2026 League of Ireland First Division

League of Ireland First Division

Season	2026
Dates	13 February 2026 – 16 October 2026
Matches	45
Goals	111 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorer	Sean Maguire (8 goals)
Biggest home win	UCD 4–0 Cobh Ramblers (27 March 2026) Cobh Ramblers 4–0 Treaty United (6 April 2026)
Biggest away win	Cobh Ramblers 0–3 Wexford (13 February 2026) Wexford 1–4 Cork City (20 February 2026)
Highest scoring	Cork City 4–2 Kerry (6 April 2026)
Longest winning run	3 matches Cork City
Longest unbeaten run	9 matches Cork City
Longest winless run	5 matches Cobh Ramblers Kerry Longford Town Treaty United Wexford
Longest losing run	3 matches Athlone Town Kerry Treaty United
Highest attendance	5,366 Cork City 4–2 Kerry (6 April 2026)
Lowest attendance	209 UCD 0–0 Wexford (6 April 2026)
Total attendance	47,219
Average attendance	1,049
← 2025 2027 → All statistics correct as of 6 April 2026.

The 2026 League of Ireland First Division, known as the SSE Airtricity Men's First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the 42nd season of the League of Ireland First Division for men's football. ^[1] The competition is scheduled to run from 13 February 2026 and until 16 October 2026. ^[2]

Teams

Athlone Town

Bray Wanderers

Cobh Ramblers

Cork City

Finn Harps

Treaty United

UCD

Wexford

Longford Town

Kerry

Locations of the 2026 First Division teams

Team changes

The 2025 League of Ireland First Division, saw Dundalk promoted after one season in the First Division. ^{[3] [4]} They replaced Cork City who were relegated from the 2025 League of Ireland Premier Division after a single season in the Premier Division. ^[5]

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	Munster FA Turner's Cross Stadium	7,485
Finn Harps	Ballybofey	Finn Park	6,000
Kerry	Tralee	Mounthawk Park	1,200
Longford Town	Longford	Bishopsgate	5,097
Treaty United	Limerick	Markets Field	5,000
UCD	Dublin	UCD Bowl	3,000
Wexford	Crossabeg	Ferrycarrig Park	2,500

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	Ian Ryan	Oisín Duffy	Macron	Valeo Futbol
Bray Wanderers	Paul Heffernan	Jimmy Corcoran	Capelli Sport [6]	OutdoorLiving.ie
Cobh Ramblers	Fran Rockett	Shane Griffin	Uhlsport	Caltech Electrical Supplies [7]
Cork City	Barry Robson	Sean Maguire	Rebel Army	Zeus Packaging [8]
Finn Harps	Kevin McHugh	Tony McNamee [9]	Joma	Kernans [10]
Kerry	Colin Healy	Sean McGrath [11]	Macron [12]	Kerry Airport [13]
Longford Town	Wayne Groves	Dean George	Umbro	None
Treaty United	Tommy Barrett	Mark Walsh [14]	O'Neills	Trade Electric Group
UCD	William O'Connor	Ronan Finn	O'Neills	Maples Group
Wexford	Stephen Elliott	Aaron Dobbs	Macron	Campion Insurance

Managerial Changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Cobh Ramblers	Richie Holland (interim)	End of interim spell	3 November 2025	Pre-season	Fran Rockett [15]	3 November 2025
Cork City	Gerard Nash [16]	Resigned	23 December 2025		Barry Robson [17]	11 January 2026

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification
1	Cork City	9	7	2	0	18	6	+12	23	Promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division
2	Bray Wanderers	9	4	3	2	12	10	+2	15	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
3	UCD	9	4	2	3	12	6	+6	14
4	Wexford	9	3	4	2	13	13	0	13
5	Athlone Town	9	4	1	4	11	13	−2	13
6	Cobh Ramblers	9	3	3	3	11	14	−3	12
7	Finn Harps	9	2	5	2	10	10	0	11
8	Longford Town	9	1	4	4	6	9	−3	7
9	Kerry	9	1	3	5	10	15	−5	6
10	Treaty United	9	1	3	5	8	15	−7	6

Updated to match(es) played on 6 April 2026. Source: SSE Airtricity League of Ireland First Division
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Results

Teams play each other four times (twice at home and twice away).

