The 2024 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons,[2] was the 40th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top Irish league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1985.
The competition began on 16 February 2024 and concluded on 1 November 2024.[3][4][5][6]
On 1 November, Shelbourne won the title for the first time since 2006 after a 1-0 win against Derry City at the Brandywell on the final day of the season.[7][8][9] That match attracted a record TV audience for a League of Ireland game.[10]
Teams
The league consisted of ten teams – the top eight teams from the previous season and two teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were the 2023 League of Ireland First Division winners Galway United (after a top flight absence of six years)[11] and play-off winners Waterford (after being absent from the top flight for two years).[12] They replaced UCD (relegated after two consecutive seasons in the top flight) and Cork City (who spent just one season back in the top flight before being relegated following their loss to Waterford).[12] Shamrock Rovers entered the season as defending champions after winning their twenty-first title during the previous season.[13]
Stadiums and locations
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | Dublin (Phibsborough) | Dalymount Park | 4,500 |
| Derry City | Derry | Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium | 3,700 |
| Drogheda United | Drogheda | Weavers Park | 3,500 |
| Dundalk | Dundalk | Oriel Park | 4,500 |
| Galway United | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park | 5,000 |
| Shamrock Rovers | Dublin (Tallaght) | Tallaght Stadium | 10,500 |
| Shelbourne | Dublin (Drumcondra) | Tolka Park | 5,700 |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds | 3,873 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Dublin (Inchicore) | Richmond Park | 5,340 |
| Waterford | Waterford | RSC | 5,160 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians |  Alan Reynolds
|
Keith Buckley
|
O'Neills | Des Kelly Interiors |
| Derry City |  Ruaidhrí Higgins
|
Patrick McEleney
|
O'Neills | Diamond Corrugated |
| Drogheda United | Kevin Doherty
|
Gary Deegan
|
Erreà | Drogheda Credit Union |
| Dundalk | Jon Daly
|
John Mountney
|
Playr-Fit | 888casino |
| Galway United | John Caulfield
|
Conor McCormack
|
O'Neills | Comer Property Management |
| Shamrock Rovers | Stephen Bradley
|
 Roberto Lopes
|
Umbro | MASCOT Workwear |
| Shelbourne | Damien Duff
|
Mark Coyle
|
O'Neills | Realtor Global (home) - One Coat Roof Seal (away/third) |
| Sligo Rovers | John Russell
|
Niall Morahan
|
Joma | Avant Money |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Stephen Kenny
|
Joe Redmond
|
Umbro | Manguard Plus |
| Waterford | Keith Long
|
Barry Baggley
|
New Balance | DG Foods |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure |
Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | Declan Devine
|
Sacked | 10 March 2024 | 7th | Derek Pender (interim)
|
10 March 2024 |
| Derek Pender (interim)
|
End of interim spell | 26 March 2024 | 6th | Alan Reynolds
|
26 March 2024 | |
| Dundalk | Stephen O'Donnell
|
Sacked | 8 April 2024 | 10th | Liam Burns & Brian Gartland (interim)
|
8 April 2024 |
| Liam Burns & Brian Gartland (interim)
|
End of interim spell | 20 April 2024 | Noel King
|
20 April 2024 | ||
| St Patrick's Athletic | Jon Daly
|
Sacked | 7 May 2024 | 7th | Seán O'Connor (interim)
|
7 May 2024 |
| Dundalk | Noel King
|
Resigned | 15 May 2024 | 10th | Liam Burns (interim)
|
15 May 2024 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Seán O'Connor (interim)
|
End of interim spell | 16 May 2024 | 7th | Stephen Kenny
|
16 May 2024 |
| Dundalk | Liam Burns (interim)
|
23 May 2024 | 10th | Jon Daly
|
23 May 2024 |
League table
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shelbourne (C) | 36 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 40 | 27 | +13 | 63 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Shamrock Rovers | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 50 | 35 | +15 | 61 | Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | St Patrick's Athletic | 36 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 51 | 37 | +14 | 59 | |
| 4 | Derry City | 36 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 48 | 31 | +17 | 55 | |
| 5 | Galway United | 36 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 33 | 29 | +4 | 52 | |
| 6 | Sligo Rovers | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 40 | 51 | −11 | 49 | |
| 7 | Waterford | 36 | 13 | 6 | 17 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 45 | |
| 8 | Bohemians | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 42 | |
| 9 | Drogheda United (O) | 36 | 7 | 13 | 16 | 41 | 58 | −17 | 34 | Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round and promotion/relegation play-off[a] |
| 10 | Dundalk (R) | 36 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 23 | 50 | −27 | 26 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[14]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Drogheda United qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round as the 2024 FAI Cup winners.
Results
Teams play each other four times (twice at home and twice away).
League of Ireland promotion/relegation play-off
The ninth-placed team (Drogheda United) from the 2024 League of Ireland Premier Division qualified for a play-off alongside the second, third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams from the 2024 League of Ireland First Division (Athlone Town, Bray Wanderers, UCD, and Wexford).
