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2023 League of Ireland Premier Division

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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 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.

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 Northern Ireland Declan Devine Republic of Ireland Keith Buckley O'Neills Des Kelly Interiors
Cork City Republic of Ireland Richie Holland (interim) Republic of Ireland Cian Coleman Adidas Zeus
Derry City Northern Ireland Ruaidhrí Higgins Republic of Ireland Patrick McEleney O'Neills Diamond Corrugated
Drogheda United Republic of Ireland Kevin Doherty Republic of Ireland Gary Deegan Erreà Drogheda Credit Union
Dundalk Republic of Ireland Stephen O'Donnell Republic of Ireland Patrick Hoban Playr-Fit Bet Regal
Shamrock Rovers Republic of Ireland Stephen Bradley Republic of Ireland Ronan Finn Umbro MASCOT Workwear
Shelbourne Republic of Ireland Damien Duff Republic of Ireland Luke Byrne Umbro Culligan
Sligo Rovers Republic of Ireland John Russell Republic of Ireland David Cawley Joma Avant Money
St Patrick's Athletic Republic of Ireland Jon Daly Republic of Ireland Joe Redmond Umbro Manguard Plus
UCD Republic of Ireland Andrew Myler Republic of Ireland 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 Republic of Ireland Tim Clancy Mutual Consent 2 May 2023 7th Republic of Ireland Jon Daly 2 May 2023
Cork City Republic of Ireland Colin Healy Resigned 3 May 2023 9th Republic of Ireland Liam Buckley (interim) 3 May 2023
Republic of Ireland Liam Buckley (interim) Change of role 28 September 2023 9th Republic of Ireland 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 to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Derry City 36 18 11 7 57 24 +33 65 Qualification to Conference League first qualifying round
3 St Patrick's Athletic 36 19 5 12 59 42 +17 62 Qualification to Conference League second qualifying round[a]
4 Shelbourne 36 15 15 6 44 27 +17 60 Qualification to 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 to League of Ireland Premier Division play-off
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 Republic of Ireland Jonathan Afolabi Bohemians 15
Republic of Ireland Jack Moylan Shelbourne
3 Republic of Ireland Patrick Hoban Dundalk 14
4 Republic of Ireland Chris Forrester St Patrick's Athletic 13
Republic of Ireland Ruairí Keating Cork City
6 Republic of Ireland Graham Burke Shamrock Rovers 12
7 New Zealand Max Mata* Sligo Rovers 11
8 Republic of Ireland Daniel Kelly Dundalk 8
Republic of Ireland Jordan McEneff Derry City
England Freddie Draper* Drogheda United
Republic of Ireland Rory Gaffney Shamrock Rovers

Clean sheets

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Rank Player Club Clean
sheets[11]
1 Republic of Ireland Brian Maher Derry City 14
2 Republic of Ireland Conor Kearns Shelbourne 11
Republic of Ireland James Talbot Bohemians
4 England Dean Lyness St Patrick's Athletic 10
5 Germany Leon Pohls Shamrock Rovers 7
Wales Nathan Shepperd Dundalk
7 Northern Ireland Alan Mannus Shamrock Rovers 5
Republic of Ireland Jimmy Corcoran Cork City
9 Republic of Ireland Colin McCabe Drogheda United 4
10 Republic of Ireland 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 Republic of Ireland Jordan McEneff Derry City [12]
March Scotland Ali Coote Bohemians [13]
April Republic of Ireland Ronan Coughlan Waterford [14]
May England Freddie Draper Drogheda United [15]
June Republic of Ireland Patrick Hoban Dundalk [16]
July Republic of Ireland Jonathan Afolabi Bohemians [17]
August Republic of Ireland James Clarke Bohemians [18]
September Republic of Ireland Ruairí Keating Cork City [19]
October Republic of Ireland Jack Moylan Shelbourne [20]
November Republic of Ireland 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 Republic of Ireland Conor Kearns (Shelbourne)
Defenders England Archie Davies (Dundalk) Republic of Ireland Sam Curtis (St Patrick's Athletic) Cape Verde Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) Northern Ireland Ben Doherty (Derry City)
Midfielders England Will Patching (Derry City) Republic of Ireland Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic) Republic of Ireland James Clarke (Bohemians)
Forwards Republic of Ireland Jack Moylan (Shelbourne) Republic of Ireland Jonathan Afolabi (Bohemians) Republic of Ireland 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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