2014 League of Ireland First Division

Football league season

League of Ireland First DivisionSeason| 2014

|

Champions| Longford Town
Promoted| Galway
Top goalscorer| David O'Sullivan: 19
(Longford Town)[1]

← 2013

2015 →

The 2014 League of Ireland First Division season was the 30th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by eight teams and Longford Town won the title. Galway were also promoted.

## Teams

[edit]

Cobh Ramblers

Finn Harps

Longford Town

Galway

Shamrock Rovers B

Shelbourne

Waterford United

Wexford Youths

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the First Division teams

### Stadia and locations

[edit]

Team  | Location  | Stadium

|
|

Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | St. Colman's Park
Finn Harps | Ballybofey | Finn Park
Galway | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park
Longford Town | Longford | City Calling Stadium
Shamrock Rovers B | Tallaght | Tallaght Stadium
Shelbourne | Drumcondra | Tolka Park
Waterford United | Waterford | Waterford RSC
Wexford Youths | Crossabeg | Ferrycarrig Park

### Personnel and kits

[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team  | Manager  | Kit manufacturer  | Shirt sponsor

|
|
|

Cobh Ramblers  |  Martin Cambridge  | Nike | Eirgrid
Finn Harps  |  Ollie Horgan | Macron | McGettigan Group
Galway  |  Tommy Dunne | Macron | Comer Property Management
Longford Town  |  Tony Cousins | Macron | City Calling
Shamrock Rovers B  |  Colin Hawkins | Warrior | Pepper
Shelbourne  |  Johnny McDonnell | Macron | Volkswagen
Waterford United  |  Tommy Griffin  | Macron | SportsWorld / DVF Print
Wexford Youths  |  Shane Keegan | O'Neills | Galenisy's

## Overview

[edit]

The 2014 First Division featured eight teams. Aside from Shelbourne, who were relegated from the Premier Division, replacing the 2013 First Division champions, Athlone Town, there were two other team changes from the previous season.[2] In 2012 an FAI commissioned report recommended that Galway city and County Galway should be represented in the League of Ireland by a single club or team based at Eamonn Deacy Park. The O'Connor Report also recommended that the Galway United Supporters Trust, Salthill Devon, Mervue United and the Galway Football Association, should work together to form such a club.[3] Following the conclusion of the 2013 First Division season, both Mervue United and Salthill Devon withdrew from the League of Ireland to make way for a new team known as Galway F.C.[4] This still left another vacancy and in December 2013 Shamrock Rovers F.C. received permission from the FAI to enter their reserve team in the First Division for the 2014 season.[5][6][7]

Each team played each other four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 28 matches during the season.[2] Longford Town clinched the title following a resounding 5–0 victory at home to Shamrock Rovers B on 3 October 2014. Longford Town ended a seven-season stint in the First Division as they were promoted to the 2015 Premier Division.[8] Galway also secured promotion after defeating UCD in a play off.[2] Shamrock Rovers B withdrew from the First Division after just one season. Rovers decided it was not financially viable to continue fielding two teams in the League of Ireland.[9]

## Final table

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Longford Town (C, P) | 28  | 18  | 6  | 4  | 56  | 19  | +37  | 60  | Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2  | Shelbourne | 28  | 14  | 10  | 4  | 46  | 30  | +16  | 52  | Qualification for Promotion play-offs
3  | Galway (O, P) | 28  | 13  | 10  | 5  | 47  | 23  | +24  | 49
4  | Wexford Youths | 28  | 13  | 7  | 8  | 45  | 35  | +10  | 46  |
5  | Finn Harps | 28  | 7  | 11  | 10  | 26  | 28  | −2  | 32
6  | Shamrock Rovers B | 28  | 7  | 5  | 16  | 25  | 50  | −25  | 26  | Withdrew from league
7  | Waterford United | 28  | 6  | 7  | 15  | 25  | 43  | −18  | 25  |
8  | Cobh Ramblers | 28  | 2  | 8  | 18  | 24  | 66  | −42  | 14

Source: [2][9][10]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

## Promotion/relegation playoffs

[edit]

The second and third placed First Division teams, Shelbourne and Galway, played off to decide who would play UCD, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2015 Premier Division.[2]

First Division

Galway v Shelbourne 18 October 2014 |  Galway | 2 – 0|  Shelbourne | Eamonn Deacy Park

|
|
|
|

19:45 | Ryan Connolly 19'
Gary Shanahan  84' | Report | Nathan Murphy  19' | Attendance: 1,764
Referee: Ray Matthews

