# 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 34th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on 16 February 2018 and concluded on 26 October 2018.
On 5 October, Dundalk won the title after a 1–1 draw with St Patrick's Athletic.

## Overview

The Premier Division consists of 10 teams. Each team plays each other four times for a total of 36 matches in the season.
Waterford, the 2017 First Division champion, were promoted to the league for the first time since 2007.
On 22 December 2016, the Football Association of Ireland announced that the league would be restructured into two 10-team divisions from the 2018 season onwards, one of the recommendations made in the 2015 Conroy Report.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium |
| Bohemians | Phibsborough | Dalymount Park |
| Bray Wanderers | Bray | Carlisle Grounds |
| Cork City | Cork | Turners Cross |
| Derry City | Derry | The Brandywell |
| Dundalk | Dundalk | Oriel Park |
| Limerick | Limerick | Markets Field |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Inchicore | Richmond Park |
| Shamrock Rovers | Tallaght | Tallaght Stadium |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds |
| Waterford | Waterford | RSC |

### 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 Sport |
| Bray Wanderers | Gary Cronin | Gary McCabe | Nike | O Driscoll O Neil Insurance |
| Cork City | John Caulfield | Conor McCormack | Adidas | University College Cork |
| Derry City | Declan Devine | Gerard Doherty | Adidas | Diamond Corrugated |
| Dundalk | Stephen Kenny | Stephen O'Donnell | CX+ Sport | Fyffes |
| Limerick | Tommy Barrett | Shane Duggan | Umbro | Betsat.com |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Liam Buckley | Ian Bermingham | Umbro | MIG Insurance Brokers |
| Shamrock Rovers | Stephen Bradley | Ronan Finn | New Balance | Pepper Money |
| Sligo Rovers | Gerard Lyttle | Kyle Callan-McFadden | Joma | Volkswagen |
| Waterford | Alan Reynolds | Paul Keegan | Umbro | 21 Bet |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Limerick | Neil McDonald | Signed by Scunthorpe United | 4 January 2018 | Pre-season | Tommy Barrett | 14 January 2018 |
| Bray Wanderers | Dave Mackey | Resigned | 8 April 2018 | 10th | Graham Kelly | 10 April 2018 |
| Bray Wanderers | Graham Kelly | End of caretaker spell | 8 July 2018 | 10th | Martin Russell | 8 July 2018 |
| Derry City | Kenny Shiels | Sacked | 27 October 2018 | 8th | Declan Devine | 16 November 2018 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 36 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 85 | 20 | +65 | 87 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Cork City | 36 | 24 | 5 | 7 | 71 | 27 | +44 | 77 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Shamrock Rovers | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 57 | 27 | +30 | 62 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Waterford | 36 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 59 | |
| 5 | St Patrick's Athletic | 36 | 15 | 5 | 16 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 50 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 6 | Bohemians | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 52 | 45 | +7 | 48 | |
| 7 | Sligo Rovers | 36 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 38 | 50 | −12 | 42 | |
| 8 | Derry City | 36 | 13 | 3 | 20 | 47 | 70 | −23 | 42 | |
| 9 | Limerick (R) | 36 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 25 | 75 | −50 | 27 | Qualification to Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Bray Wanderers (R) | 36 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 23 | 96 | −73 | 18 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* 1 2 Since the winners of the 2018 FAI Cup, Dundalk, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) would normally pass to the next best-placed team (the fourth-placed team). However, as Waterford were adjudged by UEFA to have not passed the "three-year rule" as they were reformed in 2016, the spot was passed to the fifth-placed team.

## Results
### Matches 1–18

Teams played each other twice (once at home, once away).
| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DUN | LIM | STP | SHM | SLI | WAT |
| Bohemians | — | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Bray Wanderers | 1–3 | — | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Cork City | 3–0 | 4–0 | — | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Derry City | 3–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–4 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Dundalk | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — | 8–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Limerick | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2–2 | 5–0 | 2–3 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–2 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 6–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–2 |
| Waterford | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–6 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — |

### Matches 19–36

Teams will play each other twice (once home, once away).
| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DUN | LIM | STP | SHM | SLI | WAT |
| Bohemians | — | 6–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–3 |
| Bray Wanderers | 0–5 | — | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Cork City | 1–0 | 5–1 | — | 5–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 |
| Derry City | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | — | 0–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Dundalk | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | — | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 2–0 |
| Limerick | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 5–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 0–1 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–5 | 5–0 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–3 |
| Waterford | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — |

### Promotion/relegation playoff

Limerick, the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division took part in a two-legged play-off against Finn Harps, the winners of the 2018 First Division play-off, to decide who will play in the 2019 Premier Division.
Finn Harps won 3–0 on aggregate and were promoted to 2019 Premier Division. Limerick were relegated to the 2019 First Division.

## Season statistics

    As of 2 November 2018

### Scoring
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Patrick Hoban | Dundalk | 29 |
| 2 | Kieran Sadlier | Cork City | 16 |
| 3 | Graham Cummins | Cork City | 15 |
| 4 | Graham Burke | Shamrock Rovers | 13 |
| 4 | Michael Duffy | Dundalk | 13 |
| 6 | Daniel Carr | Shamrock Rovers | 11 |
| 6 | Daniel Corcoran | Bohemians | 11 |
| 8 | Courtney Duffus | Waterford | 10 |
| 8 | Aaron McEneff | Derry City | 10 |
| 10 | Robbie Benson | Dundalk | 9 |
Last updated: 2 November 2018. Source: SSEAirtricity League

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Dinny Corcoran | Bohemians | Bray Wanderers | 5–0 (A) | 19 October 2018 |
| Graham Cummins | Cork City | Sligo Rovers | 4–1 (A) | 24 February 2018 |
| Graham Burke$^4$ | Shamrock Rovers | Derry City | 6-1 (H) | 9 March 2018 |
| Ronan Hale | Derry City | Limerick | 5–0 (H) | 12 March 2018 |
| Patrick Hoban | Dundalk | Limerick | 4–0 (H) | 8 June 2018 |

### Discipline
#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 94
** Sligo Rovers
* Most red cards: 7
** Waterford

## Awards
### Player of the Month

| Month | Player | Club |
| February | Graham Cummins | Cork City |
| March | Graham Burke | Shamrock Rovers |
| April | Michael Duffy | Dundalk |
| May | Seán Hoare | Dundalk |
| June | Patrick Hoban | Dundalk |
| July | Gavin Bazunu | Shamrock Rovers |
| August | Michael Duffy | Dundalk |
| September | Chris Shields | Dundalk |
| October/November | Patrick McEleney | Dundalk |

### Player of the Year

| Player | Club | Reference |
| Michael Duffy | Dundalk | |

### Goalkeeper of the Year

| Player | Club | Reference |
| Shane Supple | Bohemians | |