Wikipedia

2023 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2023 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, was the 39th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top Irish league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1985.

League of Ireland Premier Division
Season2023
Dates17 February – 3 November 2023
ChampionsShamrock Rovers (21st title)
RelegatedCork City
UCD
Champions LeagueShamrock Rovers
Conference LeagueDerry City
Shelbourne
St Patrick's Athletic
Matches played180
Goals scored469 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorerJonathan Afolabi
Jack Moylan (15 goals each)
Biggest home winSt Patrick's Athletic 7–0 UCD
(30 June)
Biggest away winUCD 0–5 Derry City
(6 September)
Highest scoringShamrock Rovers 4-4 Cork City
(6 March)
Longest winning runShamrock Rovers (6 games)
Longest unbeaten runShamrock Rovers (13 games)
Longest winless runUCD (10 games)
Longest losing runUCD (8 games)
Highest attendance8,021
Shamrock Rovers 4–2 Sligo Rovers
(3 November)
Lowest attendance317
UCD 0–2 Cork City
(22 October)
Total attendance596,196
Average attendance3,294
← 2022
2024 →

The winners (Shamrock Rovers, their fourth consecutive title and twenty-first overall) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round.[1][2] The 2023 FAI Cup winners (St Patrick's Athletic) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League second qualifying round. The runners-up (Derry City) and fourth-placed team (Shelbourne) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The ninth-placed team (Cork City) qualified for the League of Ireland Premier Division play-off, losing and being relegated to the 2024 League of Ireland First Division. They were joined by the bottom-placed team (UCD).

Teams

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Ten teams competed in the league – the top nine teams from the previous season and the one team promoted from the First Division. The promoted team was Cork City, after a top flight absence of two years.[3] They replaced Finn Harps who were relegated after four consecutive seasons in the top flight.[4]

Shamrock Rovers were the defending champions, having won their twentieth title the previous season.[5][6]

Stadiums and locations

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Locations of Premier Division teams
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Locations of Dublin Premier Division teams
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Bohemians Dublin (Phibsborough) Dalymount Park 4,500
Cork City Cork Turners Cross 7,485
Derry City Derry Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium 3,700
Drogheda United Drogheda Weavers Park 3,500
Dundalk Dundalk Oriel Park 4,500
Shamrock Rovers Dublin (Tallaght) Tallaght Stadium 10,500
Shelbourne Dublin (Drumcondra) Tolka Park 4,450
Sligo Rovers Sligo The Showgrounds 3,873
St Patrick's Athletic Dublin (Inchicore) Richmond Park 5,340
UCD Dublin (Belfield) UCD Bowl 3,000

Personnel and kits

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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   Declan Devine   Keith Buckley O'Neills Des Kelly Interiors
Cork City   Richie Holland (interim)   Cian Coleman Adidas Zeus
Derry City   Ruaidhrí Higgins   Patrick McEleney O'Neills Diamond Corrugated
Drogheda United   Kevin Doherty   Gary Deegan Erreà Drogheda Credit Union
Dundalk   Stephen O'Donnell   Patrick Hoban Playr-Fit Bet Regal
Shamrock Rovers   Stephen Bradley   Ronan Finn Umbro MASCOT Workwear
Shelbourne   Damien Duff   Luke Byrne Umbro Culligan
Sligo Rovers   John Russell   David Cawley Joma Avant Money
St Patrick's Athletic   Jon Daly   Joe Redmond Umbro Manguard Plus
UCD   Andrew Myler   Jack Keaney O'Neills Maples Group

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure 		Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of
appointment
St Patrick's Athletic   Tim Clancy Mutual Consent 2 May 2023 7th   Jon Daly 2 May 2023
Cork City   Colin Healy Resigned 3 May 2023 9th   Liam Buckley (interim) 3 May 2023
  Liam Buckley (interim) Change of role 28 September 2023 9th   Richie Holland (interim) 28 September 2023

League table

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Standings

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Shamrock Rovers (C) 36 20 12 4 67 27 +40 72 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 Derry City 36 18 11 7 57 24 +33 65 Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round
3 St Patrick's Athletic 36 19 5 12 59 42 +17 62 Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round[a]
4 Shelbourne 36 15 15 6 44 27 +17 60 Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round
5 Dundalk 36 17 7 12 59 44 +15 58
6 Bohemians 36 16 10 10 53 40 +13 58
7 Drogheda United 36 10 11 15 40 54 −14 41
8 Sligo Rovers 36 10 7 19 36 51 −15 37
9 Cork City (R) 36 8 7 21 35 64 −29 31 Qualification for play-off final
10 UCD (R) 36 2 5 29 19 96 −77 11 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
Source: SSE Airtricity League, [7]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[7]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ The 2023 FAI Cup winners qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round. Since the cup winners (St Patrick's Athletic) qualified based on league position, the second Conference League first qualifying round spot was passed to the fourth-placed team.

