovers	Stephen Bradley	Ronan Finn	New Balance	Pepper Money
Sligo Rovers	Gerard Lyttle	Kyle Callan-McFadden	Joma	Volkswagen
Waterford	Alan Reynolds	Paul Keegan	Umbro	21 Bet

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Limerick	Neil McDonald	Signed by Scunthorpe United	4 January 2018[7]	Pre-season	Tommy Barrett	14 January 2018[8]
Bray Wanderers	Dave Mackey	Resigned	8 April 2018[9]	10th	Graham Kelly	10 April 2018[10]
Bray Wanderers	Graham Kelly	End of caretaker spell	8 July 2018	10th	Martin Russell	8 July 2018[11]
Derry City	Kenny Shiels	Sacked	27 October 2018 [12]	8th	Declan Devine	16 November 2018

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dundalk (C)	36	27	6	3	85	20	+65	87	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Cork City	36	24	5	7	71	27	+44	77	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round[a]
3	Shamrock Rovers	36	18	8	10	57	27	+30	62
4	Waterford	36	18	5	13	52	44	+8	59
5	St Patrick's Athletic	36	15	5	16	51	47	+4	50	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round[a]
6	Bohemians	36	13	9	14	52	45	+7	48
7	Sligo Rovers	36	12	6	18	38	50	−12	42
8	Derry City	36	13	3	20	47	70	−23	42
9	Limerick (R)	36	7	6	23	25	75	−50	27	Qualification for relegation play-offs
10	Bray Wanderers (R)	36	5	3	28	23	96	−73	18	Relegation to League of Ireland First Division

Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[13]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since the winners of the 2018 FAI Cup, Dundalk, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) would normally pass to the next best-placed team (the fourth-placed team). However, as Waterford were adjudged by UEFA to have not passed the "three-year rule" as they were reformed in 2016, the spot was passed to the fifth-placed team.

Results

Matches 1–18

Teams played each other twice (once at home, once away).

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DUN	LIM	STP	SHM	SLI	WAT
Bohemians	—	2–1	0–2	0–1	0–2	0–0	0–1	3–1	2–2	0–1
Bray Wanderers	1–3	—	0–4	2–1	0–2	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	2–2
Cork City	3–0	4–0	—	4–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0
Derry City	3–1	5–1	0–0	—	1–4	5–0	2–1	0–0	0–2	1–0
Dundalk	3–0	0–0	1–0	2–2	—	8–0	5–0	2–1	2–1	1–0
Limerick	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–3	0–3	—	0–1	0–1	1–2	0–2
St Patrick's Athletic	2–2	5–0	2–3	5–2	0–0	1–0	—	2–0	2–0	1–0
Shamrock Rovers	1–2	6–0	3–0	6–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	—	1–0	1–1
Sligo Rovers	0–2	2–1	1–4	2–1	0–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	—	1–2
Waterford	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	3–6	2–0	2–1	1–1	—

Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 19–36

Teams will play each other twice (once home, once away).

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DUN	LIM	STP	SHM	SLI	WAT
Bohemians	—	6–0	4–2	1–2	1–1	5–0	1–0	1–1	0–3	1–3
Bray Wanderers	0–5	—	1–3	2–1	1–3	0–2	3–1	0–3	2–1	0–0
Cork City	1–0	5–1	—	5–0	0–1	3–0	1–1	0–0	1–2	3–0
Derry City	0–2	2–0	0–3	—	0–4	2–1	2–1	0–1	1–2	1–2
Dundalk	2–0	5–0	2–1	3–2	—	4–0	1–1	1–2	5–0	2–0
Limerick	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–1	0–1	—	0–4	0–2	1–3	2–1
St Patrick's Athletic	1–3	3–0	1–3	5–0	1–3	2–1	—	0–1	0–3	3–0
Shamrock Rovers	0–1	5–0	0–0	2–0	2–5	5–0	3–0	—	2–0	3–1
Sligo Rovers	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–0	1–2	2–0	—	2–3
Waterford	1–1	2–0	1–2	4–0	1–2	4–1	2–0	0–1	1–0	—

Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Promotion/relegation playoff

Limerick, the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division took part in a two-legged play-off against Finn Harps, the winners of the 2018 First Division play-off, to decide who will play in the 2019 Premier Division.

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.

Season statistics

As of 2 November 2018

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Patrick Hoban	Dundalk	29
2	Kieran Sadlier	Cork City	16
3	Graham Cummins	Cork City	15
4	Graham Burke	Shamrock Rovers	13
	Michael Duffy	Dundalk	13
6	Daniel Carr	Shamrock Rovers	11
	Daniel Corcoran	Bohemians	11
8	Courtney Duffus	Waterford	10
	Aaron McEneff	Derry City	10
10	Robbie Benson	Dundalk	9

Last updated: 2 November 2018.
Source: SSEAirtricity League

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Dinny Corcoran	Bohemians	Bray Wanderers	5–0 (A)	19 October 2018	[14]
Graham Cummins	Cork City	Sligo Rovers	4–1 (A)	24 February 2018	[14]
Graham Burke4	Shamrock Rovers	Derry City	6-1 (H)	9 March 2018	[15]
Ronan Hale	Derry City	Limerick	5–0 (H)	12 March 2018	[16]
Patrick Hoban	Dundalk	Limerick	4–0 (H)	8 June 2018	[17]

Discipline

Club

• Most yellow cards: 94^[18]
  • Sligo Rovers

• Most red cards: 7^[18]
  • Waterford

Awards

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club	References
February	Graham Cummins	Cork City	[19]
March	Graham Burke	Shamrock Rovers	[20]
April	Michael Duffy	Dundalk	[21]
May	Seán Hoare	Dundalk	[22]
June	Patrick Hoban	Dundalk	[23]
July	Gavin Bazunu	Shamrock Rovers	[24]
August	Michael Duffy	Dundalk	[25]
September	Chris Shields	Dundalk	[26]
October/November	Patrick McEleney	Dundalk	[27]

Player of the Year

Player	Club	Reference
Michael Duffy	Dundalk	[28]

Goalkeeper of the Year

Player	Club	Reference
Shane Supple	Bohemians	[29]

See also

• 2018 League of Ireland First Division
• 2018 FAI Cup
• 2018 League of Ireland Cup
• 2018 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. season