Football League of Ireland

Football League of Ireland
Image:Eircomleague.jpg
Sport	Football
Founded	1921
No. of teams	21 (2006)
Country	Ireland
Current champions	Shelbourne F.C. (2006)

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

Formed in 1921, the league originally contained 8 teams, all of which were from Dublin, and was first won by St. James' Gate FC. Over the next forty years the league grew to eventually twenty-two clubs, and spread right across the country, with the introduction of 6 teams in 1985, when a first division was introduced. The new Premier Division contained 12 teams and the First Division, 10. Clubs were promoted and relegated between the Premier and First divisions at the end of each season. Also, the club which finished bottom of the First had to reapply for league membership.

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.

However in the emergence and re-emergence of clubs such as Cork City, Derry City, Drogheda United and Shelbourne, among others, have helped improve the fortunes of the league in the past several seasons.

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 League

Footnotes

• Note 1: St. Patrick's Athletic were deducted 15 points due to fielding an ineligible player. Without that deduction they would have been champions. For more on this see St Patrick's Athletic.

Record League Champions

Up to and including 2006 season

Rank	Club	# titles	Last title	First title
1	Shamrock Rovers	15	1994	1923
2	Shelbourne	13	2006	1926
3	Bohemians	9	2003	1924
	Dundalk	9	1995	1933
5	St. Patrick's Athletic	7	1999	1952
	Cork United/Cork Athletic	7	1951	1941
7	Waterford	6	1973	1966
8	Drumcondra	5	1965	1948
9	Cork City	2	2005	1993
	Derry City	2	1997	1989
	Athlone Town	2	1983	1981
	Limerick	2	1980	1960
	Sligo Rovers	2	1977	1937
	St James's Gate	2	1940	1922
15	Cork Celtic	1	1974	1974
	Cork Hibernians	1	1971	1971
	Dolphin	1	1935	1935

First Division Winners

• 1985/86 Bray Wanderers
• 1986/87 Derry City
• 1987/88 Athlone Town
• 1988/89 Drogheda United
• 1989/90 Waterford United
• 1990/91 Drogheda United
• 1991/92 Limerick City
• 1992/93 Galway United
• 1993/94 Sligo Rovers
• 1994/95 UCD
• 1995/96 Bray Wanderers
• 1996/97 Kilkenny City
• 1997/98 Waterford United
• 1998/99 Drogheda United
• 1999/00 Bray Wanderers
• 2000/01 Dundalk
• 2001/02 Drogheda United
• 2002/03 Waterford United
• 2003 Dublin City
• 2004 Finn Harps
• 2005 Sligo Rovers
• 2006 Shamrock Rovers

Record First Division Champions

Up to and including 2006 season

Rank	Club	# titles	Last title	First title
1	Drogheda United	4	2002	1989
2	Waterford United	3	2003	1990
	Bray Wanderers	3	2000	1986
4	Sligo Rovers	2	2005	1994
5	Shamrock Rovers	1	2006	2006
	Finn Harps	1	2004	2004
	Dublin City	1	2003	2003
	Dundalk	1	2001	2001
	Kilkenny City	1	1997	1997
	UCD	1	1995	1995
	Galway United	1	1993	1993
	Limerick City	1	1992	1992
	Athlone Town	1	1988	1988
	Derry City	1	1987	1987

References

1. ^ FAI / eircomLeague Implementation Committee Proposals on the strategic direction of the National League 2007-2012 (PDF: 217K)

See also

• Football League of Ireland Cup
• FAI Cup
• Professional Footballers Association of Ireland
• Category:Football League of Ireland players - past and present

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