# 2023 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2023 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, was the 39th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top Irish league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1985.
The winners (Shamrock Rovers, their fourth consecutive title and twenty-first overall) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The 2023 FAI Cup winners (St Patrick's Athletic) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League second qualifying round. The runners-up (Derry City) and fourth-placed team (Shelbourne) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The ninth-placed team (Cork City) qualified for the League of Ireland Premier Division play-off, losing and being relegated to the 2024 League of Ireland First Division. They were joined by the bottom-placed team (UCD).

## Teams

Ten teams competed in the league – the top nine teams from the previous season and the one team promoted from the First Division. The promoted team was Cork City, after a top flight absence of two years. They replaced Finn Harps who were relegated after four consecutive seasons in the top flight.
Shamrock Rovers were the defending champions, having won their twentieth title the previous season.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Bohemians | Dublin (Phibsborough) | Dalymount Park | 4,500 |
| Cork City | Cork | Turners Cross | 7,485 |
| Derry City | Derry | Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium | 3,700 |
| Drogheda United | Drogheda | Weavers Park | 3,500 |
| Dundalk | Dundalk | Oriel Park | 4,500 |
| Shamrock Rovers | Dublin (Tallaght) | Tallaght Stadium | 10,500 |
| Shelbourne | Dublin (Drumcondra) | Tolka Park | 4,450 |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds | 3,873 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Dublin (Inchicore) | Richmond Park | 5,340 |
| UCD | Dublin (Belfield) | UCD Bowl | 3,000 |

### 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 | Declan Devine | Keith Buckley | O'Neills | Des Kelly Interiors |
| Cork City | Richie Holland (interim) | Cian Coleman | Adidas | Zeus |
| Derry City | Ruaidhrí Higgins | Patrick McEleney | O'Neills | Diamond Corrugated |
| Drogheda United | Kevin Doherty | Gary Deegan | Erreà | Drogheda Credit Union |
| Dundalk | Stephen O'Donnell | Patrick Hoban | Playr-Fit | Bet Regal |
| Shamrock Rovers | Stephen Bradley | Ronan Finn | Umbro | MASCOT Workwear |
| Shelbourne | Damien Duff | Luke Byrne | Umbro | Culligan |
| Sligo Rovers | John Russell | David Cawley | Joma | Avant Money |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Jon Daly | Joe Redmond | Umbro | Manguard Plus |
| UCD | Andrew Myler | Jack Keaney | O'Neills | Maples Group |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Tim Clancy | Mutual Consent | 2 May 2023 | 7th | Jon Daly | 2 May 2023 |
| Cork City | Colin Healy | Resigned | 3 May 2023 | 9th | Liam Buckley (interim) | 3 May 2023 |
| Cork City | Liam Buckley (interim) | Change of role | 28 September 2023 | 9th | Richie Holland (interim) | 28 September 2023 |

## League table
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers (C) | 36 | 20 | 12 | 4 | 67 | 27 | +40 | 72 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Derry City | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 57 | 24 | +33 | 65 | Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | St Patrick's Athletic | 36 | 19 | 5 | 12 | 59 | 42 | +17 | 62 | Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Shelbourne | 36 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 60 | Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Dundalk | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 58 | |
| 6 | Bohemians | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 53 | 40 | +13 | 58 | |
| 7 | Drogheda United | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 40 | 54 | −14 | 41 | |
| 8 | Sligo Rovers | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 36 | 51 | −15 | 37 | |
| 9 | Cork City (R) | 36 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 35 | 64 | −29 | 31 | Qualification for play-off final |
| 10 | UCD (R) | 36 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 19 | 96 | −77 | 11 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ The 2023 FAI Cup winners qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round. Since the cup winners (St Patrick's Athletic) qualified based on league position, the second Conference League first qualifying round spot was passed to the fourth-placed team.