Results

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Teams play each other four times (twice at home and twice away).

Home \ Away BOH COR DER DRO DUN SHM SHE SLI STP UCD
Bohemians 5–0 0–1 3–1 2–1 0–2 0–0 2–0 2–3 2–1
4–0 2–2 4–2 3–2 2–2 1–1 3–1 0–2 2–0
Cork City 1–2 1–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 2–3 4–0
2–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–2 3–0 0–1 1–1
Derry City 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 4–1
0–0 2–0 3–0 3–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 3–0 6–0
Drogheda United 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–3 3–1
0–0 3–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 2–4 2–2 2–1 3–0
Dundalk 2–2 2–1 2–2 3–2 0–4 2–1 1–2 5–0 1–1
2–0 5–0 1–3 3–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 4–1
Shamrock Rovers 2–0 4–4 1–2 1–2 2–0 2–2 2–1 2–2 3–0
3–0 2–1 1–0 5–0 1–0 1–0 4–2 3–2 4–0
Shelbourne 1–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 1–0
1–1 2–1 1–1 3–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 3–2
Sligo Rovers 0–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–3 2–1 3–1
3–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–2 0–3 0–1 0–2 2–0
St Patrick's Athletic 0–2 4–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 3–0
0–0 1–1 4–1 1–2 3–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 7–0
UCD 1–1 1–0 0–4 0–1 0–2 0–3 0–0 2–3 1–3
1–2 0–2 0–5 1–3 1–5 0–0 0–4 2–1 0–1
Source: [http://www.extratime.ie/competition/100/ Extratime.ie
Legend: 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.

Season statistics

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Top scorers

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Rank[8] Player Club Goals
1   Jonathan Afolabi Bohemians 15
  Jack Moylan Shelbourne
3   Patrick Hoban Dundalk 14
4   Chris Forrester St Patrick's Athletic 13
  Ruairí Keating Cork City
6   Graham Burke Shamrock Rovers 12
7   Max Mata* Sligo Rovers 11
8   Daniel Kelly Dundalk 8
  Jordan McEneff Derry City
  Freddie Draper* Drogheda United
  Rory Gaffney Shamrock Rovers

Clean sheets

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Rank Player Club Clean
sheets[11]
1   Brian Maher Derry City 14
2   Conor Kearns Shelbourne 11
  James Talbot Bohemians
4   Dean Lyness St Patrick's Athletic 10
5   Leon Pohls Shamrock Rovers 7
  Nathan Shepperd Dundalk
7   Alan Mannus Shamrock Rovers 5
  Jimmy Corcoran Cork City
9   Colin McCabe Drogheda United 4
10   Luke McNicholas Sligo Rovers 3

League of Ireland Premier Division play-off

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The ninth-placed team (Cork City) qualified for a play-off alongside the second, third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams from the 2023 League of Ireland First Division (Athlone Town, Cobh Ramblers, Waterford, and Wexford).

The First Division teams contested the quarter and semi-finals. The quarter-finals were held over two legs, with the second-placed team (Waterford) facing the fifth-placed team (Athlone Town) and the third-placed team (Cobh Ramblers) facing the fourth-placed team (Wexford). The quarter-final winners then contested the semi-finals, with the winners ultimately facing the ninth-placed League of Ireland Premier Division team for the final place in the 2024 League of Ireland Premier Division.

