# 1979–80 League of Ireland

The 1979–80 League of Ireland was contested by 16 teams, and Limerick United won the championship.

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Limerick United (C) | 30 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 67 | 24 | +43 | 47 | Qualification to European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dundalk F.C. | 30 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 59 | 13 | +46 | 46 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Athlone Town A.F.C. | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 60 | 24 | +36 | 39 | |
| 4 | Shamrock Rovers F.C. | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 61 | 29 | +32 | 38 | |
| 5 | Finn Harps F.C. | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 49 | 33 | +16 | 38 | |
| 6 | Bohemian F.C. | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 42 | 30 | +12 | 32 | |
| 7 | Waterford | 30 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 31 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 8 | Sligo Rovers F.C. | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 40 | 45 | −5 | 31 | |
| 9 | Thurles Town F.C. | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 28 | |
| 10 | Drogheda United F.C. | 30 | 6 | 16 | 8 | 36 | 41 | −5 | 28 | |
| 11 | Galway Rovers | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 32 | 47 | −15 | 28 | |
| 12 | St Patrick's Athletic F.C. | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 39 | 46 | −7 | 27 | |
| 13 | Home Farm F.C. | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 42 | −15 | 25 | |
| 14 | Cork United | 30 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 22 | 56 | −34 | 16 | |
| 15 | University College Dublin A.F.C. | 30 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 24 | 75 | −51 | 14 | |
| 16 | Shelbourne F.C. | 30 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 30 | 83 | −53 | 12 | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | CUF | DRO | DUN | FHA | GAL | HOM | LIM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | THU | UCD | WAT |
| Athlone Town | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 0–0 |
| Bohemians | 3–3 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Cork United | 2–1 | 0–3 | — | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Drogheda United | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Dundalk | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 7–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 9–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 0–0 |
| Finn Harps | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Galway Rovers | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | — | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–5 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Home Farm | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–5 |
| Limerick United | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | — | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 0–1 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | — | 5–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 7–1 | 2–1 |
| Shelbourne | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 3–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–6 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–5 | — | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Thurles Town | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | — | 3–1 | 4–2 |
| UCD | 0–5 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 |
| Waterford | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Alan Campbell | Shamrock Rovers | 22 |
| 2 | Tony Morris | Limerick United | 19 |
| 3 | Neville Steedman | Thurles Town | 17 |
| 4 | Gary Hulmes | Sligo Rovers (9) Limerick United (4) | 13 |
| 5 | Leo Flanagan | Dundalk | 12 |
| 6 | Brendan Bradley | Sligo Rovers | 11 |
| 6 | Eoin Hand | Limerick United | 11 |
| 8 | Eugene Davis | Athlone Town | 10 |
| 8 | Paddy Joyce | Bohemians | 10 |
| 8 | Joe Logan | Finn Harps | 10 |
| 8 | Joe McGrory | Finn Harps | 10 |
| 8 | John Minnock | Finn Harps | 10 |
| 8 | Ray Treacy | Shamrock Rovers | 10 |