2006 League of Ireland Premier Division

League of Ireland Premier Division

Season	2006
Champions	Shelbourne (13th title)
Relegated	Shelbourne Dublin City
UEFA Champions League	Derry City
UEFA Cup	St Patrick's Athletic Drogheda United
UEFA Intertoto Cup	Cork City
Setanta Sports Cup	Cork City Derry City Drogheda United St Patrick's Athletic
Top goalscorer	Jason Byrne: 15 (Shelbourne) [1]
Highest attendance	6,080 [2] Derry City 1–0 Cork City
Total attendance	257,745 [note 1]
Average attendance	1,562
← 2005 2007 →

The 2006 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 22nd season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Shelbourne were champions while Derry City finished as runners-up. However Shelbourne were subsequently demoted to the First Division and had to withdraw from the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and 2007 Setanta Sports Cup because of their financial difficulties.

Club information

Team	Manager	Main sponsor	Kit supplier	Stadium	Capacity
Bohemians	Gareth Farrelly	Des Kelly Carpets	O'Neills	Dalymount Park	8,500
Bray Wanderers	Eddie Gormley	Slevin Group	Adidas	Carlisle Grounds	7,000
Cork City	Damien Richardson	Nissan	O'Neills	Turners Cross	8,000
Derry City	Stephen Kenny	MeteorElectrical.com	Umbro	The Brandywell	7,700
Drogheda United	Paul Doolin	Murphy Environmental	Jako	United Park	5,400
Dublin City	Dermot Keely	Carroll's Irish Gift Stores	Umbro	Dalymount Park	8,500
Longford Town	Alan Mathews	Flancare	Umbro	Flancare Park	4,500
Shelbourne	Pat Fenlon	JW Hire	Umbro	Tolka Park	10,100
Sligo Rovers	Sean Connor	Toher's	Jako	The Showgrounds	5,500
St Patrick's Athletic	John McDonnell	Smart Telecom	Umbro	Richmond Park	5,500
UCD	Pete Mahon	Budweiser	O'Neills	Belfield Park	1,900
Waterford United	Gareth Cronin	ThermoFrame	Diadora	Waterford Regional Sports Centre	8,000

Overview

The Premier Division season kicked off on 10 March and concluded on 17 November. The season saw several clubs face financial difficulties. The Revenue Commissioners took High Court action and threatened to have Shelbourne wound up after it failed to pay more than €104,000 in outstanding taxes. ^{[3] [4]} Shelbourne also struggled to pay its players during the season. In July Dublin City also went out of business and withdrew from the league, unable to complete the season. Their results were expunged from the record which benefited both Cork and Derry who had dropped points to them. ^[5] However Shelbourne's off field problems did not prevent them from winning the title. Mark Farren's stoppage-time winner for Derry City away to Waterford United on 13 November ensured that for the third successive year the title would be decided on the final day of the season. Shelbourne clinched the title with a 2–1 win over Bohemians at Tolka Park. Jason Byrne and Glen Crowe scored the vital goals. However Shelbourne's celebrations were cut short when the league decided to demote them to the First Division. They also withdrew from the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and 2007 Setanta Sports Cup because of their financial difficulties. ^{[6] [7]}

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Shelbourne (C, R)	30	18	8	4	60	27	+33	62	Demotion to League of Ireland First Division [lower-alpha 1]
2	Derry City	30	18	8	4	46	20	+26	62	Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
3	Drogheda United	30	16	10	4	37	23	+14	58	Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round
4	Cork City	30	15	11	4	37	15	+22	56	Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
5	Sligo Rovers	30	11	7	12	33	42	−9	40
6	UCD	30	9	11	10	26	26	0	38
7	St Patrick's Athletic	30	9	10	11	32	29	+3	37	Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round [lower-alpha 2]
8	Longford Town	30	8	10	12	23	27	−4	34
9	Bohemians [lower-alpha 3]	30	9	5	16	29	34	−5	29
10	Bray Wanderers	30	3	8	19	22	64	−42	17
11	Waterford United [lower-alpha 4]	30	2	6	22	20	58	−38	12	Qualification to Relegation play-off
12	Dublin City	17	4	3	10	11	24	−13	15	Withdrew from league [lower-alpha 5]

Source: ^{[6] [7]}
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Shelbourne were demoted to the First Division for financial irregularities.
2. St Patrick's Athletic qualified for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round after reaching the 2006 FAI Cup Final.
3. Bohemians were deducted three points for fielding Jason McGuinness while he was suspended.
4. Waterford United lost promotion/relegation play-off but subsequently replaced Shelbourne for the 2007 season.
5. Dublin City withdrew from league on 18 July. All their results were expunged.

