# 2015 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2015 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 31st season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. Dundalk were champions and Cork City finished as runners-up.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium |
| Bohemians | Phibsborough | Dalymount Park |
| Bray Wanderers | Bray | Carlisle Grounds |
| Cork City | Cork | Turners Cross |
| Derry City | Derry | Brandywell Stadium |
| Drogheda United | Drogheda | United Park |
| Dundalk | Dundalk | Oriel Park |
| Galway United | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park |
| Limerick | Limerick | Markets Field |
| Longford Town | Longford | City Calling Stadium |
| Shamrock Rovers | Tallaght | Tallaght Stadium |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Inchicore | Richmond Park |

### 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 | Keith Long | Derek Pender | Hummel | Mr Green |
| Bray Wanderers | Alan Mathews Maciej Tarnogrodzki David Cassidy Trevor Croly David Cassidy Mick Cooke | David Cassidy | Nike | Royal Hotel |
| Cork City | John Caulfield | John Dunleavy | Nike | Clonakilty Sausages |
| Derry City | Peter Hutton Paul Hegarty | Ryan McBride | Umbro | Diamond Corrugated |
| Drogheda United | John McDonnell Mark Kinsella | Michael Daly | Nike | Scotch Hall Shopping Center |
| Dundalk | Stephen Kenny | Stephen O'Donnell | Umbro | Fyffes |
| Galway United | Tommy Dunne | Paul Sinnott | Macron | Comer Property Management |
| Limerick | Martin Russell | Shane Duggan | Macron | Galtee Fuels |
| Longford Town | Tony Cousins | Mark Salmon | Macron | City Calling |
| Shamrock Rovers | Pat Fenlon | Conor Kenna | Warrior | Pepper |
| Sligo Rovers | Owen Heary Joseph N'Do & Gavin Dykes Micky Adams | Gavin Peers | Umbro | Volkswagen |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Liam Buckley | Ger O'Brien | Umbro | Clune Construction Company L.P. |

## Overview

The 2015 Premier Division consisted of 12 teams. Each team played each other three times for a total of 33 games. The season began on 6 March and concluded on 30 October. On 9 October, with three games still remaining, Dundalk retained the title after a 1–1 draw with Shamrock Rovers.

## Final table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 33 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 78 | 23 | +55 | 78 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Cork City | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 57 | 25 | +32 | 67 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 56 | 27 | +29 | 65 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | St Patrick's Athletic | 33 | 18 | 4 | 11 | 52 | 34 | +18 | 58 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Bohemians | 33 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 53 | |
| 6 | Longford Town | 33 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 39 | |
| 7 | Derry City | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 35 | |
| 8 | Bray Wanderers | 33 | 9 | 6 | 18 | 27 | 51 | −24 | 33 | |
| 9 | Sligo Rovers | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 39 | 55 | −16 | 31 | |
| 10 | Galway United | 33 | 9 | 4 | 20 | 39 | 61 | −22 | 31 | |
| 11 | Limerick (R) | 33 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 46 | 73 | −27 | 29 | Qualification to Relegation play-offs |
| 12 | Drogheda United (R) | 33 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 32 | 62 | −30 | 28 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ Dundalk qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015 FAI Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

## Results
### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DRO | DUN | GAL | LIM | LON | SHM | SLI | StP |
| Bohemians | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Bray Wanderers | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Cork City | 4–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Derry City | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Drogheda United | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Dundalk | 1–2 | 8–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–0 | 6–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Galway United | 5–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–4 | — | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 |
| Limerick | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–4 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| Longford Town | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–2 | — | 5–1 | 1–0 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | — | 0–3 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | — |

### Matches 23–33

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DRO | DUN | GAL | LIM | LON | SHM | SLI | StP |
| Bohemians | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | 2–2 | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — | 2–0 |
| Bray Wanderers | 3–1 | — | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | — | — |
| Cork City | — | — | — | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | — | — | — |
| Derry City | 2–3 | 3–1 | — | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | — | — | 1–0 | — | — |
| Drogheda United | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | 1–4 | 0–3 | — | 0–4 | — |
| Dundalk | — | 4–0 | — | — | 6–0 | — | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 4–1 |
| Galway United | — | — | — | 0–4 | 1–1 | — | — | 1–3 | 4–2 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Limerick | 4–3 | — | — | 0–2 | — | 1–3 | — | — | 3–3 | 0–2 | — | 3–1 |
| Longford Town | — | 1–0 | — | 4–2 | — | — | — | — | — | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | — | 5–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | — | — | — | 0–2 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | — | — | 2–3 | — | 1–1 | — | — |
| St Patrick's Athletic | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | — | — | — | — | 0–2 | — |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Richie Towell | Dundalk | 25 |
| 2 | Karl Sheppard | Cork City | 13 |
| 3 | Vinny Faherty | Limerick | 12 |
| 3 | Jake Keegan | Galway United | 12 |
| 3 | Enda Curran | Galway United | 12 |
| 3 | Michael Drennan | Shamrock Rovers | 12 |
| 3 | David McMillan | Dundalk | 12 |
| 3 | Daniel Corcoran | Sligo Rovers | 12 |
| 9 | Christopher Forrester | St Patrick's Athletic | 11 |
| 9 | Brandon Miele | Shamrock Rovers | 11 |
Source:

## Awards
### Team of the Year

| No. | Pos. | Player | Club |
| 1 | 1GK | Micheál Schlingermann | Drogheda United |
| 2 | 2DF | Seán Gannon | Dundalk |
| 3 | 2DF | Brian Gartland | Dundalk |
| 4 | 2DF | Andy Boyle | Dundalk |
| 5 | 2DF | Dane Massey | Dundalk |
| 6 | 3MF | Richie Towell | Dundalk |
| 7 | 3MF | James Chambers | St Patrick's Athletic |
| 8 | 3MF | Stephen O'Donnell | Dundalk |
| 9 | 4FW | Brandon Miele | Shamrock Rovers |
| 10 | 4FW | Mark O'Sullivan | Cork City |
| 11 | 4FW | Daryl Horgan | Dundalk |

## Promotion/relegation playoff

Limerick, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division played off against Finn Harps, the winner of the 2015 First Division play off, to decide who would play in the 2016 Premier Division.
Finn Harps won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2016 Premier Division. Limerick are relegated to the 2016 First Division.