2019 League of Ireland First Division

Football league season

League of Ireland First DivisionSeason| 2019

|

Dates| February 2019 – October 2019
Champions| Shelbourne (1st title)
Promoted| Shelbourne
Matches played| 135
Goals scored| 501 (3.71 per match)
Top goalscorer| Rob Manley (17 goals)
Biggest home win| Shelbourne 7-0 Limerick
(21 September 2019)
Biggest away win| Athlone Town 0-5 Bray Wanderers
(17 May 2019), Cabinteely 0-5 Drogheda United
(19 May 2019)
Total attendance| 75,795
Average attendance| 561[1]

← 2018

2020 →

The 2019 League of Ireland First Division season was the 35th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The league began in February 2019 and concluded in October 2019. Shelbourne emerged as champions after beating title rivals Drogheda United 3–1 away from home on 13 September 2019, earning them promotion to the top flight for the first time since 2012.

## Overview

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The First Division has 10 teams. Each team plays each other three times for a total of 27 matches in the season.

## Teams

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Athlone Town

Bray Wanderers

Cobh Ramblers

Drogheda United

Galway United

Limerick

Longford Town

Wexford

Dublin

Dublin teams
Cabinteely
Shelbourne

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Locations of the First Division teams

Shelbourne

Cabinteely

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Locations of Dublin First Division teams

### Stadia and locations

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Team  | Location  | Stadium  | Capacity

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Athlone Town | Athlone | Athlone Town Stadium | 5,000
Bray Wanderers | Bray | Carlisle Grounds | 4,000
Cabinteely | Cabinteely | Stradbrook Road | 1,620
Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | St. Colman's Park | 3,000
Drogheda United | Drogheda | United Park | 2,000
Galway United | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park | 5,000
Limerick | Limerick | Markets Field | 5,000
Longford Town | Longford | City Calling Stadium | 4,960
Shelbourne | Drumcondra | Tolka Park | 3,500
Wexford | Crossabeg | Ferrycarrig Park | 2,500

### Personnel and kits

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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

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Athlone Town |  Terry Butler  | Committee  | Nike | Nitro Sports
Bray Wanderers |  Gary Cronin  |  Paul Keegan | Umbro | Matt Britton Carpets
Cabinteely |  Pat Devlin |  Stephen McGuinness  | Uhlsport | Dublin School of Grinds
Cobh Ramblers |  Stephen Henderson |  Paul Hunt  | Joma | Tony & William O'Shea Fuels Rushbrooke
Drogheda United |  Tim Clancy |  Jake Hyland  | CX+ Sport  | Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Galway United |  Alan Murphy  |  Stephen Walsh  | Puma | Comer Property Management
Limerick |  Tommy Barrett  |  Shaun Kelly  | Umbro | Daly Car Sales
Longford Town |  Neale Fenn |  Dean Zambra  | Macron | City Calling
Shelbourne |  Ian Morris |  Dean Delaney | Umbro | abbeyseals.ie
Wexford |  Brian O'Sullivan  |  Craig McCabe  | Bodibro  | Premier Tickets

## League table

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

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1  | Shelbourne (C, P) | 27  | 19  | 3  | 5  | 50  | 19  | +31  | 60  | Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2  | Drogheda United (Q) | 27  | 16  | 3  | 8  | 59  | 36  | +23  | 51  | Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3  | Longford Town (Q) | 27  | 16  | 3  | 8  | 41  | 23  | +18  | 51
4  | Cabinteely (Q) | 27  | 14  | 8  | 5  | 39  | 28  | +11  | 50
5  | Bray Wanderers | 27  | 14  | 4  | 9  | 44  | 26  | +18  | 46  |
6  | Cobh Ramblers | 27  | 8  | 7  | 12  | 38  | 51  | −13  | 31
7  | Galway United | 27  | 7  | 5  | 15  | 36  | 42  | −6  | 26
8  | Athlone Town | 27  | 4  | 6  | 17  | 30  | 61  | −31  | 18
9  | Wexford | 27  | 2  | 5  | 20  | 22  | 65  | −43  | 11
10  | Limerick | 27  | 10  | 6  | 11  | 33  | 41  | −8  | 10[a]

Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[3]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:

1. ^ Limerick were deducted 26 points for failure to comply with LOI profitability and sustainability rules.[2]

## Results

[edit]

### Matches 1–18

[edit]

