2014_League_of_Ireland_First_Division
2014 League of Ireland First Division
Football league season
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.
| Season | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Longford Town |
| Promoted | Galway |
| Top goalscorer | David O'Sullivan: 19 (Longford Town)[1] |
← 2013 2015 → | |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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]
| 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 |
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.
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 |
Player of the Year
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 |
- "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- "Ireland 2014". RSSSF. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "One club or nothing warns FAI on impasse". connachttribune.ie. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
- "Football's comin' home — compromise reached as Galway FC applies to league". www.advertiser.ie. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- "FAI allow Shamrock Rovers to field second team in First Division". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
- "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.
- "Shamrock Rovers to field team in First Division". RTÉ.ie. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
- "Longford Town claim First Division crown and promotion". www.rte.ie. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "A Brief History of Shamrock Rovers". www.shamrockrovers.ie. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "First Division". ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- "First Division". ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.