# 2009 League of Ireland First Division

The 2009 League of Ireland First Division season was the 25th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 12 teams and UCD won the title. Third placed Sporting Fingal also won the 2009 FAI Cup Final, qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League and were promoted to the Premier Division after winning a promotion/relegation play off.

## Clubs

| Team | Base | Manager | Stadium |
| Athlone Town | Athlone | Brendan Place | Athlone Town Stadium |
| Finn Harps | Ballybofey | James Gallagher | Finn Park |
| Kildare County | Newbridge | Joe Somerville | Station Road |
| Limerick | Limerick | Pat Scully | Jackman Park |
| Longford Town | Longford | Gareth Cronin | Flancare Park |
| Mervue United | Galway | Johnny Glynn | Terryland Park |
| Monaghan United | Monaghan | Mick Cooke | Century Homes Park |
| Shelbourne | Drumcondra | Dermot Keely | Tolka Park |
| Sporting Fingal | Fingal | Liam Buckley | Morton Stadium |
| UCD | Belfield | Martin Russell | UCD Bowl |
| Waterford United | Waterford | Stephen Henderson | Waterford RSC |
| Wexford Youths | Crossabeg | Mick Wallace | Ferrycarraig Park |

## Overview

This season saw the division expanded from 10 to 12 clubs. This was because the 2009 Premier Division was reduced to 10 clubs. The regular season began on 6 March and concluded on 7 November. Each team played the other teams three times, totaling 33 games. UCD finished as champions and were automatically promoted to the Premier Division. There was no promotion/relegation play-off between the First Division and the A Championship this season. This was only because Kildare County, who finished bottom of the table, withdrew from the League of Ireland before the play-offs could be played.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | UCD (C) | 33 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 62 | 22 | +40 | 74 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 2 | Shelbourne | 33 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 66 | 31 | +35 | 73 | Lost promotion/relegation play off |
| 3 | Sporting Fingal (P) | 33 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 68 | 28 | +40 | 69 | UEFA Europa League/Premier Division |
| 4 | Waterford United | 33 | 20 | 6 | 7 | 52 | 20 | +32 | 66 | |
| 5 | Monaghan United | 33 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 58 | 48 | +10 | 55 | |
| 6 | Wexford Youths | 33 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 50 | |
| 7 | Limerick F.C. | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 44 | |
| 8 | Finn Harps | 33 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 35 | 51 | −16 | 33 | |
| 9 | Longford Town | 33 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 46 | 62 | −16 | 28 | |
| 10 | Athlone Town | 33 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 32 | 63 | −31 | 27 | |
| 11 | Mervue United | 33 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 28 | 64 | −36 | 23 | |
| 12 | Kildare County | 33 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 25 | 85 | −60 | 15 | Withdrew from the league |
* ↑ Sporting Fingal qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after winning the 2009 FAI Cup Final and were promoted to the Premier Division after winning the promotion/relegation play off.
* ↑ Limerick 37 F.C. changed their name to Limerick F.C.
* ↑ Kildare County withdrew from league at end of season and did participate in promotion/relegation play off.

## Results
### Matches 1 to 22

| Home \ Away | ATH | FHA | KIL | LIM | LON | MER | MON | SHE | SFI | UCD | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Finn Harps | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Kildare County | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–8 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 |
| Limerick | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 1–4 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Longford Town | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–3 | | 3–0 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Mervue United | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 3–2 | | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Monaghan United | 0–0 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Shelbourne | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 7–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Sporting Fingal | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–4 | 2–0 |
| UCD | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Waterford United | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 1–2 |
| Wexford Youths | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |

### Matches 23 to 33

| Home \ Away | ATH | FHA | KIL | LIM | LON | MER | MON | SHE | SFI | UCD | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 0–6 | 2–2 | | | | 1–2 | | | 0–5 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Finn Harps | | | | | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–3 | | 0–5 | 1–1 | |
| Kildare County | | 0–2 | | | | 0–1 | | 1–5 | 2–3 | | | 1–2 |
| Limerick | 6–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | | | 2–1 | 3–3 | | | | 2–1 | |
| Longford Town | 3–0 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | | | 1–4 | | 0–4 | | | |
| Mervue United | 3–1 | 0–1 | | | 0–1 | | | 2–4 | 1–4 | 1–2 | | |
| Monaghan United | | | 6–1 | | | 4–2 | | 0–3 | 2–2 | | | 3–0 |
| Shelbourne | 0–0 | | | 3–3 | 4–5 | | | | | 2–2 | | 1–2 |
| Sporting Fingal | 2–3 | 4–1 | | 2–1 | | | | 2–2 | | 1–0 | | 0–1 |
| UCD | | | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | | | | 2–3 | 2–0 |
| Waterford United | | | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | | |
| Wexford Youths | | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | | | | 0–0 | |

## Promotion/relegation play-offs

The second and third placed First Division teams, Shelbourne and Sporting Fingal played off to decide who would play the winner of the Premier Division play-off. The winner of this play off would play in the 2010 Premier Division.

### First Division v Premier Division

Sporting Fingal won 4–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the Premier Division.

## Top scorers

| Scorer | Team | Goals |
| Conan Byrne | Sporting Fingal | 21 |
| Karl Bermingham | Monaghan United | 17 |
| Graham Cummins | Waterford United | 17 |
| David McAllister | Shelbourne | 16 |
| Ciarán Kilduff | UCD | 14 |
| Stephen O'Flynn | Limerick F.C. | 14 |