Results

Matches 1–20

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	LON	SHE	SLI	StP	UCD	WAT
Bohemians	—	3–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–0	2–1	4–2
Bray Wanderers	0–3	—	0–0	2–3	0–1	1–0	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–1	3–1
Cork City	1–0	6–0	—	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–0
Derry City	1–0	3–0	2–0	—	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–1	3–1	2–0	4–0
Drogheda United	1–0	1–0	0–0	3–1	—	1–0	1–3	2–2	2–1	1–0	4–0
Longford Town	3–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	0–0	—	0–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	3–0
Shelbourne	2–0	4–1	2–2	1–0	2–1	0–0	—	3–0	3–0	6–0	5–1
Sligo Rovers	1–0	2–0	0–3	3–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–1	3–1
St Patrick's Athletic	0–1	3–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–2	3–1	—	0–0	0–0
UCD	0–1	4–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–2	3–0	0–1	—	2–1
Waterford United	1–3	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–3	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–3	0–1	—

Source: ^[7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 21–30

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	LON	SHE	SLI	StP	UCD	WAT
Bohemians	—	1–1	—	—	2–2	—	—	—	0–1	0–1	3–1
Bray Wanderers	—	—	2–1	—	—	0–2	2–3	1–1	—	—	—
Cork City	1–0	—	—	—	—	1–1	1–0	2–0	—	—	4–1
Derry City	1–1	0–0	1–0	—	0–0	—	—	4–0	—	0–0	—
Drogheda United	—	1–1	0–0	—	—	2–0	—	—	—	1–0	1–0
Longford Town	3–0	—	—	0–2	—	—	—	0–2	0–0	—	—
Shelbourne	2–1	—	—	2–2	2–2	2–0	—	—	—	—	—
Sligo Rovers	1–0	—	—	—	2–3	—	0–2	—	3–2	—	0–0
St Patrick's Athletic	—	5–1	0–1	0–1	3–0	—	1–3	—	—	—	0–1
UCD	—	4–0	1–1	—	—	3–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	—	—
Waterford United	—	3–0	—	0–1	—	1–2	0–1	—	—	0–0	—

Source: ^[7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/Relegation Play-off

Dundalk who finished second in the 2006 League of Ireland First Division played off against Waterford United who finished eleventh in Premier Division.

1st Leg

Dundalk v Waterford United

22 November 2006

Dundalk

1–1

Waterford United

2nd Leg

Waterford United v Dundalk

25 November 2006

Waterford United

1–2

Dundalk

Dundalk won 3–2 on aggregate but did not meet the criteria set out by the FAI's Independent Assessment Group and were not promoted. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Independent Assessment Group

In March 2006 it was announced that the League of Ireland and the FAI would be merging. As part of this arrangement the league would be restructured and membership of the 2007 Premier Division and 2007 First Division would be decided by an Independent Assessment Group established by John Delaney and chaired by a former FAI honorary secretary, Des Casey. Former Republic of Ireland international footballer, Niall Quinn was originally a member of the group. However he later withdrew because of his growing commitments to Sunderland A.F.C. He was replaced by Richard Collins, a former chairman of and current director of Charlton Athletic. Other members of the group included John Fitzgerald, the former city manager of Dublin City Council and Pat O'Neill, a former chairman of the Irish Sports Council. The IAG effectively performed a financial stress test on the League of Ireland member clubs. Clubs were assessed on their past five season record in the league. Crucially though, clubs would also be graded on off-field criteria, including attendance, infrastructure, governance, strategic planning, finance, youth development and marketing. The IAG announced their results in December 2006. However the final outcome of the IAG decision was further complicated by the financial difficulties of Shelbourne who, despite initially passing the stress test, were subsequently relegated to the First Division. This provided a reprieve for Waterford United, ranked at thirteen by the IAG, who were selected to replace them. ^{[7] [9] [10] [11]}

