# 2008 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2008 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 24th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Bohemians were champions while St Patrick's Athletic finished as runners-up.

## Club information

| Team | Base | Manager | Main sponsor | Kit supplier | Stadium | Capacity |
| Bohemians | Phibsborough | Pat Fenlon | Des Kelly Interiors | Umbro | Dalymount Park | 8,500 |
| Bray Wanderers | Bray | Eddie Gormley | Hard Metal | Umbro | Carlisle Grounds | 7,000 |
| Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | Stephen Henderson | Goodyear | Uhlsport | St. Colman's Park | 5,000 |
| Cork City | Cork | Alan Mathews | Beamish | Hummel | Turners Cross | 8,000 |
| Derry City | Derry | Stephen Kenny | MeteorElectrical.com | O'Neills | Brandywell Stadium | 7,700 |
| Drogheda United | Drogheda | Paul Doolin | Hunky Dorys | Jako | United Park | 5,400 |
| Finn Harps | Ballybofey | Paul Hegarty | Donegal Creameries | Masita | Finn Park | 7,900 |
| Galway United | Galway | Ian Foster | O'Connell Drylining Ltd | Rival | Terryland Park | 5,000 |
| Shamrock Rovers | Drumcondra | Michael O'Neill | Woodie's DIY | Umbro | Tolka Park | 9,700 |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | Paul Cook | Toher's | Jako | The Showgrounds | 5,500 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Inchicore | Jeff Kenna | Paddy Power | Umbro | Richmond Park | 5,500 |
| UCD | Belfield | Pete Mahon | Budweiser | O'Neills | UCD Bowl | 3,000 |

## Overview

The regular season began on 7 March and concluded on 14 November. Each team played the other teams three times, totaling 33 games. Bohemians finished the season as champions, winning by a margin of nineteen points. There was no promotion/relegation play-off between Premier Division and First Division teams. This was because the 2009 Premier Division would be reduced to 10 clubs. This saw three clubs relegated out of the Premier Division.
For the first time in the history of the league the national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann started showing highlights of every Premier Division game played on its new show Monday Night Soccer. This show was presented by Con Murphy. This replaced eircom League Weekly which had run on TV3 on Monday nights from 2002 to 2007. The final season of live weekly radio coverage was provided by national broadcaster RTÉ with live reports and commentary on match nights, which was dropped from the end of 2008. Live games were shown by RTÉ, Setanta Sports and TG4's Sacar Beo.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Bohemians (C) | 33 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 55 | 13 | +42 | 85 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | St Patrick's Athletic | 33 | 20 | 6 | 7 | 48 | 24 | +24 | 66 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Derry City | 33 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 46 | 25 | +21 | 58 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Sligo Rovers | 33 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 41 | 28 | +13 | 48 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Cork City | 33 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 46 | |
| 6 | Bray Wanderers | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 28 | 52 | −24 | 39 | |
| 7 | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 33 | 35 | −2 | 37 | |
| 8 | Drogheda United | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 35 | |
| 9 | Galway United | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 32 | |
| 10 | Finn Harps (R) | 33 | 9 | 4 | 20 | 26 | 53 | −27 | 31 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
| 11 | Cobh Ramblers (R) | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 55 | −28 | 26 | Relegation to A Championship |
| 12 | UCD (R) | 33 | 4 | 9 | 20 | 19 | 46 | −27 | 21 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ Cork City were deducted ten points after going into administration.
* ↑ Drogheda United were deducted ten points after going into administration.
* ↑ Cobh Ramblers were relegated directly from the Premier Division to the A Championship after being refused a First Division licence.

## Results
### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COB | COR | DER | DRO | FHA | GAL | SHM | SLI | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Bray Wanderers | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Cork City | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Derry City | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 4–1 |
| Drogheda United | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Finn Harps | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 |
| Galway United | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 |
| UCD | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | — |

### Matches 23–33

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COB | COR | DER | DRO | FHA | GAL | SHM | SLI | StP | UCD |
| Bohemians | — | 2–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | — | — | — | 3–0 | — |
| Bray Wanderers | — | — | 3–2 | — | 2–1 | 4–3 | 0–1 | — | — | — | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 0–2 | — | — | 1–1 | — | — | — | 4–1 | 1–0 | — | — | 2–0 |
| Cork City | — | 3–0 | — | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — | 2–0 |
| Derry City | — | — | 4–2 | — | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — |
| Drogheda United | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | — | — | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | — |
| Finn Harps | — | — | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Galway United | 0–2 | 4–0 | — | 3–2 | — | — | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | — | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | — | 3–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| St Patrick's Athletic | — | — | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | — | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | — | 2–0 |
| UCD | 0–1 | — | — | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — |

## Top scorers

| Goalscorers | Goals | Team |
| David Mooney | 15 | Cork City |
| Mark Quigley | 15 | St Patrick's Athletic |
| Mark Farren | 15 | Derry City |
| Killian Brennan | 11 | Bohemians |

## Gallery

* The clubs competing in the 2008 FAI eircom League of Ireland