# 1997–98 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 1997–98 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 13th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. St Patrick's Athletic F.C. won the title.

## Regular season

The season saw each team playing three rounds of games, playing every other team three times, totalling 33 games.

### Final Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | St Patrick's Athletic (C) | 33 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 68 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Shelbourne | 33 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 58 | 32 | +26 | 67 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Cork City | 33 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 50 | 40 | +10 | 53 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 52 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 5 | Bohemians | 33 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 50 | 36 | +14 | 50 | |
| 6 | Dundalk | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 41 | 43 | −2 | 45 | |
| 7 | Sligo Rovers | 33 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 46 | 49 | −3 | 44 | |
| 8 | Finn Harps | 33 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 41 | 43 | −2 | 43 | |
| 9 | Derry City | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 40 | |
| 10 | UCD (O) | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 39 | Qualification to Relegation play-off |
| 11 | Kilkenny City (R) | 33 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 27 | 63 | −36 | 19 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
| 12 | Drogheda United (R) | 33 | 2 | 9 | 22 | 20 | 55 | −35 | 15 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ Cork City qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round after winning the 1997–98 FAI Cup final.

### Results
#### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | BOH | COR | DER | DRO | DUN | FHA | KLC | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Cork City | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Derry City | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Drogheda United | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Dundalk | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Finn Harps | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Kilkenny City | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Shelbourne | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 |
| UCD | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |

#### Matches 23–33

| Home \ Away | BOH | COR | DER | DRO | DUN | FHA | KLC | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | — | — | 2–1 | — | 4–2 | 8–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | — | 2–0 |
| Cork City | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | — | 3–0 | — | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Derry City | 1–0 | — | — | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | — | 2–2 | — | — | 1–1 |
| Drogheda United | — | 1–2 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | 1–3 | – | 1–1 | 1–3 | — |
| Dundalk | 3–3 | — | — | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| Finn Harps | — | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | — | — | — | — | 3–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Kilkenny City | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | — | 2–3 | — | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | — |
| Shamrock Rovers | — | 2–2 | 3–0 | — | 5–2 | 2–2 | — | — | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | — |
| Shelbourne | — | 3–1 | — | 5–0 | — | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | — | — |
| Sligo Rovers | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–0 | — | 3–3 | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | 3–4 | — |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | — | 4–2 | — | — | — | 2–3 | — | — | 1–1 |
| UCD | — | — | — | 3–0 | 1–3 | — | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 5–1 | — | — |

## Promotion/relegation play-off

University College Dublin A.F.C. who finished in tenth place played off against Limerick F.C., the third placed team from the 1997–98 League of Ireland First Division.

### 2nd leg

UCD won 5–2 on aggregate and retained their place in the Premier Division.