Shelbourne v Galway 24 October 2014 |  Shelbourne | 1 – 2|  Galway | Tolka Park

|
|
|
|

19:45 | Conor Murphy  34' | Report | Ryan Connolly  59'
Jake Keegan  82' | Attendance: 1,202
Referee: Robert Harvey (Kerry)

Galway won 4 – 1 on aggregate

First Division v Premier Division

UCD v Galway 28 October 2014 |  UCD | 1 – 2|  Galway | UCD Bowl

|
|
|
|

19:45 | Timmy Molloy  18'
Colm Crowe  27'
Gareth Matthews  39' | Report | Jason Molloy  23'
Paddy Barrett  89'
Ryan Manning  90' | Attendance: 643
Referee: James McKell

Galway v UCD 1 November 2014 |  Galway | 3 – 0|  UCD | Eamonn Deacy Park

|
|
|
|

20:45 | Alex Byrne  20'
Gary Shanahan  45'
Ryan Manning  71'
Alex Byrne  80' | Report |  | Attendance: 2,890
Referee: Dave McKeon

Galway won 5–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2015 Premier Division. UCD are relegated to 2015 First Division.

## Awards

[edit]

### Top scorers

[edit]

Rank  | Player  | Club  | Goals

|
|
|

1  | David O'Sullivan  | Longford Town | 19 (1 pen.)
2  | Danny Furlong  | Wexford Youths | 16 (5 pen.)
3  | Dylan Connolly  | Shelbourne | 12 (1 pen.)
4  | Jake Keegan  | Galway | 11
5  | Gary Shaw  | Longford Town | 10

Source:[11][1]

### Player of the Year

[edit]

Winner  | Club

|

David O'Sullivan  | Longford Town

### Team of the Year

[edit]

No.  | Pos.  | Player  | Date of birth (age)  | Caps  | Club

|
|
|
|
|

1  | 1GK | Graham Doyle  |  |  | Wexford Youths
2  | 2DF | Colm Horgan |  |  | Galway
3  | 2DF | Paddy Barrett |  |  | Galway
4  | 2DF | Patrick Sullivan |  |  | Longford Town
5  | 2DF | Lee Desmond |  |  | Shelbourne
6  | 3MF | Dylan Connolly |  |  | Shelbourne
7  | 3MF | Stephen Rice |  |  | Longford Town
8  | 3MF | Ryan Connolly |  |  | Galway
9  | 4FW | Danny Furlong  |  |  | Wexford Youths
10  | 4FW | David O'Sullivan  |  |  | Longford Town
11  | 4FW | Gary Shaw |  |  | Longford Town

## See also

[edit]

* 2014 League of Ireland Premier Division
* 2014 League of Ireland Cup

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
2. ^ a b c d e "Ireland 2014". RSSSF. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
3. ^ "One club or nothing warns FAI on impasse". connachttribune.ie. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
4. ^ "Football's comin' home — compromise reached as Galway FC applies to league". www.advertiser.ie. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
5. ^ "FAI allow Shamrock Rovers to field second team in First Division". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
6. ^ "The Hoops will field a second team in the Airtricity First Division following the withdrawal of Mervue United and Salthill Devon". Goal.com. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
7. ^ "Shamrock Rovers to field team in First Division". RTÉ.ie. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
8. ^ "Longford Town claim First Division crown and promotion". www.rte.ie. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
9. ^ a b "A Brief History of Shamrock Rovers". www.shamrockrovers.ie. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
10. ^ "First Division". ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
11. ^ "First Division". ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.

* v
* t
* e

League of Ireland First Division

2025 clubs|

* Athlone Town
* Bray Wanderers
* Cobh Ramblers
* Dundalk
* Finn Harps
* Kerry
* Longford Town
* Treaty United
* UCD
* Wexford

Seasons|

* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

See also|

Shield

* v
* t
* e

2014 in Republic of Ireland football

Leagues|

* Premier Division
* First Division
* Women's National League (2013–14) (2014–15)

Cup competitions|

* Setanta Cup (Final)
* FAI Cup (Final)
* League of Ireland Cup
* President's Cup
* Leinster Senior Cup (2013–14) (Final) (2014–15)
* FAI Intermediate Cup

National teams|

* Men
* Women

Club seasons|

| Premier Division|

* St Patrick's Athletic

|

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