Bracket

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Quarter-finals

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First leg

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24 October 2023 Athlone Town 1–1 Waterford Athlone
19:45 IST Pierrot   78' Report Coughlan   52' Stadium: Athlone Town Stadium
Attendance: 1,597
Referee: Oliver Moran
24 October 2023 Wexford 0–1 Cobh Ramblers Wexford
19:45 IST Report O'Malley   15' (o.g.) Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park
Attendance: 1,010
Referee: Alan Patchell

Second leg

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28 October 2023 Waterford 3–1
(4–2 agg.)		Athlone TownWaterford
19:45 IST Akachukwu   64', 78', 90+4' Report Pierrot   71' (pen.) Stadium: RSC
Attendance: 2,237
Referee: Gavin Colfer
28 October 2023 Cobh Ramblers 1–1
(2–1 agg.)		WexfordCobh
19:45 IST O'Leary   75' Report Crawford   35' Stadium: St. Colman's Park
Referee: Marc Lynch

Semi-final

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4 November 2023 Waterford 2–1 (a.e.t.)Cobh RamblersCork
17:00 IST Coughlan   47'
Phillips   100'		 Report McKevitt   88' Stadium: Turners Cross
Referee: D Dunne

Final

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10 November 2023 Waterford 2–1 (a.e.t.)Cork CityDublin
19:45 IST Parsons   68'
Coughlan   101' (pen.)		 Report Coleman   55' Stadium: Tallaght Stadium
Referee: D McGraith

Awards

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Monthly awards

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Month Player of the Month Ref.
Player Club
February   Jordan McEneff Derry City [12]
March   Ali Coote Bohemians [13]
April   Ronan Coughlan Waterford [14]
May   Freddie Draper Drogheda United [15]
June   Patrick Hoban Dundalk [16]
July   Jonathan Afolabi Bohemians [17]
August   James Clarke Bohemians [18]
September   Ruairí Keating Cork City [19]
October   Jack Moylan Shelbourne [20]
November   Ronan Coughlan Waterford [21]

Annual awards

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Award Winner Club
PFAI Player of the Year Chris Forrester St Patrick's Athletic
PFAI Young Player of the Year Sam Curtis St Patrick's Athletic
PFAI Premier Division Manager of the Year Stephen Bradley Shamrock Rovers
PFAI Team of the Year
Goalkeeper   Conor Kearns (Shelbourne)
Defenders   Archie Davies (Dundalk)   Sam Curtis (St Patrick's Athletic)   Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers)   Ben Doherty (Derry City)
Midfielders   Will Patching (Derry City)   Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic)   James Clarke (Bohemians)
Forwards   Jack Moylan (Shelbourne)   Jonathan Afolabi (Bohemians)   Ruairí Keating (Cork City)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Shamrock Rovers finish with a flourish to seal four-in-a-row". RTE Sport. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Stephen Bradley: 'I want to go for five - but it's up to board'". RTE Sport. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Cork City seal promotion back to Premier Division after draw with Wexford". 7 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Finn Harps relegated as UCD claim relegation play-off place". 28 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Shamrock Rovers complete league three-in-a-row after Derry City play out draw with Sligo". The 42. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Shamrock Rovers win 20th LOI Premier Division title after Derry City draw with Sligo". Irish Independent. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  7. ^ a b "PREMIER DIVISION". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Irish Premier Division Top Scorers". BBC News. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Max Mata completes Shrewsbury Town transfer – Sligo Rovers". 3 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Draper and Ahui to return to Lincoln". droghedaunited.ie. 26 June 2023.
  11. ^ "LOI Premier Division Clean Sheets". Final Whistle. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Derry City's Jordan McEneff scoops POTM award". RTÉ.ie. 30 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Bohemians' Coote named player of the month". RTÉ. 13 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Coughlan becomes maiden player from the First Division to win Player of the Month". Irish Examiner. 12 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Drogheda United's Freddie Draper youngest this century to win Player of the Month award". Irish Independent. 23 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Patrick Hoban of Dundalk FC has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for June". Irish Independent. 12 July 2023.
  17. ^ "In-form Afolabi wins July Player of the Month". RTÉ. 10 August 2023.
  18. ^ "August Player of the Month - Men's 2023". SSE Airtricity. September 2023.
  19. ^ "Cork City's Ruairi Keating named Player of the Month after five-goal haul". Irish Independent. 19 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Shels striker Jack Moylan scoops Player of the Month award". Irish Independent. 9 November 2023.
  21. ^ "Waterford FC striker Ronan Coughlan makes history with monthly award success". Irish Mirror. 27 November 2023.
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