2014 League of Ireland

League of Ireland
Season 2014
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The 2014 League of Ireland was the 94th season of the League of Ireland, the highest football league of the Republic of Ireland. The league began on 7 March.[1] On 24 October, Dundalk won the title after a 2-0 win at home in a sold-out deciding game against championship rivals Cork City.[2] It was their first title since 1995.[3][4][5]

Premier Division

The division comprised 12 teams. Each team played each other three times, a total of 33 matches in the season.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Athlone Town Athlone Athlone Town Stadium 2,500
Bohemians Dublin (Phibsborough) Dalymount Park 3,193
Bray Wanderers Bray Carlisle Grounds 7,000
Cork City Cork Turners Cross 7,485
Derry City Derry Brandywell 7,700
Drogheda United Drogheda Hunky Dorys Park 2,000
Dundalk Dundalk Oriel Park 4,500
Limerick Limerick Thomond Park 26,500
Shamrock Rovers Dublin (Tallaght) Tallaght Stadium 5,947
Sligo Rovers Sligo The Showgrounds 5,500
St Patrick's Athletic Dublin (Inchicore) Richmond Park 5,340
UCD Dublin (Belfield) UCD Bowl 3,000

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
Athlone Town Mick Cooke
Keith Long		 Republic of Ireland Aidan Collins Nike Nitro Sports
Bohemians Owen Heary Republic of Ireland Dave Mulcahy Macron Mr Green
Bray Wanderers Alan Mathews Republic of Ireland Danny O'Connor Macron Volkswagen
Cork City John Caulfield Republic of Ireland John Dunleavy Umbro Clonakilty Sausages
Derry City Roddy Collins
Peter Hutton		 Republic of Ireland Barry Molloy Umbro Diamond Corrugated
Drogheda United Robbie Horgan
Damien Richardson		 Republic of Ireland Gavin Brennan Nike Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Dundalk Stephen Kenny Republic of Ireland Stephen O'Donnell Umbro Fyffes
Limerick Stuart Taylor
Martin Russell		 Republic of Ireland Shane Duggan Macron Pacdog.ie
Shamrock Rovers Trevor Croly
Pat Fenlon		 Republic of Ireland Conor Kenna Warrior Pepper
Sligo Rovers Ian Baraclough
John Coleman
Gavin Dykes		 Republic of Ireland Gavin Peers Umbro Volkswagen
St Patrick's Athletic Liam Buckley Republic of Ireland Ger O'Brien Umbro Clune Construction Company L.P.
UCD Aaron Callaghan Republic of Ireland Robbie Benson O'Neills O'Neills

League Table

Pos
Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Dundalk (C) (Q) 33 22 8 3 73 24+49 74 2015–16 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2 Cork City (Q) 33 22 6 5 51 25+26 72 2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round 1
3 St Patrick's Athletic (Q) 33 19 8 6 66 37+29 65
4 Shamrock Rovers (Q) 33 18 8 7 43 26+17 62
5 Sligo Rovers 33 12 7 14 44 36+8 43
6 Limerick 33 12 5 16 37 45−8 41
7 Bohemians 33 9 13 11 40 41−1 40
8 Derry City 33 9 11 13 42 41+1 38
9 Drogheda United 33 10 6 17 40 63−23 36
10 Bray Wanderers 33 5 11 17 28 61−33 26
11 UCD (R) (Q) 33 6 7 20 27 71 –44 25 2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round 2
Promotion/Relegation play-off
12 Athlone Town (R) 33 4 10 19 35 56−21 22 Relegation to First Division

Updated to games played on 24 October 2014.
Source: League of Ireland
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 St Patrick's Athletic qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round as 2014 FAI Cup winners.
2 Republic of Ireland was among the best three associations in the UEFA Fair Play ranking and thus received an additional spot in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, UCD received the qualifying spot for their ranking in League of Ireland Premier Division Fair Play ranking.
(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.

[6]

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 25 October 2014
Rank Player Club Goals[7]
1 Christy Fagan St Patrick's Athletic 20
1 Patrick Hoban Dundalk 20 (1 pen.)
3 Conan Byrne St Patrick's Athletic 18 (2 pen.)
4 Rory Gaffney Limerick 14
5 Billy Dennehy Cork City 13 (5 pen.)
5 Daniel Corcoran Bohemians 13 (3 pen.)
7 Richie Towell Dundalk 11 (2 pen.)
7 Chris Forrester St Patrick's Athletic 11
7 Mark O'Sullivan Cork City 11
7 Michael Duffy Derry City 11
11 Rory Patterson Derry City 10 (1 pen.)
11 Declan O'Brien Drogheda 10
11 Philly Gorman Athlone Town 10
14 Brian Gartland Dundalk FC 9
14 Jason Byrne Bohemians 9

First Division

The division comprised 8 teams. Each team played each other four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 28 matches in the season.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Cobh Ramblers Cobh St. Colman's Park 5,000
Finn Harps Ballybofey Finn Park 6,000
Galway Galway Eamonn Deacy Park 5,000
Longford Town Longford City Calling Stadium 6,850
Shamrock Rovers B Dublin (Tallaght) Tallaght Stadium 6,000
Shelbourne Dublin (Drumcondra) Tolka Park 9,600
Waterford United Waterford Regional Sports Centre 5,500
Wexford Youths Crossabeg Ferrycarrig Park 2,500

