# 1987–88 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 1987–88 League of Ireland Premier Division was the third season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The Premier Division was made up of 12 teams.

## Overview

The Premier Division was contested by 12 teams and Dundalk F.C. won the championship.

## Final Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 33 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 54 | 32 | +22 | 46 | Qualification to 1988–89 European Cup |
| 2 | St Patrick's Athletic | 33 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 52 | 25 | +27 | 45 | Qualification to 1988–89 UEFA Cup |
| 3 | Bohemians | 33 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 45 | |
| 4 | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 53 | 30 | +23 | 41 | |
| 5 | Galway United | 33 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 40 | |
| 6 | Waterford United | 33 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 40 | 31 | +9 | 34 | |
| 7 | Cork City | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 41 | 47 | −6 | 34 | |
| 8 | Derry City | 33 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 31 | Qualification to 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup |
| 9 | Limerick City | 33 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 33 | 60 | −27 | 25 | |
| 10 | Shelbourne | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 27 | 65 | −38 | 24 | |
| 11 | Bray Wanderers (R) | 33 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 27 | 65 | −38 | 18 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
| 12 | Sligo Rovers (R) | 33 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 30 | 81 | −51 | 13 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ Derry City qualified for the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup after reaching the 1987–88 FAI Cup final.

## Results
### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DUN | GAL | LIM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | WAT |
| Bohemians | — | 1–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Bray Wanderers | 0–4 | — | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| Cork City | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Derry City | 3–2 | 0–0 | 7–2 | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 |
| Dundalk | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Galway United | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Limerick City | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 3–0 | — | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–1 | 7–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Shelbourne | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Sligo Rovers | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 1–7 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | — | 1–1 |
| Waterford United | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — |

### Matches 23–33

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COR | DER | DUN | GAL | LIM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | WAT |
| Bohemians | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–2 | — | — |
| Bray Wanderers | — | — | — | — | — | 1–2 | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | — | — | — |
| Cork City | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | — | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | — | — | — | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Derry City | 0–1 | 6–0 | 0–1 | — | — | — | 3–2 | — | 0–3 | — | — | — |
| Dundalk | 0–2 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | — | — | 4–0 | — | — | — | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Galway United | — | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | — | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | — |
| Limerick City | — | 3–0 | — | — | — | 1–5 | — | 0–4 | 5–0 | 2–0 | — | — |
| Shamrock Rovers | — | — | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | — |
| Shelbourne | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | — | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–7 | 0–0 | — | — | — | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | — | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | — | — | 0–2 |
| Waterford United | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | — | — | — |