2016 League of Ireland First Division

Football league season

League of Ireland First DivisionSeason| 2016

|

Champions| Limerick
Promoted| Limerick
Drogheda United
Matches played| 112
Goals scored| 349 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer| Gary O'Neil (13 goals)[1]
Biggest home win| Limerick 6–1 Cobh Ramblers
(19 March 2016)[2]
Limerick 7–2 Waterford United
(30 April 2016)[3]
Biggest away win| Waterford United 1–8 UCD
(30 September 2016)[4]
Highest scoring| Limerick 7–2 Waterford United
(30 April 2016)[5]
Waterford United 1–8 UCD
(30 September 2016)[6]
Total attendance| 52,987
Average attendance| 477[7]

← 2015

2017 →

The 2016 League of Ireland First Division season was the 32nd season of the League of Ireland First Division.

On 28 August, Limerick clinched the title and promotion after a 3–2 win away to UCD.[8][9][10]

## Overview

[edit]

The First Division has 8 teams. Each team played each other four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 28 matches in the season.

The eight clubs competed for a prize fund of €104,000 with the winners receiving €30,000 and the eighth placed team collecting €8,000.[11]

## Teams

[edit]

Athlone Town

Cobh Ramblers

Drogheda United

Limerick

Waterford United

Dublin

Dublin teams
Cabinteely
Shelbourne
UCD

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the First Division teams

Shelbourne

UCD

Cabinteely

class=notpageimage|

Locations of Dublin First Division teams

Team  | Home city/suburb  | Stadium

|
|

Athlone Town | Athlone | Athlone Town Stadium
Cabinteely | Cabinteely | Stradbrook Road
Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | St. Colman's Park
Drogheda United | Drogheda | United Park
Limerick | Limerick | Markets Field
Shelbourne | Drumcondra, Dublin | Tolka Park
UCD | Belfield, Dublin | UCD Bowl
Waterford United | Waterford | Waterford RSC

### 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  | Captain  | Kit manufacturer  | Shirt sponsor

|
|
|
|

Athlone Town |  Alan Mathews[12] |  | Nike | Nitro Sports
Cabinteely |  Eddie Gormley |  | Umbro |
Cobh Ramblers |  Stephen Henderson  |  Kevin Mulcahy  | Legea  | Rathcormac Fuels
Drogheda United |  Pete Mahon  |  Sean Thornton | CX+ Sport  | Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Limerick |  Martin Russell |  Shane Duggan  | Hummel | Galtee Fuels
Shelbourne |  Kevin Doherty  | Daire Doyle  | Macron | abbeyseals.ie
UCD |  Collie O'Neill  |  Gary O'Neill  | O'Neills | O'Neills
Waterford United |  Roddy Collins |  Phillip Gorman  | Uhlsport |

## League table

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Limerick (C, P) | 28  | 24  | 3  | 1  | 86  | 26  | +60  | 75  | Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2  | Drogheda United (O, P) | 28  | 15  | 7  | 6  | 42  | 29  | +13  | 52  | Qualification for Promotion play-offs
3  | Cobh Ramblers | 28  | 15  | 5  | 8  | 40  | 33  | +7  | 50
4  | UCD | 28  | 14  | 6  | 8  | 57  | 40  | +17  | 48  |
5  | Waterford United | 28  | 10  | 3  | 15  | 43  | 65  | −22  | 33
6  | Shelbourne | 28  | 9  | 3  | 16  | 36  | 40  | −4  | 30
7  | Cabinteely | 28  | 4  | 4  | 20  | 19  | 54  | −35  | 16
8  | Athlone Town | 28  | 3  | 5  | 20  | 26  | 62  | −36  | 14

Source: Soccerway, extratime.ie
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[13]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

## Results

[edit]

### Matches 1–14

[edit]

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

| Home \ Away  | ATH | CAB | COB | DRO | LIM | SHE | UCD | WAT

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Athlone Town |  | 3–1  | 0–2  | 1–2  | 0–5  | 1–3  | 1–2  | 3–3
Cabinteely | 2–1  |  | 1–2  | 0–0  | 0–2  | 0–4  | 0–0  | 0–2
Cobh Ramblers | 2–2  | 2–0  |  | 1–1  | 0–3  | 1–0  | 0–2  | 4–0
Drogheda United | 2–2  | 4–0  | 1–0  |  | 0–3  | 1–0  | 1–2  | 2–1
Limerick | 3–0  | 3–0  | 6–1  | 2–2  |  | 5–1  | 4–1  | 7–2
Shelbourne | 2–1  | 1–1  | 0–1  | 3–0  | 3–4  |  | 1–2  | 0–2
UCD | 1–1  | 2–1  | 3–1  | 2–2  | 1–2  | 2–0  |  | 1–3
Waterford United | 3–0[a] | 3–1  | 1–2  | 1–2  | 2–5  | 1–4  | 3–1  |

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. ^ Waterford were awarded a 3–0 result for the match, with Athlone forfeiting the fixture. Athlone Town were also fined €1,000 and stripped of home advantage for their August clash with Waterford United after they failed to fulfil the First Division fixture between the two sides.[14]

### Matches 15–28

[edit]

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

| Home \ Away  | ATH | CAB | COB | DRO | LIM | SHE | UCD | WAT

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Athlone Town |  | 4–0  | 0–2  | 0–1  | 0–2  | 1–0  | 1–1  | 1–3[a]
Cabinteely | 5–1  |  | 1–3  | 1–0  | 0–1  | 1–2  | 0–2  | 2–0
Cobh Ramblers | 2–1  | 3–0  |  | 2–1  | 2–0  | 0–0  | 1–1  | 3–1
Drogheda United | 1–0  | 1–0  | 2–0  |  | 3–3  | 2–0  | 1–2  | 2–0
Limerick | 1–0  | 2–0  | 2–0  | 2–1  |  | 2–0  | 4–3  | 4–0
Shelbourne | 3–0  | 2–1  | 2–0  | 0–2  | 1–1  |  | 1–2  | 0–1
UCD | 5–1  | 4–1  | 0–1  | 1–1  | 2–3  | 3–2  |  | 2–1
Waterford United | 3–0  | 0–0  | 2–2  | 1–3  | 1–5  | 2–1  | 1–8  |

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. ^ This match was played in Waterford, due to the earlier league ruling that stripped Athlone of home field advantage due to the non-fulfillment of a previous fixture between the two sides.

## Promotion/relegation playoffs

[edit]

### First Division

[edit]

Cobh Ramblers v Drogheda United 22 October 2016 (2016-10-22) |  Cobh Ramblers | 0–2|  Drogheda United | Cobh

|
|
|
|

19:15 IST (UTC+01:00) |  | Report |

* Griffin 60'
* McCaffrey 62'

| Stadium: St Colman's Park
Attendance: 1,550
Referee: Andrew Mullally

Drogheda United v Cobh Ramblers 28 October 2016 (2016-10-28) |  Drogheda United | 1–2
(3–2 agg.)|  Cobh Ramblers | Drogheda

|
|
|
|

19:45 IST (UTC+01:00) | McCaffrey 60' | Report |

* Ellis 1'
* Comerford 9'

| Stadium: United Park
Attendance: 1,873
Referee: Andrew Mullally

Drogheda United advanced to the promotion/relegation play-offs against Wexford Youths.

### First Division vs Premier Division

[edit]

Wexford Youths v Drogheda United 31 October 2016 (2016-10-31) |  Wexford Youths | 2–0|  Drogheda United | Crossabeg

|
|
|
|

19:45 GMT |

* Furlong 66'
* Chin 90+1'

| Report |  | Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park
Referee: Raymond Matthews

Drogheda United v Wexford Youths 4 November 2016 (2016-11-04) |  Drogheda United | 3–0
(3–2 agg.)|  Wexford Youths | Drogheda

|
|
|
|

19:45 GMT |

* Brennan 45+1'
* Farragher  58'
* Thornton 78' (pen.)

| Report |  | Stadium: United Park

Drogheda United are promoted to the 2017 Premier Division; Wexford Youths are relegated to the 2017 First Division.

## See also

[edit]

* 2016 League of Ireland Premier Division
* 2016 League of Ireland Cup

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Players". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
2. ^ "LIMERICK VS. COBH RAMBLERS 6 - 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
3. ^ "LIMERICK VS. WATERFORD UNITED 7 - 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
4. ^ "WATERFORD UNITED VS. UCD 1 - 8". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
5. ^ "LIMERICK VS. WATERFORD UNITED 7 - 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
6. ^ "WATERFORD UNITED VS. UCD 1 - 8". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
7. ^ "From the Archives - extratime.ie League of Ireland Attendance Report 2019". extratime.
8. ^ "Limerick seal Premier Division return with plenty to spare". Irish Independent. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
9. ^ "Limerick FC seal promotion back to Premier Division with 6 games to spare". The 42. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
10. ^ "Limerick FC fans are super excited by the club's promotion". Irish Examiner. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
11. ^ "Breakdown of 2016 SSE Airtricity League Prize-Money". SSE Airtricity League. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
12. ^ "Alan Mathews Appointed 1st Team Manager". Athlone Town Football Club. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
13. ^ "FIRST DIVISION 2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
14. ^ "FOOTBALL:Athlone Town fined €1,000 for failure to fulfil fixture". 9 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.

* 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
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* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
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* 2002–03
* 2003
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* 2014
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* 2019
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* 2022
* 2023
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See also|

Shield

* v
* t
* e

2016 in Republic of Ireland football

Leagues|

* Premier Division
* First Division
* Women's National League (2015–16) (2016)

Cup competitions|

* FAI Cup (Final)
* League of Ireland Cup (Final)
* President's Cup
* Leinster Senior Cup (2015–16) (2016–17)
* FAI Intermediate Cup (2015–16) (2016–17)

National teams|

* Men (UEFA Euro 2016)
* Women

Club seasons|

| Premier Division|

* Dundalk
* 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