2009 League of Ireland Premier Division

League of Ireland Premier Division

Season	2009
Champions	Bohemians (11th title)
Relegated	Cork City Derry City
UEFA Champions League	Bohemians
UEFA Europa League	Shamrock Rovers Dundalk Sporting Fingal [note 1]
Top goalscorer	Gary Twigg: 24 (Shamrock Rovers) [1]
← 2008 2010 →

The 2009 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 25th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 10 teams. Bohemians were champions while Shamrock Rovers finished as runners-up.

Teams

Bray Wanderers

Cork City

Derry City

Drogheda United

Dundalk

Galway United

Sligo Rovers

Dublin Teams
Bohemians
St Patrick's Athletic
Shamrock Rovers

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Location of teams in the 2009 League of Ireland Premier Division

Team	Base	Manager	Stadium
Bohemians	Phibsborough	Pat Fenlon	Dalymount Park
Bray Wanderers	Bray	Eddie Gormley	Carlisle Grounds
Cork City	Cork	Paul Doolin	Turners Cross
Derry City	Derry	Stephen Kenny	Brandywell Stadium
Drogheda United	Drogheda	Alan Mathews	United Park
Dundalk	Dundalk	Seán Connor	Oriel Park
Galway United	Galway	Ian Foster	Terryland Park
Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght	Michael O'Neill	Tallaght Stadium
Sligo Rovers	Sligo	Paul Cook	The Showgrounds
St Patrick's Athletic	Inchicore	Pete Mahon	Richmond Park

Overview

The 2009 Premier Division featured 10 clubs. The regular season began on 6 March and concluded on 6 November. Each team played every other team four times, totalling 36 matches. ^[2] On the final day of the regular season Bohemians were crowned League of Ireland champions for the eleventh time in the club's history after drawing 1–1 with Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds. ^[3] After the season ended both Derry City and Cork City were expelled from the League of Ireland. Derry City were accused of making extra payments to players using unofficial secondary contracts. This was against league rules which placed limits on the amount clubs could spend on players' wages. Cork City had been in serious financial difficulties for several seasons and its holding company was eventually wound up by the High Court. However both clubs were effectively reformed and were subsequently allowed to join the 2010 First Division. ^{[2] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bohemians (C)	36	24	5	7	62	21	+41	77	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Shamrock Rovers	36	21	10	5	51	27	+24	73	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
3	Cork City [lower-alpha 1] (R)	36	17	9	10	42	28	+14	60	Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
4	Derry City [lower-alpha 2] (R)	36	18	5	13	49	31	+18	59
5	Dundalk	36	12	8	16	46	51	−5	44	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
6	Sligo Rovers	36	11	10	15	41	51	−10	43
7	St Patrick's Athletic	36	13	4	19	29	46	−17	43
8	Galway United	36	12	6	18	36	57	−21	42
9	Drogheda United (O)	36	7	11	18	32	50	−18	32	Qualification to Relegation play-off
10	Bray Wanderers [lower-alpha 3]	36	6	10	20	30	56	−26	28

Source: ^[2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Cork City were expelled from Premier Division after its holding company was wound up by the High Court.
2. Derry City were expelled from Premier Division after accusations of making extra payments to players using unofficial secondary contracts.
3. Despite losing play-off, Bray Wanderers retained their place in the Premier Division after Cork City and Derry City were relegated.

Results

Matches 1–18

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	DUN	GAL	SHM	SLI	StP
Bohemians	—	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	5–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–0
Bray Wanderers	1–3	—	0–2	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	0–0	3–1	2–1
Cork City	0–1	2–1	—	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–1
Derry City	3–2	2–0	2–1	—	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–0
Drogheda United	0–1	0–0	2–1	0–3	—	1–1	0–1	2–2	0–0	1–0
Dundalk	0–1	3–0	1–2	1–0	3–0	—	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–1
Galway United	0–2	3–0	0–2	0–3	1–1	1–0	—	1–3	0–0	2–1
Shamrock Rovers	2–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–0	—	2–1	2–0
Sligo Rovers	0–0	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–3	2–0	0–3	—	0–1
St Patrick's Athletic	3–1	1–1	0–3	0–3	2–1	2–0	0–3	1–2	2–2	—

Source: loi.ie
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	DUN	GAL	SHM	SLI	StP
Bohemians	—	1–2	1–0	1–0	4–0	3–2	5–0	0–0	3–1	3–1
Bray Wanderers	1–1	—	3–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–2	2–2	0–1
Cork City	0–2	1–0	—	2–0	0–0	2–1	4–2	0–0	0–0	0–1
Derry City	0–1	3–0	1–1	—	0–1	3–0	1–3	0–1	1–2	1–0
Drogheda United	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–3	—	2–2	4–0	0–1	2–2	1–2
Dundalk	0–2	0–0	1–0	1–2	4–2	—	3–0	2–4	2–2	0–0
Galway United	0–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	0–2	0–3	—	0–1	1–0	2–1
Shamrock Rovers	1–0	3–1	1–2	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	—	3–1	1–0
Sligo Rovers	1–0	1–0	0–3	0–4	3–1	3–4	2–0	1–2	—	2–0
St Patrick's Athletic	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–2	—

Source: loi.ie
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

The ninth and tenth placed teams from the Premier Division, Drogheda United and Bray Wanderers, played off after the regular season was completed. The winner would retain a place in the 2010 Premier Division. The loser would play off against the winner of the 2009 First Division play off. The winner of this match would also gain a place in the 2010 Premier Division.

Premier Division

Drogheda United v Bray Wanderers

10 November 2009	Drogheda United	2–0	Bray Wanderers	United Park
19:45 GMT	Chambers 60' King 82'	Report	Mulroy  84'	Referee: D. Hancock

Drogheda United retain their place in the 2010 Premier Division

Premier Division v First Division

Sporting Fingal v Bray Wanderers

13 November 2009	Sporting Fingal	2–0	Bray Wanderers	Morton Stadium
19:45 GMT	Paisley 51' Byrne 67'	Report		Attendance: 740 Referee: D. Tomney

Bray Wanderers v Sporting Fingal

16 November 2009	Bray Wanderers	2–2	Sporting Fingal	Carlisle Grounds
19:45 GMT	Flood 83' O'Connor 90+1'	Report	Zayed 59' Bayly 90+2'	Referee: D. Hanney

Sporting Fingal won 4–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the Premier Division. The result of the play off would eventually prove null and void. Despite losing play-off, Bray Wanderers also retained their place in the Premier Division after Cork City and Derry City were relegated. ^[2]

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Team	Goals
1	Gary Twigg	Shamrock Rovers	24
2	Jason Byrne	Bohemians	22
3	Raffaele Cretaro	Sligo Rovers	15
4	Chris Turner	Dundalk	12
5	Mark Farren	Derry City	10

Last updated: 6 November 2009
Source: soccerway.com

See also

• 2009 League of Ireland First Division
• 2009 League of Ireland Cup
• 2009 A Championship

Notes

1. Sporting Fingal who played in the First Division qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after winning the 2009 FAI Cup Final.

References

1. "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
2. "Ireland 2009". RSSSF . Retrieved 27 July 2016.
3. "Bohemians make their 11th title official". irishtimes.com. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
4. "Derry thrown out of League of Ireland". rte.ie. 7 November 2009. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
5. "Derry City invited back to league". news.bbc.co.uk. 12 November 2009.
6. "Despite heartache for fans and players, the harsh reality is that City got what they deserved". independent.ie. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
7. "Ireland 2010". RSSSF . Retrieved 1 August 2016.