# 2012 League of Ireland First Division

The 2012 League of Ireland First Division season was the 28th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 8 teams and Limerick won the title.

## Teams

| Team | Location | Manager | Stadium |
| Athlone Town | Athlone | Mike Kerley | Athlone Town Stadium |
| Finn Harps | Ballybofey | Peter Hutton | Finn Park |
| Limerick | Limerick | Pat Scully | Jackman Park |
| Longford Town | Longford | Tony Cousins | Flancare Park |
| Mervue United | Galway | Johnny Glynn | Fahy's Field |
| SD Galway | Galway | Tony Mannion | Terryland Park |
| Waterford United | Waterford | Paul O'Brien | Waterford RSC |
| Wexford Youths | Wexford | Shane Keegan | Ferrycarraig Park |

## Overview

Due to the expansion of the Premier Division, coupled with the withdrawal of Galway United during the off-season, the 2012 First Division consisted of just eight teams. Applications to join the Division from Cobh Ramblers and Tralee Dynamos, both of whom had played in the 2011 A Championship, were rejected. Each team played every other team four times, totalling twenty eight games.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Limerick (C, P) | 28 | 20 | 2 | 6 | 50 | 20 | +30 | 62 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 2 | Waterford United | 28 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 46 | 29 | +17 | 58 | Lost promotion/relegation play-offs |
| 3 | Longford Town | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 50 | Lost promotion/relegation play-offs |
| 4 | Wexford Youths | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 39 | |
| 5 | Finn Harps | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 36 | |
| 6 | Athlone Town | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 25 | 41 | −16 | 29 | |
| 7 | Mervue United | 28 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 23 | |
| 8 | SD Galway | 28 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 51 | −28 | 20 | |
* ↑ Salthill Devon changed their name to SD Galway

## Results
### Matches 1–14

| Home \ Away | ATH | FHA | LIM | LON | MER | SDG | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 |
| Finn Harps | 1–2 | | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Limerick | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 |
| Longford Town | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Mervue United | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| SD Galway | 0–1 | 1–5 | 2–5 | 1–1 | 2–2 | | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Waterford United | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 4–0 |
| Wexford Youths | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | |

### Matches 15–28

| Home \ Away | ATH | FHA | LIM | LON | MER | SDG | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–3 |
| Finn Harps | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 |
| Limerick | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Longford Town | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Mervue United | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 4–5 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| SD Galway | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Waterford United | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 1–2 |
| Wexford Youths | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–2 | |

## Promotion/relegation play-off

The second and third placed First Division teams, Waterford United and Longford Town, played off to decide who would play Dundalk, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2013 Premier Division.

### First Division

Waterford United win 3–1 on aggregate

### First Division v Premier Division

Dundalk win 4–2 on aggregate and retained their place in the Premier Division. Waterford United appealed the result of the playoff, claiming Michael Rafter was ineligible as Dundalk had incorrectly registered him when they signed him earlier that season. However the appeal was unsuccessful.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Danny Furlong | Wexford Youths | 13 |
| 1 | Kevin McHugh | Finn Harps | 13 |
| 1 | Sean Maguire | Waterford United | 13 |
| 4 | Tom Elmes | Wexford Youths | 11 |
| 5 | Shane Tracy | Limerick | 10 |
| 5 | Rory Gaffney | Limerick | 10 |