2008 A Championship

A Championship
Season 2008
Champions UCD A
Promoted Mervue United
2009 →

The 2008 A Championship was the first edition of the A Championship.

League Rules

Procedure

There were 16 participating clubs in the 2008 A Championship - 3 first team sides, as well as the reserve sides from 12 Premier Division clubs and 1 First Division club. These teams are geographically split into 2 groups of 8 teams each.

Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. If there is equality in points, goal difference and goals for tallies, the clubs involved must partake in a play-off to decide their finishing positions.

The top team in each group will qualify for the championship play-offs.

First team sides can qualify for a promotion play-off by finishing in the top 3 of their respective groups.

Teams

Derry City A
Drogheda United A
Finn Harps A
Mervue United
Salthill Devon
Sligo Rovers A
Bray Wanderers A
Cobh Ramblers A
Cork City A
Galway United A
Limerick 37 A
Tullamore Town
Dublin
Dublin teams Listing for each group from North to South

Group 1
Bohemians A
Shamrock Rovers A Group 2
St Patrick's Athletic A
UCD A

Location of teams in 2008 A Championship

Changes before the season

The following teams joined the 2008 A Championship in Group 1:

The following teams joined the 2008 A Championship in Group 2:

Participating teams

Team Base Stadium Comment
Bohemians A Dublin AUL Complex The A team of Premier Division team Bohemians
Bray Wanderers A Bray Jackson Park, Kilternan The A team of Premier League team Bray Wanderers
Cobh Ramblers A Cobh St Colman's Park The A team of Premier Division team Cobh Ramblers
Cork City A Cork Turner's Cross The A team of Premier Division team Cork City
Derry City A Derry Brandywell The A team of Premier Division team Derry City
Drogheda United A Drogheda United Park The A team of Premier Division team Drogheda United
Finn Harps A Ballybofey Finn Park The A team of Premier Division team Finn Harps
Galway United A Galway Athenry The A team of Premier Division team Galway United
Limerick 37 A Limerick Jackman Park The A team of First Division team Limerick 37
Mervue United Galway Fahy's Field First team side, eligible for promotion
St Patrick's Athletic A Dublin Richmond Park The A team of Premier Division team St Patrick's Athletic
Salthill Devon Galway Drom First team side, eligible for promotion
Shamrock Rovers A Dublin Tallaght Stadium The A team of Premier Division team Shamrock Rovers
Sligo Rovers A Sligo Showgrounds The A team of Premier Division team Sligo Rovers
Tullamore Town Tullamore Leah Victoria Park First team side, eligible for promotion
UCD A Dublin UCD Bowl The A team of Premier Division team UCD

Changes after the season

Mervue United won promotion to the 2009 First Division.

The following teams joined the 2009 A Championship in Group 1:

The following teams joined the 2009 A Championship in Group 2:

Cobh Ramblers failed to attain a licence to participate in the 2009 League of Ireland and joined the 2009 A Championship, replacing Cobh Ramblers A in Group 2.

Limerick 37 A and UCD A withdrew from the 2009 A Championship.

Bohemians A and Shamrock Rovers A moved from Group 2 to Group 1.

Galway United A and Tullamore Town moved from Group 1 to Group 2.

League tables

Group 1
Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Bohemians A 14 11 2 1 34 12+22 0321 Qualification to A Championship Final
2 Finn Harps A 14 9 1 4 24 12+12 28
3 Mervue United (P) 14 6 2 6 24 240 20 First Division Play-Off
4 Drogheda United A 14 5 5 4 23 230 0171
5 Shamrock Rovers A 14 4 4 6 23 22+1 16
6 Sligo Rovers A 14 4 3 7 24 23+1 15
7 Derry City A 14 4 1 9 16 34−18 13
8 Salthill Devon 14 3 2 9 13 31−18 11

Source: loi.ie
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1Bohemians A and Drogheda United A were both deducted 3 points for fielding ineligible players.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Group 2
Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 UCD A (C) 14 10 3 1 52 8+44 33 Qualification to A Championship Final
2 Cork City A 14 7 3 4 22 13+9 24
3 Galway United A 14 6 4 4 20 14+6 22
4 Bray Wanderers A 14 6 3 5 31 20+11 21
5 St Patrick's Athletic A 14 5 4 5 16 160 19
6 Cobh Ramblers A 14 6 2 6 24 25−1 0171
7 Limerick 37 A 14 4 2 8 17 33−16 14
8 Tullamore Town 14 1 1 12 7 60−53 4

Source: loi.ie
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1Cobh Ramblers A were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Group 1

Home ╲ Away BOH DER DROFHAMERSALSHASLI
Bohemians A 1–0 3–2 4–1 4–0 2–0 3–1 3–1
Derry City A 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–3 4–0 0–0 3–0
Drogheda United A 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 5–1
Finn Harps A 1–3 0–1 4–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 2–0
Mervue United 1–2 5–4 1–1 0–3 1–2 4–0 2–0
Salthill Devon 0–3 3–1 0–1 0–1 0–4 2–2 3–1
Shamrock Rovers A 2–0 4–3 4–4 2–0 0–1 6–0 2–2
Sligo Rovers A 1–4 1–4 3–1 0–4 3–0 2–1 1–0

Source: loi.ie
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group 2

Home ╲ Away BRW COB CORGALL37StPTULUCD
Bray Wanderers A 3–4 1–0 2–2 3–0 4–0 9–0 1–5
Cobh Ramblers A 2–0 0–32 1–2 6–0 1–1 3–0 0–33
Cork City A 1–0 2–1 0–2 3–1 0–0 8–1 0–5
Galway United A 3–04 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–0 4–0 1–1
Limerick 37 A 1–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 4–3
St Patrick's Athletic A 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–4 3–0 0–2
Tullamore Town 1–5 1–2 0–4 2–1 1–1 0–4 0–8
UCD A 1–1 5–0 0–0 3–0 9–0 2–1 5–0

Source: loi.ie
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
2 The match was awarded 3-0 to Cork City A after Cobh Ramblers A forfeited the game.
3 The match was awarded 3-0 to UCD A after Cobh Ramblers A forfeited the game.
4 The match was awarded 3-0 to Galway United A after Bray Wanderers A forfeited the game.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-Offs

A Championship Final

Bohemians A and UCD A competed in a playoff for the inaugural A Championship title. UCD A won 2–1 and therefore became the 2008 A Championship winners.

First Division Promotion/Relegation play-off

Kildare County and Mervue United competed in a two-legged promotion/relegation playoff. Mervue United won 5–2 on aggregate and thereby secured a place in the 2009 First Division.
Kildare County were relegated to the A Championship, but were later reprieved following the failure of Cobh Ramblers to attain a licence to participate in the 2009 League of Ireland and remained in the First Division.

1st Leg

18 November 2008
20.00 GMT
Mervue United 2 – 2 Kildare County
Ollie Keogh  10'
David Goldbey  28' 		Report Philip Hughes  54'  76'
Fahy's Field, Galway
Referee: Pádraig Sutton (Clare)

2nd Leg

21 November 2008
19.45 GMT
Kildare County 0 – 3 Mervue United
Report David O'Brien  15'
David Goldbey  64'  81'
Station Road, Newbridge
Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford)

See also

External links

References

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