Eircom League

The League of Ireland is a national association football league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was the name of the top-level football league in the Republic of Ireland from its foundation in 1921 until the introduction of a second division in 1985.

There are three divisions in the league – the Premier Division, the First Division and the Women's Premier Division. The league has always worked closely with the FAI, with which it formally merged in 2006. The league is currently sponsored by SSE Airtricity, and as such is known as the SSE Airtricity League for sponsorship reasons. In 2007, it became one of the first leagues in Europe to introduce a salary cap.

The men's league is divided into the Premier Division and the First Division, with ten teams in each division, and promotion and relegation between the highest-placed teams in the First Division and the lowest-placed teams in the Premier Division. Underage divisions include the U19 Division, U17 Division, U15 Division, and most recently the U14 Division. Nineteen teams are located in the Republic of Ireland, while one – Derry City – is located in Northern Ireland. The league also organises two knockout cup competitions: the FAI Cup and the League of Ireland Cup.

History

First level

The League of Ireland was founded in 1921 as a single division known as the A Division. The inaugural season featured eight teams from County Dublin, all of whom had spent the 1920–21 season playing in the Leinster Senior League: Bohemians, Dublin United, Frankfort, Jacobs, Olympia, St James's Gate, Shelbourne and YMCA. Bohemians and Shelbourne had previously played in the 1919–20 Irish League. St James's Gate were the inaugural champions, and also went on to complete a treble, having also won both the FAI Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup.

The League expanded to twelve teams in 1922–23. Among the new members were Shamrock Rovers, who would win the title at the first attempt, and Athlone Town, who became the first team from outside County Dublin to compete in the League. Along with Bohemians and Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers would go on to dominate the League during the 1920s and 1930s.

Bray Unknowns and Fordsons became the second and third teams from outside County Dublin to join the League in 1924–25, the latter also becoming the first team from Munster to play in the league. The League continued to expand both numerically and geographically during its first two decades, with Dundalk being elected in 1926–27 and subsequently becoming the first team from outside County Dublin to win the title in 1932–33. Dundalk were subsequently joined by Waterford in 1930–31, Cork Bohemians in 1932–33, Sligo Rovers in 1934–35 and Limerick in 1937–38. Sligo Rovers became only the second team from outside County Dublin to win the title in 1936–37.

Cork United emerged as the strongest team in the League during the Emergency, winning five titles between 1940–41 and 1945–46, three of which in succession. However, they subsequently resigned from the League in 1948.

The 1950s was marked by the emergence of St Patrick's Athletic and the re-emergence of Shamrock Rovers, with the former winning the title at the first attempt in 1951–52 and claiming two more in the middle of the decade, and the latter winning their first title in fifteen years in 1953–54. While Drumcondra and Dundalk won two titles each during the 1960s, Waterford were the dominant team of the decade by winning four titles, including three in succession between 1967–68 and 1969–70. Six different teams won the title during the 1970s, with Bohemians, Dundalk and Waterford each winning two titles. While Athlone Town won two titles at the start of the 1980s, the decade was marked by the four successive titles won by Shamrock Rovers between 1983–84 and 1986–87.

Following the conclusion of the 1984–85 season, the League was restructured and the A Division was replaced by the Premier Division.

Second level

A second division known as the B Division was introduced in 1964–65, featuring reserve teams and emerging senior teams. While there was no formal promotion and relegation to and from the A Division, a number of B Division teams, including Athlone Town, Bray Wanderers, Home Farm, Longford Town, Monaghan United and UCD, were subsequently elected to the A Division.

The B Division was replaced as the second-level division by the First Division in 1985, featuring first teams and promotion and relegation to and from the new Premier Division.

Third level

A third division known as the A Championship was introduced in 2008, and like the former B Division featured reserve teams and emerging senior teams. However, unlike the B Division, there was promotion and relegation between the Premier Division, First Division and A Championship.

The A Championship was disbanded following the conclusion of the 2011 season.

The FAI announced a new third tier, the National League, on 12 December 2024. The National League will be integrated into the existing football pyramid in Ireland, offering a clear route for promotion and relegation to and from the League of Ireland. The FAI aims to recruit 20 clubs in total for the new league, split into north and south divisions.

Youth leagues

A number of youth leagues have also been introduced since the 2000–01 season.

* The original youth league was an under-21 division, and later became an under-20 division before becoming an under-19 division, the winners of which are awarded the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup.
* An under-17 division was introduced in 2015.
* An under-15 division was introduced with a truncated season in 2017, before fully aligning with the League calendar in 2018.
* An under-13 division was introduced in April 2019.

Competition

League structure

There are 20 teams in the League, organised into two divisions: the Premier Division (formerly the A Division) and the First Division (formerly the B Division), which were renamed in 1985. There are ten teams in each division, and in a given season each team plays the other nine four times: twice at home and twice away, resulting in a total of 36 games per season.

Teams gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. At the end of the season, the last-placed team in the Premier Division is relegated, with the winner of the First Division being promoted in their place. The second- to fourth-placed teams in the First Division compete in a playoff series, the winner of which plays the ninth-placed team in the Premier Division to determine the final place in the Premier Division for the following season.

Teams

2025 Premier Division

2025 First Division

Former League of Ireland clubs

Champions

First level

A Division

Premier Division

List of champions

By number of titles

By team

By county

By season

For each season, the number of teams competing (in brackets) are shown.

Media coverage

League of Ireland games are broadcast by both RTÉ and Virgin Media Television. It was announced in 2014 that RTÉ would show 78 live Premier Division and FAI Cup games as part of a new agreement with the FAI. The agreement expires in November 2018. RTÉ also broadcast a highlights show, '' Soccer Republic'', throughout the season. In 2015 the FAI agreed a deal with TrackChamp to stream all Premier Division and First Division games outside Ireland, but the deal was criticised by customers as the streaming service required registration for a betting platform.

Attendance

In 2024 attendances across the League of Ireland broke the million mark for the first time ever; a total of 1,001,630 fans went to games in the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division, First Division, SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division, men's and women's FAI Cups, the All-Island Cup and European matches.

Premier Division

First Division

European record

UEFA Champions League

1QR/2QR/3QR = First/Second/Third qualifying round; PO = Playoff

UEFA Europa League

1QR/2QR/3QR = First/Second/Third qualifying round; PO = Playoff; Group = Group stage

UEFA Conference League

1QR/2QR/3QR = First/Second/Third qualifying round; PO = Playoff

See also

* List of association football competitions
* List of foreign League of Ireland players

Notes

References

External links

Official Website

{{Authority control

Sports leagues established in 1921
1921 establishments in Ireland