2018 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 34th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on 16 February 2018 and concluded in 26 October 2018.[2]

League of Ireland Premier Division
Season2018
Dates16 February – 26 October 2018
ChampionsDundalk
RelegatedLimerick
Bray Wanderers
Champions LeagueDundalk
Europa LeagueCork City
Shamrock Rovers Waterford
Matches played180
Goals scored501 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorerPatrick Hoban (29 Goals)
Biggest home winDundalk 8-0 Limerick
Biggest away winBray Wanderers 0-5 Bohemians
Highest scoringWaterford 3-6 Limerick
Total attendance384,520
Average attendance2,136[1]
← 2017
2019 →
All statistics correct as of 2 November 2018.

On 5 October, Dundalk won the title after a 1-1 draw with St Patrick's Athletic.[3][4]

Overview

The Premier Division consists of 10 teams. Each team plays each other four times for a total of 36 matches in the season.

Waterford, the 2017 First Division champion, were promoted to the league for the first time since 2007.

On 22 December 2016, the Football Association of Ireland announced that the league would be restructured into two 10-team divisions from the 2018 season onwards, one of the recommendations made in the 2015 Conroy Report.[5]

Teams

Stadia and locations
Locations of Premier Division teams
Locations of Dublin Premier Division teams
Team Location Stadium
BohemiansPhibsboroughDalymount Park
Bray WanderersBrayCarlisle Grounds
Cork CityCorkTurners Cross
Derry CityDerryThe Brandywell
DundalkDundalkOriel Park
LimerickLimerickMarkets Field
St Patrick's AthleticInchicoreRichmond Park
Shamrock RoversTallaghtTallaght Stadium
Sligo RoversSligoThe Showgrounds
WaterfordWaterfordRSC

Personnel and kits

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
Bohemians Keith Long Derek Pender Hummel Mr Green Sport
Bray Wanderers Gary Cronin Gary McCabe Nike O Driscoll O Neil Insurance
Cork City John Caulfield Conor McCormack Adidas University College Cork
Derry City Declan Devine Gerard Doherty Adidas Diamond Corrugated
Dundalk Stephen Kenny Stephen O'Donnell CX+ Sport Fyffes
Limerick Tommy Barrett Shane Duggan Umbro Betsat.com
St Patrick's Athletic Liam Buckley Ian Bermingham Umbro MIG Insurance Brokers
Shamrock Rovers Stephen Bradley Ronan Finn New Balance Pepper Money
Sligo Rovers Gerard Lyttle Kyle Callan-McFadden Joma Volkswagen
Waterford Alan Reynolds Paul Keegan Umbro 21 Bet

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure		 Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of
appointment
Limerick Neil McDonald Signed by Scunthorpe United 4 January 2018[6] Pre-season Tommy Barrett 14 January 2018[7]
Bray Wanderers Dave Mackey Resigned 8 April 2018[8] 10th Graham Kelly 10 April 2018[9]
Bray Wanderers Graham Kelly End of caretaker spell 8 July 2018 10th Martin Russell 8 July 2018[10]
Derry City Kenny Shiels Sacked 27 October 2018 [11] 8th Declan Devine 16 November 2018

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dundalk (C) 36 27 6 3 85 20 +65 87 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Cork City 36 24 5 7 71 27 +44 77 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Shamrock Rovers 36 18 8 10 57 27 +30 62
4 Waterford 36 18 5 13 52 44 +8 59
5 St Patrick's Athletic 36 15 5 16 51 47 +4 50 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
6 Bohemians 36 13 9 14 52 45 +7 48
7 Sligo Rovers 36 12 6 18 38 50 −12 42
8 Derry City 36 13 3 20 47 70 −23 42
9 Limerick (R) 36 7 6 23 25 75 −50 27 Qualification to Relegation play-offs
10 Bray Wanderers (R) 36 5 3 28 23 96 −73 18 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[12]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Since the winners of the 2018 FAI Cup, Dundalk, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) would normally pass to the next best-placed team (the fourth-placed team). However, as Waterford were adjudged by UEFA to have not passed the "three-year rule" as they were reformed in 2016, the spot was passed to the fifth-placed team.

Results

Matches 1–18

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

Home \ Away BOH BRW COR DER DUN LIM STP SHM SLI WAT
Bohemians — 2–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–1 3–1 2–2 0–1
Bray Wanderers 1–3 — 0–4 2–1 0–2 0–1 1–2 1–0 1–2 2–2
Cork City 3–0 4–0 — 4–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0
Derry City 3–1 5–1 0–0 — 1–4 5–0 2–1 0–0 0–2 1–0
Dundalk 3–0 0–0 1–0 2–2 — 8–0 5–0 2–1 2–1 1–0
Limerick 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–3 0–3 — 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–2
St Patrick's Athletic 2–2 5–0 2–3 5–2 0–0 1–0 — 2–0 2–0 1–0
Shamrock Rovers 1–2 6–0 3–0 6–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 — 1–0 1–1
Sligo Rovers 0–2 2–1 1–4 2–1 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 — 1–2
Waterford 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 3–6 2–0 2–1 1–1 —
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 19–36

