# 2008 League of Ireland First Division

The 2008 League of Ireland First Division season was the 24th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 10 teams and Dundalk won the division.

## Club information

| Team | Base | Manager | Main sponsor | Kit supplier | Stadium | Capacity |
| Athlone Town | Athlone | Brendan Place | Ganly's Hardware | O'Neills | Athlone Town Stadium | 2,000 |
| Dundalk | Dundalk | John Gill | IJM | Umbro | Oriel Park | 6,000 |
| Kildare County | Newbridge | Joe Somerville | Cill Dara Betting | O'Neills | Station Road | 2,500 |
| Limerick 37 | Limerick | Michael Kerley | Limerick's Live 95FM | Jako | Jackman Park | 8,000 |
| Longford Town | Longford | Alan Gough | Flancare | Umbro | Flancare Park | 4,500 |
| Monaghan United | Monaghan | Mick Cooke | The Squeeling Pig | Nike | Century Homes Park | 3,000 |
| Shelbourne | Drumcondra | Dermot Keely | Cab 2000 | Umbro | Tolka Park | 9,700 |
| Sporting Fingal | Fingal | Liam Buckley | Keelings | O'Neills | Morton Stadium | 10,000 |
| Waterford United | Waterford | Gareth Cronin | Hutchison 3G | Azzurri | Waterford RSC | 8,000 |
| Wexford Youths | Crossabeg | Mick Wallace | Wallace Construction | O'Neills | Ferrycarraig Park | 5,000 |

## Overview

The regular season began on 7 March and concluded on 15 November. Each team played the other teams four times, totaling 36 games. Only the champions, Dundalk, were automatically promoted and 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.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 36 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 69 | 30 | +39 | 71 | Premier Division |
| 2 | Shelbourne | 36 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 55 | 25 | +30 | 70 | |
| 3 | Waterford United | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 55 | 35 | +20 | 63 | |
| 4 | Sporting Fingal | 36 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 53 | 32 | +21 | 62 | |
| 5 | Limerick 37 | 36 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 49 | 45 | +4 | 52 | |
| 6 | Monaghan United | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 38 | 51 | −13 | 47 | |
| 7 | Wexford Youths | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 36 | 51 | −15 | 37 | |
| 8 | Longford Town | 36 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 36 | 55 | −19 | 35 | |
| 9 | Athlone Town | 36 | 6 | 14 | 16 | 23 | 51 | −28 | 32 | |
| 10 | Kildare County | 36 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 34 | 73 | −39 | 26 | Lost promotion/relegation play-off |
* ↑ Sporting Fingal replaced Kilkenny City who withdrew from the league before the season started.
* ↑ Kildare County were initially relegated to the A Championship after losing a promotion/relegation play-off. However they subsequently gained a reprieve after Cobh Ramblers were refused a First Division licence and were relegated directly from the Premier Division to the A Championship .

## Results
### Matches 1 to 18

| Home \ Away | ATH | DUN | KIL | L37 | LON | MON | SHE | SFI | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Dundalk | 1–0 | | 6–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Kildare County | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Limerick 37 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–0 |
| Longford Town | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 3–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Monaghan United | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Shelbourne | 2–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Sporting Fingal | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Waterford United | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 |
| Wexford Youths | 2–0 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |

### Rounds 19 and 36

| Home \ Away | ATH | DUN | KIL | L37 | LON | MON | SHE | SFI | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Dundalk | 7–0 | | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Kildare County | 1–0 | 1–6 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Limerick 37 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 |
| Longford Town | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–4 |
| Monaghan United | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 5–1 | | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Shelbourne | 3–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Sporting Fingal | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 3–1 | 2–3 |
| Waterford United | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 |
| Wexford Youths | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | |

## Promotion/relegation play-offs

Kildare County and Mervue United, the highest ranked non-reserve team from the 2008 A Championship, played off to see who would play in the 2009 First Division.
Mervue United won 5–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the First Division.

## Top scorers

| Goalscorers | Goals | Team |
| Robbie Doyle | 16 | Sporting Fingal |
| Anthony Flood | 15 | Shelbourne |
| Darren McKenna | 13 | Longford Town |
| Robbie Farrell | 11 | Dundalk |
| Vinny Sullivan | 11 | Waterford United |

## Gallery

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