The First Division teams contest the semi-finals and final. The semi-finals will be held over two legs, with the second-placed team facing the fifth-placed team and the third-placed team facing the fourth-placed team. The semi-final winners then contest the First Division final, with the winners ultimately facing the ninth-placed League of Ireland Premier Division team for the final place in the 2025 League of Ireland Premier Division.
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | Promotion/relegation play-off | |||||||||||||
| 2 | UCD | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Bray Wanderers | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Bray Wanderers | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Bray Wanderers (p) | 2 (4) | Drogheda United | 3 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Athlone Town | 2 (2) | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Wexford | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Athlone Town | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
Semi-finals
First leg
| 24 October 2024 | Bray Wanderers | 2–0 | UCD | Bray |
| 19:45 IST |
|
Report | Stadium: Carlisle Grounds Attendance: 1,205 Referee: Mark Houlihan |
| 24 October 2024 | Athlone Town | 1–0 | Wexford | Athlone |
| 19:45 IST | Ebbe  53' (pen.) |
Report | Stadium: Athlone Town Stadium Attendance: 572 Referee: Oliver Moran |
Second leg
| 28 October 2024 | Wexford | 0–0 | Athlone Town | Wexford |
| 15:00 IST | Report | Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park Attendance: 1,251 Referee: Alan Patchell |
Athlone Town won 1–0 on aggregate.
| 28 October 2024 | UCD | 1–0 | Bray Wanderers | Dublin |
| 17:00 IST | Finn 88' (pen.) |
Murphy  58' |
Stadium: UCD Bowl Attendance: 1,112 Referee: Declan Toland |
Bray Wanderers won 2–1 on aggregate.
Final
| 2 November 2024 | Bray Wanderers | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) | Athlone Town | Dublin |
| 16:00 IST | Hand 63' (o.g.) Omorehiomwan 90+2' |
Report | Ebbe 11' Fuentes 24' |
Stadium: Dalymount Park Attendance: 1,782 Referee: Marc Lynch |
| Penalties | ||||
Griffin  Craven Măgerușan O'Sullivan |
 Connolly Torre McKenna Oakley |
|||
Promotion/relegation play-off
| 16 November 2024 | Bray Wanderers | 1–3 | Drogheda United | Dublin |
| 14:00 IST | Groome 63' |
Report | Bolger 33' Pierrot 36', 52' |
Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 5,573 |
Awards
| Month | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| February | Mark Coyle
|
Shelbourne |
| March |  Will Jarvis
|
Shelbourne |
| April | Aaron Greene
|
Shamrock Rovers |
| May | Pádraig Amond
|
Waterford |
| June | Will Jarvis
|
Shelbourne |
| July | Wilson Waweru
|
Sligo Rovers |
| August |  Patrick Hickey
|
Galway United |
| September | Jake Mulraney
|
St Patrick's Athletic |
| October | Seán Boyd
|
Shelbourne |
| November | Darragh Markey
|
Drogheda United |
Attendances
| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers | 18 | 6,071 |
| 2 | St. Patrick's Athletic | 18 | 4,402 |
| 3 | Shelbourne FC | 18 | 4,269 |
| 4 | Bohemian FC | 18 | 4,240 |
| 5 | Galway United | 18 | 3,014 |
| 6 | Derry City FC | 18 | 2,871 |
| 7 | Sligo Rovers | 18 | 2,858 |
| 8 | Waterford FC | 18 | 2,728 |
| 9 | Dundalk FC | 18 | 2,419 |
| 10 | Drogheda United | 18 | 2,023 |
Source: European Football Statistics
See also
References
- ^ "Shamrock Rovers show their class with second-half blitz of Bohemians at sold-out Tallaght Stadium". Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "League of Ireland prize money increased by 17% with 48 live games to be shown". Irish Independent. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "2024 League of Ireland fixtures released". League of Ireland. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "2024 SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division Fixture List" (PDF). League of Ireland. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "RTÉ confirm quartet of LOI clashes to be screened live". RTÉ. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "League of Ireland Premier Division: Club-by-club guide to new squads". RTE Sport. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Harry Wood fires Shelbourne to league title in Derry". RTE Sport. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ "Shelbourne crowned League of Ireland Premier Division champions on final night of drama". Irish Independent. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ "Premier Division: Shelbourne win first title in 18 years with 1-0 win over Derry City". Irish Times. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ "Record television figures for final night of LOI with 400,000 peak for title-winning goal". RTÉ. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ Murphy, Murt (22 September 2023). "Galway United gain promotion to the top flight in style". Irish Examiner.
- ^ a b Fenton, James (10 November 2023). "LOI play-off final: Waterford 2 Cork City 1 - recap" – via www.rte.ie.
- ^ "Shamrock Rovers crowned league champions for fourth season in a row after St Pat's win". The Irish Times.
- ^ a b "PREMIER DIVISION". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
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