2008 League of Ireland First Division

Football league season

League of Ireland First DivisionSeason| 2008

|

Champions| Dundalk
Top goalscorer| Robbie Doyle: 16
(Sporting Fingal)[1]

← 2007

2009 →

The 2008 League of Ireland First Division season was the 24th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 10 teams and Dundalk won the division.

## Club information

[edit]

Team  | Base  | Manager  | Main sponsor  | Kit supplier  | Stadium  | Capacity

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Athlone Town | Athlone |  Brendan Place | Ganly's Hardware | O'Neills | Athlone Town Stadium | 2,000
Dundalk | Dundalk |  John Gill | IJM | Umbro | Oriel Park | 6,000
Kildare County | Newbridge |  Joe Somerville | Cill Dara Betting | O'Neills | Station Road | 2,500
Limerick 37 | Limerick |  Michael Kerley | Limerick's Live 95FM | Jako | Jackman Park | 8,000
Longford Town | Longford |  Alan Gough | Flancare | Umbro | Flancare Park | 4,500
Monaghan United | Monaghan |  Mick Cooke | The Squeeling Pig | Nike | Century Homes Park | 3,000
Shelbourne | Drumcondra |  Dermot Keely | Cab 2000 | Umbro | Tolka Park | 9,700
Sporting Fingal | Fingal |  Liam Buckley | Keelings | O'Neills | Morton Stadium | 10,000
Waterford United | Waterford |  Gareth Cronin | Hutchison 3G | Azzurri | Waterford RSC | 8,000
Wexford Youths | Crossabeg |  Mick Wallace | Wallace Construction | O'Neills | Ferrycarraig Park | 5,000

## Overview

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The regular season began on 7 March and concluded on 15 November. Each team played the other teams four times, totaling 36 games. Only the champions, Dundalk, were automatically promoted and there was no promotion/relegation play-off between Premier Division and First Division teams. This was because the 2009 Premier Division would be reduced to 10 clubs.[2]

## Final table

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Pos | Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation

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1  | Dundalk (C) | 36  | 21  | 8  | 7  | 69  | 30  | +39  | 71  | Premier Division
2  | Shelbourne | 36  | 20  | 10  | 6  | 55  | 25  | +30  | 70  |
3  | Waterford United | 36  | 18  | 9  | 9  | 55  | 35  | +20  | 63
4  | Sporting Fingal[a] | 36  | 17  | 11  | 8  | 53  | 32  | +21  | 62
5  | Limerick 37 | 36  | 15  | 7  | 14  | 49  | 45  | +4  | 52
6  | Monaghan United | 36  | 13  | 8  | 15  | 38  | 51  | −13  | 47
7  | Wexford Youths | 36  | 10  | 7  | 19  | 36  | 51  | −15  | 37
8  | Longford Town | 36  | 9  | 8  | 19  | 36  | 55  | −19  | 35
9  | Athlone Town | 36  | 6  | 14  | 16  | 23  | 51  | −28  | 32
10  | Kildare County[b] | 36  | 6  | 8  | 22  | 34  | 73  | −39  | 26  | Lost promotion/relegation play-off

Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. ^ Sporting Fingal replaced Kilkenny City who withdrew from the league before the season started.
2. ^ Kildare County were initially relegated to the A Championship after losing a promotion/relegation play-off. However they subsequently gained a reprieve after Cobh Ramblers were refused a First Division licence and were relegated directly from the Premier Division to the A Championship .

## Results

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### Matches 1 to 18

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Home \ Away  | ATH | DUN | KIL | L37 | LON | MON | SHE | SFI | WAT | WEX

