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The Football League of Ireland, usually known simply as the League of Ireland or later the eircom League (from the league's sponsorship by Irish telecommunications company eircom), was the old league of football clubs in Ireland that existed from 1921 until 2006. Beginning in the 2007 season, it was succeeded by the FAI National League. It should not be confused with the Irish Football League, which is the league in Northern Ireland. The Football League of Ireland included one club from across the border, Derry City. Derry City formerly played in the Irish Football League, but was forced to leave that league following the 1972-73 season because of safety and security concerns. Derry City joined the Republic's league at the second level in 1985, after a special dispensation from the Irish Football Association (IFA) and UEFA. It won promotion in 1987, and has stayed in the top flight ever since. No teams from the Republic play in the northern league.
History
League of Ireland football was well attended up to late 1960s when spectator numbers started to dwindle. The exposure to far bigger football leagues in England and Scotland saw most Irish football fans pick a British side to follow rather than their local team. Reflecting this, local media steadily started to focus more and more on the foreign leagues and it wasn't until 1997 that a League of Ireland game was shown live on television. In the late 1990s, as teams sought to become fully professional, crowds started to come back. Recent excellent european runs by Cork City, Shelbourne and Derry City sparked a massive increase in media attention and consequently, attendances are improving. Until recently the league followed the pattern of the other leagues in the western Europe of starting their league campaigns towards the end of Summer and playing through the Winter until late Spring and playing no league games during the height of Summer. Citing a need to improve the European results and to a lesser extent the more favourable climate, the league switched to playing Summer football (like the Scandinavian leagues for example). However, professionalism has cost some clubs. Former greats Shamrock Rovers, without a home ground since the sale of Glenmalure Park in 1987, were put into administration in 2005 and subsequently taken over by a fans' group, the 400 Club now known as the SRFC Members Club. Rovers suffered their first ever relegation by losing a two-legged play-off 3-2 to Dublin City at the end of the 2005 season. The Hoops went on to win the 2006 First Division Title.
Dublin City (formerly Home Farm F.C.) resigned their league membership on 19 July 2006 after the Company which owned the club ceased trading. Games the club had played in the Premier Division during the season were expunged from the record, with the league table recalculated. The FAI and the League of Ireland merged for the 2007 season to create a new FAI National League - a continuation of the old league. The composition of the new league's tiers was decided by an Independent Assessment Group (IAG). The selection of teams was based on the 2006 league results, the previous 5 years performance, infrastructure, strategic planning, licensing and population densities[1]. List of Winners of the LeagueFootnotes
Record League ChampionsUp to and including 2006 season
First Division Winners
Record First Division ChampionsUp to and including 2006 season
References
See also
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