Home \ Away	ATH	BRW	COB	COR	FIN	KER	LON	TRU	UCD	WEX
Athlone Town			2–0		2–1		2–0		0–2	2–2
Bray Wanderers	2–1				2–2	2–1	1–1		2–1
Cobh Ramblers		1–1		1–1	1–1			4–0		0–3
Cork City	4–1	1–0				4–2	2–1	1–0
Finn Harps				0–0				2–2	2–1	1–1
Kerry	0–1		1–2		1–0		1–1
Longford Town			1–2		0–1				0–0	2–0
Treaty United	2–0	0–1				2–2	0–0
UCD			4–0	0–1		2–1		2–0		0–0
Wexford		2–1		1–4		1–1		3–2

Updated to match(es) played on 6 April 2026. Source: SSE Airtricity Men's First Division
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36
Cork City	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Bray Wanderers	5	3	6	4	3	2	2	2	2
UCD	3	6	3	2	4	4	3	3	3
Wexford	1	4	4	5	5	8	6	4	4
Athlone Town	2	2	2	3	2	3	4	6	5
Cobh Ramblers	10	7	7	7	7	9	9	7	6
Finn Harps	7	5	5	6	6	6	5	5	7
Longford Town	6	8	8	8	9	5	7	8	8
Kerry	8	9	9	9	8	7	8	9	9
Treaty United	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

	Promotion to 2027 League of Ireland Premier Division
	Qualification for League of Ireland Premier Division play-off

Updated to match(es) played on 6 April 2026. Source: SSE Airtricity Men's First Division

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 6 April 2026

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Sean Maguire	Cork City	8
2	Ciaran Behan	UCD	6
3	Dylan McGlade	Cobh Ramblers	5
4	Liam Doyle	Wexford	4
5	Cian Curtis	Treaty United	3
	Richard Ferizaj	Bray Wanderers
	Cian Murphy	Kerry
	Jason Oyenuga	Treaty United
	Conor Tourish	Finn Harps
10	13 players	Various	2

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Dylan McGlade	Cobh Ramblers	Treaty United	4–0	6 April 2026	[18]
Sean Maguire	Cork City	Kerry	4–2		[19]

See also

• 2026 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2026 League of Ireland Women's Premier Division
• 2026 FAI National League
• 2026 FAI Cup

References

1. "League of Ireland season to begin earlier in 2026". RTÉ. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
2. "2026 SSE Airtricity Men's First Division Fixture List". League of Ireland. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
3. "Dundalk dispatch Finn Harps to seal promotion to Premier Division". RTE Sport. 10 October 2025. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
4. "Richie Towell: Dundalk delight but readiness for Premier Division return a concern". RTE Sport. 15 October 2025. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
5. "Shels nab late winner to confirm Cork City's relegation". RTE Sport. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
6. "Bray Wanderers FC x Capelli Sport". Capelli Sport . 7 November 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
7. "Caltech Electrical Supplies Proud New Premier Partner / Front of Shirt Sponsor of Cobh Ramblers FC". Cobh Ramblers. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
8. "City & Zeus Extend Partnership!". Cork City. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
9. "Tony McNamee Named Club Captain". Finn Harps. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
10. "Kernans Renew Sponsorship for 2026". Finn Harps . 17 November 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
11. Brennan, Paul (5 February 2025). "Sean McGrath will captain Kerry FC for 2025 League of Ireland season". Irish Independent . Retrieved 23 January 2026.
12. "Macron become Kerry FC's new Technical Kit Partner". Kerry FC. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
13. "Kerry Airport Ireland Announced as Proud Front-of-Jersey Sponsor of Kerry FC Kit". Kerry . Retrieved 23 January 2026.
14. "Treaty United confirm captain for 2024 SSE Airtricity League season". www.limerickleader.ie. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
15. "Cobh Ramblers FC Appoint Fran Rockett as Men's Senior Head Coach - Cobh Ramblers Football Club". Cobh Ramblers . 3 November 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
16. "Ger Nash Steps Down". Cork City . 23 December 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
17. "Barry Robson Becomes Cork City FC Manager". Cork City. 11 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
18. O'Connell, Dylan (6 April 2026). "McGlade's hat-trick helps Cobh hammer toothless Treaty for first home win". Irish Examiner . Retrieved 7 April 2026.
19. "Over 5,000 watch leaders Cork hit Kerry with devastating revival in Munster derby". RTÉ Sport . 6 April 2026.