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Athlone Town |  | 0–3  | 1–1  | 2–2  | 1–0  | 0–0  | 0–1  | 0–3  | 0–0  | 3–1
Dundalk | 1–0  |  | 6–0  | 0–2  | 0–0  | 3–0  | 1–3  | 3–2  | 1–0  | 2–1
Kildare County | 1–1  | 1–2  |  | 1–2  | 0–1  | 4–0  | 1–3  | 0–2  | 1–2  | 2–0
Limerick 37 | 0–0  | 1–2  | 4–0  |  | 2–1  | 2–2  | 0–3  | 1–3  | 0–3  | 2–0
Longford Town | 3–0  | 1–2  | 0–0  | 1–2  |  | 3–0  | 2–0  | 5–1  | 0–2  | 0–1
Monaghan United | 1–2  | 0–0  | 0–0  | 1–0  | 1–0  |  | 1–0  | 1–0  | 0–0  | 0–2
Shelbourne | 2–0  | 0–0  | 5–0  | 0–2  | 2–0  | 2–0  |  | 1–1  | 2–0  | 1–0
Sporting Fingal | 2–0  | 1–1  | 2–2  | 1–0  | 1–1  | 4–0  | 0–0  |  | 3–1  | 2–0
Waterford United | 1–1  | 1–0  | 3–2  | 3–1  | 1–1  | 5–0  | 1–1  | 2–0  |  | 1–0
Wexford Youths | 2–0  | 0–5  | 1–1  | 1–0  | 1–1  | 1–2  | 2–2  | 0–1  | 1–2  |

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

### Rounds 19 and 36

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Home \ Away  | ATH | DUN | KIL | L37 | LON | MON | SHE | SFI | WAT | WEX

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Athlone Town |  | 2–2  | 3–0  | 0–3  | 0–0  | 1–0  | 0–1  | 0–1  | 1–1  | 1–0
Dundalk | 7–0  |  | 4–1  | 0–1  | 1–2  | 3–0  | 2–1  | 2–1  | 2–1  | 1–0
Kildare County | 1–0  | 1–6  |  | 0–2  | 0–2  | 1–2  | 1–2  | 1–1  | 1–2  | 1–2
Limerick 37 | 0–0  | 2–0  | 1–2  |  | 1–3  | 2–1  | 1–2  | 1–1  | 5–1  | 1–1
Longford Town | 1–1  | 0–3  | 0–1  | 1–2  |  | 1–3  | 1–2  | 0–3  | 0–3  | 2–4
Monaghan United | 3–0  | 2–2  | 3–3  | 0–2  | 5–1  |  | 2–0  | 0–2  | 2–0  | 1–2
Shelbourne | 3–3  | 0–0  | 3–1  | 1–1  | 5–0  | 1–0  |  | 0–0  | 0–0  | 1–0
Sporting Fingal | 1–0  | 0–0  | 2–0  | 2–0  | 0–0  | 0–1  | 2–1  |  | 3–1  | 2–3
Waterford United | 3–0  | 0–1  | 3–1  | 3–1  | 4–0  | 1–1  | 0–1  | 2–1  |  | 1–0
Wexford Youths | 0–0  | 3–1  | 0–1  | 3–0  | 0–2  | 1–3  | 0–3  | 2–2  | 1–1  |

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

## Promotion/relegation play-offs

[edit]

Kildare County and Mervue United, the highest ranked non-reserve team from the 2008 A Championship, played off to see who would play in the 2009 First Division.

Mervue United v Kildare County 18 November 2008 |  Mervue United | 2 – 2|  Kildare County | Fahy's Field

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20:00 | Keogh  10'
Goldbey  28' | Report | Hughes 54' 76' | Referee: Pádraig Sutton (Clare)

Kildare County v Mervue United 21 November 2008 |  Kildare County | 0 – 3|  Mervue United | Station Road

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19:45 |  | Report | O'Brien  15'
Goldbey  64' 81' | Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford)

Mervue United won 5–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the First Division.[2]

## Top scorers

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Goalscorers  | Goals  | Team

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Robbie Doyle | 16  | Sporting Fingal[1]
Anthony Flood | 15  | Shelbourne
Darren McKenna  | 13  | Longford Town
Robbie Farrell  | 11  | Dundalk
Vinny Sullivan | 11  | Waterford United

## Gallery

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* The clubs competing in the 2008 FAI eircom League of Ireland

## See also

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* 2008 League of Ireland Premier Division
* 2008 League of Ireland Cup
* 2008 A Championship

## References

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1. ^ a b "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
2. ^ a b c "Ireland 2008". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 July 2016.

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See also|

Shield

* v
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2008 in Republic of Ireland football

Leagues|

* Premier Division
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* Setanta Cup
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National teams|

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Club seasons|

| First Division|

* Shelbourne

|

*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template