The 2018 League of Ireland First Division season was the 34th season of the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

. 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.

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.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

League table

Results

Matches 1–18

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

Matches 19–27

Teams play each other once.

Top scorers

Play-Offs

The second, third and fourth placed First Division teams played off to decide who would play

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, the ninth placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2019 Premier Division. ;Semi-finals ''2–2 on aggregate. Drogheda United win on penalties.'' ;Finals ''Finn Harps win 3–1 on aggregate.'' ;Relegation-promotion match ''Finn Harps won 3–0 on aggregate and were promoted to 2019 Premier Division. Limerick were relegated to the 2019 First Division.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018 League of Ireland First Division League of Ireland First Division seasons

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...