# 2013 League of Ireland First Division

The 2013 League of Ireland First Division season was the 29th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 8 teams and Athlone Town won the title.

## Teams

| Team | Location | Stadium |
| Athlone Town | Athlone | Athlone Town Stadium |
| Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | St. Colman's Park |
| Finn Harps | Ballybofey | Finn Park |
| Longford Town | Longford | City Calling Stadium |
| Mervue United | Galway | Fahy's Field |
| Salthill Devon | Salthill | Drom Soccer Park |
| Waterford United | Waterford | Waterford RSC |
| Wexford Youths | Wexford | Ferrycarrig Park |

## Overview

The 2013 First Division featured eight teams. Each team played every other team twice, totalling 28 games.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Athlone Town (C, P) | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 42 | 22 | +20 | 55 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 2 | Longford Town | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 50 | Lost promotion/relegation play-offs |
| 3 | Mervue United | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 49 | Lost promotion/relegation play-offs |
| 4 | Waterford United | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 40 | 24 | +16 | 47 | |
| 5 | Wexford Youths | 28 | 10 | 3 | 15 | 29 | 47 | −18 | 33 | |
| 6 | Finn Harps | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 31 | |
| 7 | Cobh Ramblers | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 42 | 54 | −12 | 31 | |
| 8 | Salthill Devon | 28 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 23 | 54 | −31 | 17 | Withdrew from league. |
* 1 2 Mervue United and Salthill Devon withdrew from the league to make way for Galway F.C. after the FAI declared that Galway city and County Galway should be represented in the League of Ireland by a single club.
* ↑ Cobh Ramblers replaced Monaghan United as members of the League of Ireland.

## Results
### Matches 1–14

| Home \ Away | ATH | COB | FHA | LON | MER | SAL | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 4–0 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 3–4 | 5–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 5–0 |
| Finn Harps | 2–3 | 4–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Longford Town | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–3 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Mervue United | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 |
| Salthill Devon | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–5 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Waterford United | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | | 0–1 |
| Wexford Youths | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | |

### Matches 15–28

| Home \ Away | ATH | COB | FHA | LON | MER | SAL | WAT | WEX |
| Athlone Town | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 0–1 | | 3–2 | 4–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Finn Harps | 3–2 | 2–2 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Longford Town | 0–1 | 7–2 | 3–1 | | 1–3 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Mervue United | 2–4 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Salthill Devon | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 1–4 | 3–2 |
| Waterford United | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | | 4–0 |
| Wexford Youths | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–2 | |

## Promotion/relegation play-off

The second and third placed First Division teams, Longford Town and Mervue United, played off to decide who would play Bray Wanderers, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2014 Premier Division.

### First Division

The play-off finished 3–3 on aggregate. Longford Town won 3–0 on penalties

### First Division v Premier Division

Bray Wanderers win 5–4 on aggregate and retained their place in the Premier Division.

## Goal scorers
### Top scorers

    As of 21 October 2013.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | David O'Sullivan | Longford Town | 21 |
| 2 | Conor Meade | Waterford United | 17 |
| 2 | Philip Gorman | Athlone Town | 17 |
| 4 | Enda Curran | Athlone Town | 12 |
| 5 | Gary Shanahan | Mervue United | 10 |
Source:

### Hat-Tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| David O'Sullivan | Longford Town | SD Galway | 5–0 | 8 March 2013 |
| Enda Curran | Salthill Devon | Athlone Town | 3–3 | 29 March 2013 |
| Conor Meade | Cobh Ramblers | Mervue United | 5–3 | 13 April 2013 |
| Philip Gorman | Athlone Town | Mervue United | 3–0 | 28 June 2013 |

## Awards
### Player of the Year

| Winner | Club |
| Philip Gorman | Athlone Town |

### Team of the Year

| No. | Pos. | Player | Club |
| 1 | 1GK | Paul Skinner | Athlone Town |
| 2 | 2DF | Gavin Kavanagh | Waterford United |
| 3 | 2DF | Aidan Collins | Athlone Town |
| 4 | 2DF | Noel Haverty | Longford Town |
| 5 | 2DF | Tom King | Mervue United |
| 6 | 3MF | Barry O'Mahony | Mervue United |
| 7 | 3MF | Mark Hughes | Athlone Town |
| 8 | 3MF | Graham Kelly | Athlone Town |
| 9 | 3MF | Ryan Manning | Mervue United |
| 10 | 4FW | Philip Gorman | Athlone Town |
| 11 | 4FW | David O'Sullivan | Longford Town |