2014 League of Ireland First Division

The 2014 League of Ireland First Division season was the 30th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by eight teams and Longford Town won the title. Galway were also promoted.

League of Ireland First Division
Season2014
ChampionsLongford Town
PromotedGalway
Top goalscorerDavid O'Sullivan: 19
(Longford Town)[1]
← 2013
2015 →

Teams
Locations of the First Division teams

Stadia and locations
Team Location Stadium
Cobh RamblersCobhSt. Colman's Park
Finn HarpsBallybofeyFinn Park
GalwayGalwayEamonn Deacy Park
Longford TownLongfordCity Calling Stadium
Shamrock Rovers BTallaghtTallaght Stadium
ShelbourneDrumcondraTolka Park
Waterford UnitedWaterfordWaterford RSC
Wexford YouthsCrossabegFerrycarrig Park

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 Martin Cambridge Nike Eirgrid
Finn Harps Ollie Horgan Kevin McHugh Macron McGettigan Group
Galway Tommy Dunne Paul Sinnott Macron Comer Property Management
Longford Town Tony Cousins Macron City Calling
Shamrock Rovers B Colin Hawkins Warrior Pepper
Shelbourne Johnny McDonnell Macron Volkswagen
Waterford United Tommy Griffin Vinny Sullivan Macron SportsWorld / DVF Print
Wexford Youths Shane Keegan Graham Doyle O'Neills Galenisy's

Overview

The 2014 First Division featured eight teams. Aside from Shelbourne, who were relegated from the Premier Division, replacing the 2013 First Division champions, Athlone Town, there were two other team changes from the previous season. [2] In 2012 an FAI commissioned report recommended that Galway city and County Galway should be represented in the League of Ireland by a single club or team based at Eamonn Deacy Park. The O'Connor Report also recommended that the Galway United Supporters Trust, Salthill Devon, Mervue United and the Galway Football Association, should work together to form such a club. [3] Following the conclusion of the 2013 First Division season, both Mervue United and Salthill Devon withdrew from the League of Ireland to make way for a new team known as Galway F.C. [4] This still left another vacancy and in December 2013 Shamrock Rovers F.C. received permission from the FAI to enter their reserve team in the First Division for the 2014 season. [5][6][7]

Each team played each other four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 28 matches during the season. [2] Longford Town clinched the title following a resounding 5–0 victory at home to Shamrock Rovers B on 3 October 2014. Longford Town ended a seven season stint in the First Division as they were promoted to the 2015 Premier Division. [8] Galway also secured promotion after defeating UCD in a play off. [2] Shamrock Rovers B withdrew from the First Division after just one season. Rovers decided it was not financially viable to continue fielding two teams in the League of Ireland. [9]

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Longford Town (C, P) 28 18 6 4 56 19 +37 60 Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2 Shelbourne 28 14 10 4 46 30 +16 52 Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3 Galway (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 Withdrew from league
7 Waterford United 28 6 7 15 25 43 −18 25
8 Cobh Ramblers 28 2 8 18 24 66 −42 14
Source: [10][2][9]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted.

Promotion/relegation playoffs

The second and third placed First Division teams, Shelbourne and Galway, played off to decide who would play UCD, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2015 Premier Division. [2]

First Division
18 October 2014 Galway 2 – 0 Shelbourne Eamonn Deacy Park
19:45 Ryan Connolly  19'
Gary Shanahan  84'		 Report Nathan Murphy  19' Attendance: 1,764
Referee: Ray Matthews
24 October 2014 Shelbourne 1 – 2 Galway Tolka Park
19:45 Conor Murphy  34' Report Ryan Connolly  59'
Jake Keegan  82'		 Attendance: 1,202
Referee: Robert Harvey (Kerry)

Galway won 4 – 1 on aggregate

First Division v Premier Division
28 October 2014 UCD 1 – 2 Galway UCD Bowl
19:45 Timmy Molloy  18'
Colm Crowe  27'
Gareth Matthews  39'		 Report Jason Molloy  23'
Paddy Barrett  89'
Ryan Manning  90'		 Attendance: 643
Referee: James McKell
1 November 2014 Galway 3 – 0 UCD Eamonn Deacy Park
20:45 Alex Byrne  20'
Gary Shanahan  45'
Ryan Manning  71'
Alex Byrne  80'		 Report Attendance: 2,890
Referee: Dave McKeon

Galway won 5–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2015 Premier Division. UCD are relegated to 2015 First Division.

Awards

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
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

Source: [11][1]

Player of the Year
Winner Club
David O'Sullivan Longford Town

Team of the Year
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Graham Doyle Wexford Youths
2 2DF Colm Horgan Galway
3 2DF Paddy Barrett Galway
4 2DF Patrick Sullivan Longford Town
5 2DF Lee Desmond Shelbourne
6 3MF Dylan Connolly Shelbourne
7 3MF Stephen Rice Longford Town
8 3MF Ryan Connolly Galway
9 4FW Danny Furlong Wexford Youths
10 4FW David O'Sullivan Longford Town
11 4FW Gary Shaw Longford Town

See also

References
  1. "Ireland - List of Topscorers". www.rsssf.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. "Ireland 2014". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. "One club or nothing warns FAI on impasse". connachttribune.ie. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  4. "Football's comin' home — compromise reached as Galway FC applies to league". www.advertiser.ie. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  5. "FAI allow Shamrock Rovers to field second team in First Division". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  6. "The Hoops will field a second team in the Airtricity First Division following the withdrawal of Mervue United and Salthill Devon". Goal.com. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  7. "Shamrock Rovers to field team in First Division". RTÉ.ie. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  8. "Longford Town claim First Division crown and promotion". www.rte.ie. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  9. "A Brief History of Shamrock Rovers". www.shamrockrovers.ie. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  10. "First Division". ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  11. "First Division". ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
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