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
Cobh Ramblers Republic of Ireland Martin Cambridge Nike Eirgrid
Finn Harps Republic of Ireland Ollie Horgan Kevin McHugh Macron McGettigan Group
Galway Republic of Ireland Tommy Dunne Paul Sinnott Macron Comer Property Management
Longford Town Republic of Ireland Tony Cousins Macron City Calling
Shamrock Rovers B Republic of Ireland Colin Hawkins Warrior Pepper
Shelbourne Republic of Ireland Johnny McDonnell Macron Volkswagen
Waterford United Republic of Ireland Tommy Griffin Vinny Sullivan Macron SportsWorld[lower-alpha 1]
Wexford Youths Republic of Ireland Shane Keegan Graham Doyle O'Neills Galenisy's

League Table

Pos
Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or qualification
1 Longford Town (C) (P) 28 18 6 4 56 19+37 60 Promotion to 2015 League of Ireland Premier Division
2 Shelbourne 28 14 10 4 46 30+16 52 Qualification for Promotion/relegation play-off
3 Galway F.C. (O) (P) 28 13 10 5 47 23+24 49
4 Wexford Youths 28 13 7 8 45 35+10 46
5 Finn Harps 28 7 11 10 26 28−2 32
6 Shamrock Rovers B 28 7 5 16 25 50−25 26
7 Waterford United 28 6 7 15 25 43−18 25
8 Cobh Ramblers 28 2 8 18 24 66−42 14

Updated to games played on 12 October 2014.
Source: RTÉ Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(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.

Semi-final

1st Leg

2nd Leg

Galway won 4 – 1 on aggregate and advanced to the play-off final

Final

1st Leg

2nd Leg

Galway won 5 – 1 on aggregate and promoted to Premier Division for the 2015 season. UCD relegated to First Division.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 27 September 2014
Rank Player Club Goals[8]
1 David O'Sullivan Longford Town 19 (1 pen.)
2 Danny Furlong Wexford Youths 16 (5 pen.)
3 Dylan Connolly Shelbourne 12 (1 pen.)
4 Jake Keegan Galway 11
5 Gary Shaw Longford Town 10
6 Vinny Faherty Galway 8
7 Daniel Purdy Shamrock Rovers B 6
8 Gareth Coughlan Shelbourne 6 (1 pen.)
9 Chris Lyons Shamrock Rovers B 6 (3 pen.)
10 Ruairi Keating Finn Harps 5 (1 pen.)
11 Robert Waters Cobh Ramblers 5 (1 pen.)
12 Martin Deady Cobh Ramblers 5 (2 pen.)
13 Paddy Barrett Galway 4
14 Killian Kantwell Wexford Youths 4
15 Jordan Keegan Shelbourne 4

Awards

SWAI Airtricity League Player of the Month Award

Month Player Club Notes
March Gary O'Neill Drogheda United
April Christopher Forrester St Patrick's Athletic
May Daryl Horgan Dundalk
June Mark O'Sullivan Cork City
July Richie Towell Dundalk
August Rory Gaffney Limerick
September Dane Massey Dundalk
October Patrick Hoban Dundalk
November Christy Fagan St Patrick's Athletic

Annual awards

Winners in Bold

PFAI Players' Player of the Year

Nominees Club
Christy Fagan St Patrick's Athletic
Colin Healy Cork City
Patrick Hoban Dundalk
Richie Towell Dundalk

PFAI Young Player of the Year

Nominees Club
Dylan Connolly Shelbourne
Seán Gannon Dundalk
Daryl Horgan Dundalk

First Division Player of the Year

Nominees Club
Ryan Connolly Galway
Danny Furlong Wexford Youths
David O'Sullivan Longford Town

PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: Mark McNulty (Cork City)
Defence: Seán Gannon (Dundalk), Andy Boyle (Dundalk), Brian Gartland (Dundalk), Ian Bermingham (St Patrick's Athletic)
Midfield: Colin Healy (Cork City), Daryl Horgan (Dundalk), Richie Towell (Dundalk)
Attack: Christy Fagan (St Patrick's Athletic), Patrick Hoban (Dundalk), Mark O'Sullivan (Cork City)

PFAI First Division Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: Paul Skinner (Athlone Town)
Defence: Colm Horgan (Galway), Paddy Barrett (Galway), Patrick Sullivan (Longford Town), Lee Desmond (Shelbourne)
Midfield: Dylan Connolly (Shelbourne), Stephen Rice (Longford Town), Ryan Connolly (Galway)
Attack: Danny Furlong (Wexford Youths), David O'Sullivan (Longford Town), Gary Shaw (Longford Town)

League of Ireland clubs in Europe 2014–15

UEFA Champions League

Second qualifying round

One Republic of Ireland club will enter in this round.

UEFA Europa League

First qualifying round

Three Republic of Ireland clubs will enter in this round.

Television coverage

The rights to 10 games was awarded to Setanta Sports while RTÉ Two will also show games during the season . MNS on RTÉ Two was the highlights programme from 2008-2013 but in 2014 it was replaced by a new programme called Soccer Republic which will show match highlights and analysis on each Monday night during the season and will also include UEFA Champions League highlights.[9]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ SportsWorld serve as the primary sponsor for the team, but DVF Print won a draw in March 2014 to have their logo featured alongside the main sponsor on match day kits for the season.

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "Dundalk win the League of Ireland". Irish Examiner. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Dundalk joy at title win shows why local game matters". Irish Independent. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Dundalk raise roof after claiming 10th title with win over Cork". Irish Times. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Dundalk down Cork to seal Irish title". UEFA.com. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "2014 Results and Tables". Soccerway. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Airtricity League Top Scorers". Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Airtricity League First Division Top Scorers". Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  9. ↑ http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/irish/2014/0226/506830-soccer-republic-programme-kicks-off-in-march/

External links

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