# 1996–97 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 1996–97 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 12th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Derry City 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 | Derry City (C) | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 58 | 27 | +31 | 67 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Bohemians | 33 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 43 | 32 | +11 | 57 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Shelbourne | 33 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 54 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Cork City | 33 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 38 | 24 | +14 | 54 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 5 | St Patrick's Athletic | 33 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 45 | 33 | +12 | 53 | |
| 6 | Sligo Rovers | 33 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 47 | |
| 7 | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 43 | 46 | −3 | 43 | |
| 8 | UCD | 33 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 34 | 39 | −5 | 43 | |
| 9 | Finn Harps | 33 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 41 | 43 | −2 | 39 | |
| 10 | Dundalk (O) | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 50 | −18 | 36 | Qualification to Relegation play-off |
| 11 | Bray Wanderers (R) | 33 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 30 | 59 | −29 | 23 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
| 12 | Home Farm Everton (R) | 33 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 26 | 53 | −27 | 19 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ Shelbourne qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round after winning the 1996–97 FAI Cup final.

### Results
#### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DUN | FHA | HOM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Bray Wanderers | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Cork City | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Derry City | 1–0 | 5–1 | 0–1 | — | 5–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 |
| Dundalk | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Finn Harps | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 |
| Home Farm Everton | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | — | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 6–4 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Shelbourne | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Sligo Rovers | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 5–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 |
| UCD | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — |

#### Matches 23–33

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DUN | FHA | HOM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | — | — | 1–3 | — | 0–2 | 2–1 | — |
| Bray Wanderers | 1–5 | — | — | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | — | 1–1 | — | — | 2–0 |
| Cork City | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | — | — |
| Derry City | — | 5–2 | 0–2 | — | — | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | 2–0 | — |
| Dundalk | — | — | 0–4 | 2–4 | — | — | — | 4–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | — |
| Finn Harps | 3–3 | — | — | 0–1 | 5–0 | — | 3–2 | 1–2 | — | 3–4 | — | — |
| Home Farm Everton | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | 3–0 | — | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| Shamrock Rovers | — | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | 2–3 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| Shelbourne | 0–1 | — | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | — | — | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Sligo Rovers | — | 3–2 | — | — | — | — | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | — | 2–1 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | — | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | — | 4–2 | — | — |
| UCD | 1–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | — |

## Promotion/relegation play-off

Dundalk F.C. who finished in tenth place played off against Waterford United, the third placed team from the 1996–97 League of Ireland First Division.

### 2nd leg

Dundalk F.C. won 3–1 on aggregate and retained their place in the Premier Division.