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

Home \ Away BOH BRW COR DER DUN LIM STP SHM SLI WAT
Bohemians — 6–0 4–2 1–2 1–1 5–0 1–0 1–1 0–3 1–3
Bray Wanderers 0–5 — 1–3 2–1 1–3 0–2 3–1 0–3 2–1 0–0
Cork City 1–0 5–1 — 5–0 0–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 1–2 3–0
Derry City 0–2 2–0 0–3 — 0–4 2–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 1–2
Dundalk 2–0 5–0 2–1 3–2 — 4–0 1–1 1–2 5–0 2–0
Limerick 1–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 — 0–4 0–2 1–3 2–1
St Patrick's Athletic 1–3 3–0 1–3 5–0 1–3 2–1 — 0–1 0–3 3–0
Shamrock Rovers 0–1 5–0 0–0 2–0 2–5 5–0 3–0 — 2–0 3–1
Sligo Rovers 1–1 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–0 1–2 2–0 — 2–3
Waterford 1–1 2–0 1–2 4–0 1–2 4–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 —
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Promotion/relegation playoff

Limerick, the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division took part in a two-legged play-off against Finn Harps, the winners of the 2018 First Division play-off, to decide who will play in the 2019 Premier Division.

29 October 2018 Finn Harps1–0LimerickFinn Park
19:45 GMT McCourt  35' (pen.) Report Attendance: 2,379
Referee: Robert Harvey
2 November 2018 Limerick0–2Finn HarpsMarkets Field
19:45 GMT Report Timlin  45+1'
Boyle  80'		 Referee: Graham Kelly

Finn Harps won 3–0 on aggregate and were promoted to 2019 Premier Division. Limerick were relegated to the 2019 First Division.

Season statistics
As of 2 November 2018

Scoring

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Patrick Hoban Dundalk 29
2 Kieran Sadlier Cork City 16
3 Graham Cummins Cork City 15
4 Graham Burke Shamrock Rovers 13
Michael Duffy Dundalk 13
6 Daniel Carr Shamrock Rovers 11
Daniel Corcoran Bohemians 11
8 Courtney Duffus Waterford 10
Aaron McEneff Derry City 10
10 Robbie Benson Dundalk 9

Last updated: 2 November 2018.
Source: SSEAirtricity League

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Dinny CorcoranBohemiansBray Wanderers5–0 (A)19 October 2018[13]
Graham CumminsCork CitySligo Rovers4–1 (A)24 February 2018[13]
Graham Burke4Shamrock RoversDerry City6-1 (H)9 March 2018[14]
Ronan HaleDerry CityLimerick5–0 (H)12 March 2018[15]
Patrick HobanDundalkLimerick4–0 (H)8 June 2018[16]

Discipline

Club
  • Most yellow cards: 94[17]
    • Sligo Rovers
  • Most red cards: 7[17]
    • Waterford

Awards

Player of the Month
Month Player Club References
February Graham Cummins Cork City [18]
March Graham Burke Shamrok Rovers [19]
April Michael Duffy Dundalk [20]
May Seán Hoare Dundalk [21]
June Patrick Hoban Dundalk [22]
July Gavin Bazunu Shamrok Rovers [23]
August Michael Duffy Dundalk [24]
September Chris Shields Dundalk [25]
October/November Patrick McEleney Dundalk [26]

Player of the Year
Player Club Reference
Michael Duffy Dundalk [27]

Goalkeeper of the Year
Player Club Reference
Shane Supple Bohemians [28]

See also

References
  1. "extratime.ie League of Ireland Attendance Report 2018". extratime. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. "Best player? Relegation candidates? Our writers' predictions for the 2018 League of Ireland season". The 42. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  3. "Dundalk crowned as league champions for 13th time as they claim a point against St Pat's". Irish Independent. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  4. "Champions! Hoban delivers dramatic 90th minute equaliser as Dundalk secure fourth title in five seasons". The 42. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  5. Mackey, Liam (23 December 2016). "It's three down, one up for LOI season". The Irish Examiner. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  6. "Limerick lose manager McDonald to Scunthorpe". RTÉ Sport. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  7. "Former player Tommy Barrett takes over Limerick job". RTÉ Sport. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  8. "Dave Mackey resigns as Bray boss". RTÉ Sport. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  9. "Graham Kelly named as Bray 'caretaker manager'". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  10. Gallagher, Aaron. "Russell confirmed new Bray boss as club face fight for survival with three wins in 21 games". the42.ie. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  11. Derry axe Shiels
  12. "Premier Division 2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  13. Goulden, David. "Cummins hat-trick maintains flawless Cork start". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  14. "Shamrock Rovers vs. Derry City 6 - 1". soccerway.com. 9 March 2018.
  15. Ferry, Gary. "Derry mark Brandywell return with five goals". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  16. McLaughlin, Gavin. "Hoban bags hat-trick as Dundalk return to top". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  17. "Premier Division statistics". SSE Airtricity League. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  18. "GRAHAM CUMMINS NAMED SSE AIRTRICITY PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY". SSE Airtricity. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  19. "GRAHAM BURKE NAMED SSE AIRTRICITY PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH". SSE Airtricity. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  20. "In-form Duffy wins monthly award for first time". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  21. O'Hehir, Paul. "Dundalk defender Sean Hoare scoops Player of the Month award for May". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  22. "PATRICK HOBAN WINS JUNE PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARD". SSE Airtricity League. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  23. "ROVERS KEEPER BAZUNU WINS PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARD". SSE Airtricity League. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  24. "Dundalk's Duffy on the double". Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  25. "Third time's a charm for Shields". Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  26. "Third time's a charm for Shields". Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  27. "Goalkeeper of the Year". The42.ie. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  28. "Goalkeeper of the Year". Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
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