## Results

Teams play each other four times (twice at home and twice away).
| Home \ Away | BOH | COR | DER | DRO | DUN | SHM | SHE | SLI | STP | UCD |
| Bohemians | | 5–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| | 4–0 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Cork City | 1–2 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 4–0 |
| 2–1 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Derry City | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| 0–0 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 6–0 |
| Drogheda United | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 |
| 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Dundalk | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| 2–0 | 5–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 2–0 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 |
| Shelbourne | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 3–0 |
| 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 7–0 |
| UCD | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | |
| 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–1 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jonathan Afolabi | Bohemians | 15 |
| 1 | Jack Moylan | Shelbourne | 15 |
| 3 | Patrick Hoban | Dundalk | 14 |
| 4 | Chris Forrester | St Patrick's Athletic | 13 |
| 4 | Ruairí Keating | Cork City | 13 |
| 6 | Graham Burke | Shamrock Rovers | 12 |
| 7 | Max Mata* | Sligo Rovers | 11 |
| 8 | Daniel Kelly | Dundalk | 8 |
| 8 | Jordan McEneff | Derry City | 8 |
| 8 | Freddie Draper* | Drogheda United | 8 |
| 8 | Rory Gaffney | Shamrock Rovers | 8 |
* Max Mata joined Shrewsbury Town on 4 August 2023.
* Freddie Draper returned to Lincoln City on 30 June 2023

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Brian Maher | Derry City | 14 |
| 2 | Conor Kearns | Shelbourne | 11 |
| 2 | James Talbot | Bohemians | 11 |
| 4 | Dean Lyness | St Patrick's Athletic | 10 |
| 5 | Leon Pöhls | Shamrock Rovers | 7 |
| 5 | Nathan Shepperd | Dundalk | 7 |
| 7 | Alan Mannus | Shamrock Rovers | 5 |
| 7 | Jimmy Corcoran | Cork City | 5 |
| 9 | Colin McCabe | Drogheda United | 4 |
| 10 | Luke McNicholas | Sligo Rovers | 3 |

## League of Ireland Premier Division play-off

The ninth-placed team (Cork City) qualified for a play-off alongside the second, third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams from the 2023 League of Ireland First Division (Athlone Town, Cobh Ramblers, Waterford, and Wexford).
The First Division teams contested the quarter and semi-finals. The quarter-finals were held over two legs, with the second-placed team (Waterford) facing the fifth-placed team (Athlone Town) and the third-placed team (Cobh Ramblers) facing the fourth-placed team (Wexford). The quarter-final winners then contested the semi-finals, with the winners ultimately facing the ninth-placed League of Ireland Premier Division team for the final place in the 2024 League of Ireland Premier Division.

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 2 | Waterford | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Waterford | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | Waterford | Waterford | 2 |
| 5 | Athlone Town | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | Waterford | Waterford | 2 |
| 5 | Athlone Town | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Waterford | 2 | Cork City | Cork City | 1 |
| | | | | | 3 | Cobh Ramblers | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Cobh Ramblers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Cobh Ramblers | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Wexford | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | |

### Final
## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. |
| Month | Player | Club | Ref. |
| February | Jordan McEneff | Derry City | |
| March | Ali Coote | Bohemians | |
| April | Ronan Coughlan | Waterford | |
| May | Freddie Draper | Drogheda United | |
| June | Patrick Hoban | Dundalk | |
| July | Jonathan Afolabi | Bohemians | |
| August | James Clarke | Bohemians | |
| September | Ruairí Keating | Cork City | |
| October | Jack Moylan | Shelbourne | |
| November | Ronan Coughlan | Waterford | |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| PFAI Player of the Year | Chris Forrester | St Patrick's Athletic |
| PFAI Young Player of the Year | Sam Curtis | St Patrick's Athletic |
| PFAI Premier Division Manager of the Year | Stephen Bradley | Shamrock Rovers |
PFAI Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) | Conor Kearns (Shelbourne) |
| Defenders | Archie Davies (Dundalk) | Archie Davies (Dundalk) | Archie Davies (Dundalk) | Sam Curtis (St Patrick's Athletic) | Sam Curtis (St Patrick's Athletic) | Sam Curtis (St Patrick's Athletic) | Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) | Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) | Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) | Ben Doherty (Derry City) | Ben Doherty (Derry City) | Ben Doherty (Derry City) |
| Midfielders | Will Patching (Derry City) | Will Patching (Derry City) | Will Patching (Derry City) | Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic) | Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic) | Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic) | Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic) | Chris Forrester (St Patrick's Athletic) | James Clarke (Bohemians) | James Clarke (Bohemians) | James Clarke (Bohemians) | James Clarke (Bohemians) |
| Forwards | Jack Moylan (Shelbourne) | Jack Moylan (Shelbourne) | Jack Moylan (Shelbourne) | Jonathan Afolabi (Bohemians) | Jonathan Afolabi (Bohemians) | Jonathan Afolabi (Bohemians) | Jonathan Afolabi (Bohemians) | Ruairí Keating (Cork City) | Ruairí Keating (Cork City) | Ruairí Keating (Cork City) | Ruairí Keating (Cork City) | Ruairí Keating (Cork City) |