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

| Home \ Away  | ATH | BRW | CAB | COB | DRO | GAL | LIM | LON | SHE | WEX

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Athlone Town | -- | 0–5  | 2–2  | 1–1  | 3–5  | 0–4  | 1–1  | 0–1  | 0–2  | 4–2
Bray Wanderers | 0–1  | -- | 1–1  | 1–0  | 3–1  | 2–1  | 2–0  | 3–2  | 0–1  | 2–1
Cabinteely | 3–2  | 0–3  | -- | 2–2  | 0–5  | 1–0  | 1–2  | 1–1  | 1–0  | 2–0
Cobh Ramblers | 0–1  | 1–0  | 0–1  | -- | 1–4  | 2–1  | 2–3  | 0–0  | 2–1  | 6–1
Drogheda United | 4–2  | 1–0  | 1–4  | 4–0  | -- | 3–0  | 3–2  | 0–1  | 0–0  | 2–1
Galway United | 1–1  | 0–1  | 0–0  | 1–2  | 0–1  | -- | 0–1  | 2–1  | 2–3  | 2–0
Limerick | 2–0  | 1–0  | 1–0  | 3–1  | 0–0  | 2–1  | -- | 0–0  | 0–1  | 1–1
Longford Town | 3–1  | 2–0  | 0–1  | 1–0  | 3–0  | 2–1  | 1–0  | -- | 2–0  | 1–0
Shelbourne | 2–1  | 1–0  | 2–3  | 1–0  | 2–1  | 3–0  | 2–0  | 1–0  | -- | 3–0
Wexford | 2–0  | 2–0  | 0–2  | 2–2  | 1–2  | 0–4  | 0–0  | 1–2  | 1–2  | --

First match(es) will be played: 22 February 2019. Source: SSE Airtricity League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

### Matches 19–27

[edit]

Teams play each other once.

| Home \ Away  | ATH | BRW | CAB | COB | DRO | GAL | LIM | LON | SHE | WEX

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Athlone Town | -- | —  | —  | —  | 0–2  |  | —  | 1–5  | 1–2  | 3–1
Bray Wanderers | 3–0  | -- | —  | 3–3  |  | —  | 1–0  | —  | —  | —
Cabinteely | 3–1  | 2–1  | -- | —  | —  | 0–1  | 3–0  | 2–0  | —  | —
Cobh Ramblers | 2–1  | —  | 1–1  | -- | —  | —  | —  |  | 1–0  | 1–1
Drogheda United | —  | —  | 0–0  | 4–2  | -- | —  | —  | —  | 1–3  | 6–0
Galway United | —  | 2–2  | —  | 7–1  | 1–3  | -- |  | —  | 0–3  | —
Limerick | 1–1  | —  | —  | 3–4  | 1–4  | —  | -- | 3–1  | —  | 4–1
Longford Town | —  | 1–2  | —  | —  | 2–1  | 4–0  | —  | -- | 0–2  | —
Shelbourne | —  | 0–0  | 1–1  | —  | —  | —  |  | —  | -- | 5–2
Wexford | —  | 1–5  | 1–2  | —  | —  | 0–0  | —  | 0–2  | —  | --

First match(es) will be played: 05 July 2019. Source: SSE Airtricity League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

## Season statistics

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### Top scorers

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Rank  | Player  | Club  | Goals

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1  |  Rob Manley  | Cabinteely | 17
2  |  Chris Lyons  | Drogheda United | 13
3  |  Dean Byrne  | Longford Town | 12
Mark Doyle | Drogheda United | 12
5  |  Ciarán Kilduff | Shelbourne | 10
Dylan McGlade  | Bray Wanderers | 10
Stephen Meaney  | Drogheda United | 10
8  |  Danny Furlong  | Wexford | 9
9  |  Jaze Kabia | Shelbourne | 8
Sam Verdon  | Longford Town | 8

Last updated: 25 September 2019.
Source: SSE Airtricity League of Ireland

## Play-offs

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### 3rd vs. 4th-place play-off

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Cabinteely v Longford Town 4 October 2019 |  Cabinteely | 0-0|  Longford Town | Stradbrook Road

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Longford Town v Cabinteely 11 October 2019 |  Longford Town | 1-1
(1-1 agg.)|  Cabinteely | Strokestown Road

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Cabinteely advances on away goals.

### 2nd vs. Winner 3rd/4th play-off

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Cabinteely v Drogheda United 18 October 2019 |  Cabinteely | 1-1|  Drogheda United | Stradbrook Road

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Drogheda United v Cabinteely 25 October 2019 |  Drogheda United | 5-1
(6-2 agg.)|  Cabinteely | United Park

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### Promotion/relegation playoff

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Drogheda United v Finn Harps 27 October 2019 |  Drogheda United | 1-0|  Finn Harps | United Park

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Finn Harps v Drogheda United 31 October 2019 |  Finn Harps | 2-0
(2-1 agg.)|  Drogheda United | Finn Park

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## See also

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* 2019 League of Ireland Premier Division
* 2019 League of Ireland Cup

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "League of Ireland enjoys huge increase in crowds since last pre-Covid season". the42. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
2. ^ "Limerick FC prop up First Division after 26-point deduction". RTE Sport. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
3. ^ "First Division 2019". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 February 2020.

* v
* t
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League of Ireland First Division

2024 clubs|

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

Seasons|

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See also|

Shield

* v
* t
* e

2019 in Republic of Ireland football

Leagues|

* Premier Division
* First Division
* Women's National League

Cup competitions|

* FAI Cup (Final)
* League of Ireland Cup (Final)
* President's Cup
* 2018–19 Leinster Senior Cup
* 2018–19 Munster Senior Cup
* FAI Intermediate Cup (2018–19)

National teams|

* Men
* Women

Club seasons|

* Bohemians
* St Patrick's Athletic

|

See also|

2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (hosted by Republic of Ireland)
*[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