2022 League of Ireland First Division

League of Ireland First Division

Season	2022
Dates	18 February 2022 – 11 November 2022
Champions	Cork City
Matches played	144
Top goalscorer	Phoenix Patterson (17 league goals + 3 playoff goals)
Total attendance	178,000
Average attendance	1,193 [1]
← 2021 2023 → All statistics correct as of 23 November 2023.

The 2022 League of Ireland First Division season was the 38th season of the League of Ireland First Division, the second tier of the Republic of Ireland's association football league. The title was won by Cork City. ^[2]

Overview

The First Division has 9 teams. Each side plays each other four times for a total of 32 matches in the season. The team that finishes in first place achieve automatic promotion to the Premier Division. Teams finishing second to fifth place will enter the play-offs to determine the side to contest for a place in the 2023 Premier Division against the ninth placed (second last) Premier Division team.

Declan Carey finished the season with the Golden Boot, scoring 20 goals for City, including a brace on the final day of the season vs Bray.

Teams

Athlone Town

Bray Wanderers

Cobh Ramblers

Cork City

Treaty United

Galway United

Wexford

Longford Town

Waterford

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Locations of the First Division teams

Team changes

Bray Wanderers and Cabinteely F.C. merged in the pre-season to create a revamped Bray Wanderers. ^[3] Shelbourne were promoted as 2021 champions and UCD as playoff winners, to the Premier Division. Waterford F.C. and Longford Town F.C. joined following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2021 season.

Additional teams

No other teams applied for a First Division Licence. ^[4]

Stadia and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Athlone Town	Athlone	Athlone Town Stadium	5,000
Bray Wanderers	Bray	Carlisle Grounds	4,000
Cobh Ramblers	Cobh	St. Colman's Park	3,000
Cork City	Cork	Turners Cross	7,845
Galway United	Galway	Eamonn Deacy Park	5,000
Longford Town	Longford	Bishopsgate	5,097
Treaty United	Limerick	Markets Field	5,000
Waterford	Waterford	RSC	5,160
Wexford	Crossabeg	Ferrycarrig Park	2,500

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Athlone Town	Martin Russell	Resigned	10 April 2022 [5]	9th	Dermot Lennon	10 April 2022 [6]
Waterford FC	Ian Morris	Mutual Consent	20 April 2022 [7]	5th	Gary Hunt	20 April 2022 [8]
Waterford FC	Gary Hunt	Permanent Replacement	14 June 2022 [9]	4th	Danny Searle	14 June 2022 [10]
Cobh Ramblers	Darren Murphy	Mutual Consent	19 June 2022 [11]	8th	Shane Keegan	19 June 2022 [12]

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Athlone Town	Dermot Lennon	Micheal Schlingermann	Umbro	Hayden & Co. Solicitors
Bray Wanderers	Pat Devlin	Hugh Douglas	Nike	MyClub
Cobh Ramblers	Shane Keegan	John Kavanagh	Joma	McCarthy Insurance Group
Cork City	Colin Healy	Cian Coleman	Adidas	University College Cork
Galway United	John Caulfield	Conor McCormack	O'Neill's	Comer Property Management
Longford Town	Gary Cronin	Sam Verdon	Macron	Bishopsgate
Treaty United	Tommy Barrett	Jack Lynch	Umbro	Derrin Homes
Waterford	Danny Searle	Eddie Nolan	Umbro	DG FOODS LTD
Wexford	Ian Ryan	Joe Manley	Umbro	Wallace

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cork City (C, P)	32	20	8	4	63	22	+41	68	Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2	Waterford	32	20	4	8	70	34	+36	64	Qualification for Promotion play-offs
3	Galway United	32	17	9	6	56	30	+26	60
4	Longford Town	32	14	10	8	49	41	+8	52
5	Treaty United	32	11	11	10	37	43	−6	44
6	Wexford	32	10	11	11	45	47	−2	41
7	Bray Wanderers	32	6	9	17	30	62	−32	27
8	Athlone Town	32	7	3	22	44	75	−31	24
9	Cobh Ramblers	32	4	5	23	37	78	−41	17

Source: League of Ireland, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Play-offs

Bracket

	First Division play-off Semi-finals							First Division play-off Final					Promotion/relegation play-off
	26/29 October 2022
													11 November 2022
	Treaty United		1	3	4
								4 November 2022					UCD		1
	Waterford		4	3	7
								Waterford		3			Waterford		0
	26/29 October 2022
								Galway United		0
	Longford Town		2	0	2
	Galway United		2	3	5

First Division play-off Semi-finals

First leg

Treaty United v Waterford

26 October 2022	Treaty United	1–4	Waterford	Limerick
19:45 IST	Enda Curran 62' (pen.)	Report	Phoenix Patterson 5' Phoenix Patterson 29' Junior Quitirna 70' Sean Guerins 90+4' (o.g.)	Stadium: Markets Field Referee: Damien MacGraith

Longford Town v Galway United

26 October 2022	Longford Town	2–2	Galway United	Longford
19:45 IST	Jordan Adeyemo 28' Jordan Adeyemo 54'	Report	Mikie Rowe 49' Mikie Rowe 61'	Stadium: Bishopsgate Referee: Kevin O'Sullivan

Second leg

Waterford v Treaty United

29 October 2022	Waterford	3–3	Treaty United	Waterford
19:45 IST	Timi Sobowale 22' Wassim Aouachria 48' (pen.) Phoenix Patterson 54'	Report	Mark Ludden 9' (pen.) Mark Ludden 26' Lee Molloy 29'	Stadium: RSC Attendance: 2,585 Referee: Paul Norton

Galway United v Longford Town

30 October 2022	Galway United	3–0	Longford Town	Galway
16:00 IST	David Hurley 24' Mikie Rowe 90' Rob Manley 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Eamonn Deacy Park Referee: Damien McGraith

First Division play-off Final

Galway United v Waterford

4 November 2022	Galway United	0–3	Waterford	County Limerick
19:45 IST		Report	Junior Quitirna 9' Wassim Aouachria 45+1' Junior Quitirna 81'	Stadium: Markets Field Referee: Alan Patchell

Promotion/relegation play-off

UCD v Waterford

11 November 2022	UCD	1–0	Waterford	County Dublin
19:45 IST	Tommy Lonergan 15'	Report		Stadium: Richmond Park Attendance: 2,781 Referee: Rob Harvey

See also

• 2022 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2022 FAI Cup

References

1. "League of Ireland enjoys huge increase in crowds since last pre-Covid season". the42. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
2. "Cork City lift First Division title at packed Turner's Cross after win over Bray". The 42. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
3. "Bray Wanderers and Cabinteely confirm name of newly merged team". 3 December 2021.
4. Donnelly, David (3 February 2022). "Full steam ahead as all 19 League of Ireland sides awarded licenses for 2022". DublinLive.ie .
5. Dollery, Paul. "Athlone Town part company with manager Martin Russell". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
6. Dollery, Paul. "Athlone Town part company with manager Martin Russell". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
7. Dollery, Paul. "Waterford part ways with manager Ian Morris after just 10 games in charge". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
8. Dollery, Paul. "Waterford part ways with manager Ian Morris after just 10 games in charge". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
9. "Waterford appoint former Aldershot boss Danny Searle as new head coach". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
10. "Waterford appoint former Aldershot boss Danny Searle as new head coach". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
11. "Cobh Ramblers part company with boss Darren Murphy and backroom team". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
12. "Cobh Ramblers part company with boss Darren Murphy and backroom team". The42.ie. The42.ie. Retrieved 20 June 2022.