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Welcome to the very exciting League of Ireland thread! Ireland has a League? I thought it just had no potatoes and a poo poo football team lololol Yep! We have had a league system for almost 100 years. It was at its height of popularity back in the 1950s and 1960s, but with the emergence of tv and a lack of investment by the FAI, ground facilities deteriorated and interest waned. A lot of fans here turned to the English league, which they could watch on telly for next to nothing in the comfort of their own homes, rather than standing in the cold and rain on unsheltered terraces which were falling apart to watch a match on a pitch which looked like it had been freshly ploughed. What's The League Format? There are two divisions, the Premier Division (consisting of 12 teams) and the First Division (consisting of 8 teams). In the Premier Division, each team will play each other 3 times, totalling 33 matches, while in the First Division, each team will play the others 4 times, totally 28 matches. There is fairly standard Promotion/Relegation between the two divisions. The bottom team in the Premier Division is relegated, with the top team in the First Division coming up. The team 2nd from bottom in the Premier Division enters a Promotion/Relegation play-off with the 2nd place team in the First Division. This ia a two-legged tie, with the winners earning a spot in the Premier League next season, while the loser will probably go bust or something. So Get To The Point! Who Are The Teams? Premier Division: Bohemian FC Nickname: Bohs, The Gypsies Location: Phibsborough, Dublin 7 Manager: Aaron Callaghan Ground: Dalymount Park Capacity: 4,300 Bray Wanderers FC Nickname: The Seagulls Location: Bray, Co. Wicklow Manager: Pat Devlin (maybe?) Ground: Carlisle Ground Capacity: 3,185 Cork City Nickname: Rebel Army, The Leesiders Location: Cork, Co. Cork Manager: Tommy Dunne Ground: Turner's Cross Capacity: 7,365 Derry City Nickname: Candystripes, Red and White Army Location: Derry, Northern Ireland Manager: Declan Devine Ground: Brandywell Stadium Capacity: 2,900 Drogheda United Nickname: Drogs, Boynesiders Location: Drogheda, Co. Louth Manager: Mick Cooke Ground: Hunky Dorys Park Capacity: 4,000 Dundalk FC Nickname: The Lilywhites Location: Dundalk, Co. Louth Manager: Stephen Kenny Ground: Oriel Park Capacity: 3,000 Limerick FC Nickname: The Blues, Lims Location: Limerick, Co. Limerick Manager: Stuart Taylor Ground: Thomond Park Capacity: 26,500 Shamrock Rovers FC Nickname: Hoops, Rovers ("Scum" to everyone else) Location: Tallaght, Co. Dublin (after years of wandering around like homeless people) Manager: Trevor Croly Ground: Tallaght Stadium Capacity: 6,000 Shelbourne FC Nickname: Shels, The Reds Location: Drumcondra, Dublin 7 Manager: Alan Matthews Ground: Tolka Park Capacity: 9,680 Sligo Rovers FC Nickname: The Bit o' Red Location: Sligo, Co. Sligo Manager: Ian Baraclough Ground: Showgrounds Capacity: 4,000 St. Patrick's Athletic FC Nickname: Saints Location: Inchicore, Dublin 8 Manager: Liam Buckley Ground: Richmond Park Capacity: 2,500 UCD AFC Nickname: The Students Location: Belfield, Dublin 4 Manager: Martin Russell Ground: UCD Bowl Capacity: 1,448 zZzZzZbuh... So When Does This All Kick Off Then? Tonight! March 8th!! Matches are typically played on a Friday night, although some bigger derbies get moved to Sundays. Premier Division Friday 8th March Bohemian FC v UCD 7:45pm Bray Wanderers v Shelbourne 7:45pm Derry City v Sligo Rovers 7:45pm Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers 7:45pm St. Pat's v Drogheda United 7:45pm Sunday 10th March Limerick v Cork City 5:15pm First Division Friday 8th March SD Galway v Longford Town 7:45pm Waterford Utd v Finn Harps 7:45pm Saturday 9th March Athlone Town v Mervue United 7:45pm Cobh Ramblers v Wexford Youths 7:45pm
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 12:10 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 17:32 |
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Which team is going to win I want to support a winning team.
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 12:26 |
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I reckon Sligo are your best bet, they won last year and have a pretty strong team. Dundalk were a big surprise last season, though, and pushed them pretty close. Rovers I'm not too sure about, they have a good team but have a new manager after sacking Stephen Kenny during last season. They've lost Garry Twigg too, who was a huge source of goals for them. I'll hopefully do a quick write-up of the teams (and the First Division ones too) over the weekend.
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 12:33 |
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How did Limerick get such a large stadium, that's not the national team's home is it?
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 20:47 |
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Moktaro posted:How did Limerick get such a large stadium, that's not the national team's home is it? It's a rugby stadium
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 21:19 |
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Are the super blues seriously playing all their matches at Thomond?
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 21:21 |
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sircozzie posted:Are the super blues seriously playing all their matches at Thomond? On my way home from Bray now, just about edged a 1-0 win against Shels, who were playing with 10 men for about an hour. Dreadful. e: That wasn't the post I wanted to quote... irlZaphod fucked around with this message at Mar 8, 2013 around 22:33 |
| # ? Mar 8, 2013 22:30 |
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OP you seem to have left Celtic out of the OP? An oversight? Or something nefarious?
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 01:02 |
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Which team are the Stoke of LoI
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 06:33 |
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Byolante posted:Which team are the Stoke of LoI all of them.
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 10:58 |
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This season I am cheering for anyone who is not rovers Scum.
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 10:59 |
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irlZaphod posted:I reckon Sligo are your best bet, they won last year and have a pretty strong team. Dundalk were a big surprise last season, though, and pushed them pretty close. Rovers I'm not too sure about, they have a good team but have a new manager after sacking Stephen Kenny during last season. They've lost Garry Twigg too, who was a huge source of goals for them. Dundalk only survived due to the playoff last season, you mean those Drogheda scum.
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 12:17 |
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Mickolution posted:Dundalk only survived due to the playoff last season, you mean those Drogheda scum. e: End the season now please 
irlZaphod fucked around with this message at Mar 9, 2013 around 14:30 |
| # ? Mar 9, 2013 14:27 |
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I could easily go to the Limerick - Cork game today but I've opted to actually play soccer instead because I don't reckon it'll be a spectacular game, although no doubt a good occaison. I know shitloads of people going though, hopefully they won't be telling me I missed out tomorrow...
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| # ? Mar 10, 2013 14:47 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 17:32 |
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sircozzie posted:I could easily go to the Limerick - Cork game today but I've opted to actually play soccer instead because I don't reckon it'll be a spectacular game, although no doubt a good occaison.
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| # ? Mar 10, 2013 15:11 |
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