2015_League_of_Ireland_First_Division
2015 League of Ireland First Division
Season of football in Ireland
The 2015 League of Ireland First Division season was the 31st season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by eight teams. Wexford Youths won the title and Finn Harps were also promoted after winning a play off.
| Season | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Wexford Youths |
| Promoted | Finn Harps |
| Top goalscorer | Daniel Furlong: 30 (Wexford Youths)[1] |
← 2014 2016 → | |
Stadia and locations
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 |  Eddie Wallace Alan Mathews |
Brian Shortall |
Nike | Nitro Sports |
| Cabinteely | Eddie Gormley |
Umbro | ||
| Cobh Ramblers | Martin Cambridge Stephen Henderson |
Nike | Eirgrid | |
| Finn Harps | Ollie Horgan |
Kevin McHugh |
Legea | McGettigan Group |
| Shelbourne | Kevin Doherty (footballer) |
Macron | ||
| UCD | Collie O'Neill |
Robbie Benson |
O'Neills | O'Neills |
| Waterford United | Tommy Griffin Roddy Collins |
Vinny Sullivan |
Macron | SportsWorld |
| Wexford Youths | Shane Keegan |
Graham Doyle |
O'Neills | Galenisys |
The 2015 First Division featured eight teams. Each team played each other four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 28 matches during the season.[2] Wexford Youths secured their first League of Ireland First Division title and promotion to the Premier Division with a 3–0 victory against Athlone Town at Ferrycarrig Park. The Youths goals came from Danny Furlong, Eric Molloy and Aidan Keenan.[3]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wexford Youths (C, P) | 28 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 63 | 32 | +31 | 61 | Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division |
| 2 | Finn Harps (O, P) | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 42 | 23 | +19 | 55 | Qualification to Promotion play-offs |
| 3 | UCD | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 51 | 26 | +25 | 49 | |
| 4 | Shelbourne | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 45 | |
| 5 | Athlone Town | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 33 | |
| 6 | Cobh Ramblers | 28 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 27 | 45 | −18 | 30 | |
| 7 | Waterford United | 28 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 25 | 51 | −26 | 21 | |
| 8 | Cabinteely | 28 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 22 | 50 | −28 | 20 |
Matches 1–14
| Home \ Away | ATH | CAB | COB | FHA | SHE | UCD | WAT | WEX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athlone Town | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | |
| Cabinteely | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| Cobh Ramblers | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–4 | |
| Finn Harps | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–3 | |
| Shelbourne | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–4 | |
| UCD | 1–2 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | |
| Waterford United | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | |
| Wexford Youths | 2–0 | 7–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
Matches 15–28
| Home \ Away | ATH | CAB | COB | FHA | SHE | UCD | WAT | WEX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athlone Town | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 3–1 | |
| Cabinteely | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–3[lower-alpha 1] | 1–1 | 2–3 | |
| Cobh Ramblers | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | |
| Finn Harps | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | |
| Shelbourne | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | |
| UCD | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 1–2 | |
| Waterford United | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | |
| Wexford Youths | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
- Cabinteely fielded an ineligible player, Dean Ebbe, in their game against UCD on 31 July 2015. They lost 3–1. The FAI subsequently awarded the match to UCD as a 3–0 win and fined Cabinteely €2,500.[4]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Furlong |
Wexford Youths | 30 |
| 2 | Ryan Swan |
UCD | 12 |
| 3 | Philip Gorman |
Athlone Town | 10 |
| 4 |  Kevin McHugh |
Finn Harps | 9 |
The second and third placed First Division teams, Finn Harps and UCD, played off to decide who would play Limerick, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2016 Premier Division.[2]
- First Division
| 23 October 2015 | UCD | 0–1 | Finn Harps | UCD Bowl |
| 19:45 | Coll  1' |
| 30 October 2015 | Finn Harps | 2–1 | UCD | Finn Park |
| 19:45 | Boyle 76' Mailey 89' |
O'Connor 59' |
Finn Harps won 3 – 1 on aggregate
- First Division v Premier Division
| 2 November 2015 | Limerick | 1–0 | Finn Harps | Markets Field |
| Kelly 34' |
Report | Referee: Rob Rogers |
| 6 November 2015 | Finn Harps | 2–0 (a.e.t.) | Limerick | Finn Park |
| Funston 38' Banda 117' |
Attendance: 3,200 Referee: Derek Tomney |
Finn Harps won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2016 Premier Division. Limerick are relegated to the 2016 First Division.
- "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- "Ireland 2015". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- "Wexford Youths win promotion to Premier Division". www.rte.ie. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- "Cabinteely sanctioned for fielding ineligible player". 4 September 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- "2015 SSE Airtricity League First Division". inform.fai.ie. Archived from the original on 2015-07-11.