IAG Table

Pos	Team	Off field	On field	Total
1	Derry City	370	460	830
2	Cork City	348	460	808
3	Bohemians	372	423	795
4	Shelbourne [note 2]	278	493	771	Relegated to First Division
5	St Patrick's Athletic	364	407	771
6	UCD	374	370	744
7	Drogheda United	300	437	737
8	Shamrock Rovers	346	377	723	Promoted to Premier Division
9	Longford Town	284	430	714
10	Sligo Rovers	360	343	703
11	Bray Wanderers	351	333	684
12	Galway United [note 3]	389	267	656	Promoted to Premier Division
13	Waterford United [note 4]	296	340	636	Remained in Premier Division
14	Dundalk [note 5]	348	247	595	Remained in First Division
15	Finn Harps	310	283	593
16	Cobh Ramblers	315	240	555
17	Monaghan United	331	173	504
18	Kildare County	265	230	495
19	Athlone Town	305	177	482
20	Kilkenny City	266	177	443
21	Limerick	-	243	243
22	Dublin City [note 6]	-	-	-	Withdrew from league

Source: ^{[12] [11] [13]}

Notes

1. Figures do not include results from matches played against Dublin City F.C. who withdrew midway through the season https://www.researchgate.net/figure/League-of-Ireland-Premier-Division-Attendance_tbl1_286919999
2. Shelbourne were relegated to the First Division for financial irregularities.
3. Galway United were promoted after passing the criteria set out by the FAI's Independent Assessment Group.
4. Waterford United lost promotion/relegation play-off but subsequently replaced Shelbourne for the 2007 season.
5. Dundalk's 'on field' results from the previous five seasons dropped their position from eighth to 14th in the IAG table and, as a result, they were not promoted - despite winning the promotion/relegation play-off.
6. Dublin City withdrew from league on 18 July. All their results were expunged.

UEFA coefficient

The League of Ireland Premier Division's UEFA coefficient accumulated to a total value of 6.498 for the 2006–07 European season.

League's 2006 UEFA ranking

• 33 Finland
• 34 Moldova
• 35 Ireland
• 36 Georgia
• 37 Liechtenstein

Source: ^[14]

Top-scorers

Player	Club	League goals	Cup goals	Total
Jason Byrne	Shelbourne	15	8	23
Mark Farren	Derry City	9	8	17
Glen Crowe	Shelbourne	12	4	16
Ciarán Martyn	Derry City	8	7	15
Declan O'Brien	Drogheda United	11	3	14

Source: ^{[1] [7]}

Awards

SWAI eircom League Player of the Month award

Month	Winner	Club
March	Paul Keegan	Drogheda United
April	Jason Gavin	Drogheda United
May	Pat McCourt	Derry City
June	Paul McTiernan	Sligo Rovers
July	Joseph Ndo	Shelbourne
August	Kevin Deery	Derry City
September	Darren Kelly	Derry City
October	Philip Hughes	Dundalk
November	Roy O'Donovan	Cork City

PFAI eircom League Player of the Year award

• Joseph Ndo – Shelbourne

PFAI eircom League Young Player of the Year award

• Kevin Deery – Derry City

TV3's Goal of the Season award

• Kevin Deery – Derry City

Attendances

Premier Division games had an average attendance of 1,539 people. Derry City's average home attendance of 3,127 was the highest of any league team for the season. The record for the highest attendance in the Premier Division was also set in the Brandywell Stadium on the last night of the season when Derry City met Cork City. 6,080 attended the game.

Gallery

• 
  The clubs that competed in the 2006 League of Ireland.

See also

• 2006 Shelbourne F.C. season
• 2006 League of Ireland First Division
• 2006 League of Ireland Cup

References

1. "Ireland - List of Topscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
2. "DERRY'S GAME WITH CORK BEST ATTENDED". tribune.ie. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. "Shelbourne given time to settle tax debt". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
4. "Shelbourne clear tax debt". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
5. "Dublin City FC bow out of eircom League". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 19 July 2006.
6. "(Republic of) Ireland League Tables". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
7. "Ireland 2006". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
8. "(Republic of) Ireland League Tables - Second Level". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
9. "Rovers and Galway promoted". The Irish Times. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
10. "Quinn leaves assessment group". The Irish Times. 26 July 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
11. "FAI name the 12 clubs who will participate in the Premier Division". FAI.ie. 11 December 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
12. "Ireland 2006". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
13. "Rovers and Galway promoted". www.irishtimes.com. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
14. "UEFA Country Ranking 2007". xs4all.nl.