2024 League of Ireland First Division

The 2024 League of Ireland First Division, known as the SSE Airtricity Men's First Division for sponsorship reasons,[1] was the 40th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The competition began on 16 February 2024,[2] and concluded in October 2024.[3]

League of Ireland First Division
Season2024
DatesFebruary 2024 – October 2024
ChampionsCork City
(3rd title)
2023

Cork City won the title for the third time.[4]

Teams

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Team changes

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The teams relegated to the First Division were Cork City (losers of the 2023 League of Ireland Premier Division play-off) and UCD (the bottom-placed team of the 2023 League of Ireland Premier Division). They replaced the two teams promoted from the 2023 League of Ireland First Division (champions Galway United and Premier Division play-off winners Waterford).

Stadia and locations

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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 7,485
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

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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   Dario Castelo   Oisín Duffy   Nike Valeo Futbol
Bray Wanderers   Vacant   Killian Cantwell   Capelli Sport OutdoorLiving.ie
Cobh Ramblers   Gary Hunt   Jason Abbott   Uhlsport McCarthy Insurance Group
Cork City   Tim Clancy   Cian Coleman   Adidas Zeus
Finn Harps   Darren Murphy   Tony McNamee   Joma So-Lo Stores
Kerry   Conor McCarthy   Andy Spain   New Balance Kerry Airport
Longford Town   Wayne Groves   Shane Elworthy   Macron Bishopsgate
Treaty United   Tommy Barrett   Mark Walsh   O'Neills Trade Electric Group
UCD   William O’Connor   Jack Keaney   O'Neills Maples Group
Wexford   James Keddy   Ethan Boyle   Macron Campion Insurance

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Cork City (C, P) 36 22 12 2 64 23 +41 78 Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2 UCD 36 14 14 8 47 37 +10 56 Qualification for League of Ireland Premier Division play-off
3 Wexford 36 15 11 10 61 56 +5 56
4 Athlone Town 36 15 10 11 51 49 +2 55
5 Bray Wanderers 36 14 9 13 54 47 +7 51
6 Finn Harps 36 12 10 14 39 43 −4 46
7 Treaty United 36 11 11 14 41 43 −2 44
8 Cobh Ramblers 36 12 8 16 41 56 −15 44
9 Longford Town 36 6 11 19 41 64 −23 29
10 Kerry 36 5 12 19 34 55 −21 27
Source: SSE Airtricity League of Ireland First Division
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted


Results

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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 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 3–3 1–0 2–2 3–0
0–1 1–2 4–1 1–4 3–3 4–1 1–0 1–0 2–3
Bray Wanderers 3–0 2–2 1–3 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 3–4
1–0 3–1 3–3 2–2 2–0 0–1 5–0 0–1 3–1
Cobh Ramblers 3–3 2–1 0–3 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–4
1–2 3–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–3 2–2 1–2
Cork City 1–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1
0–0 1–0 4–1 2–2 2–0 3–2 1–1 0–0 6–0
Finn Harps 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 3–2 1–0 1–1 1–0
1–1 1–2 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–3
Kerry 1–2 2–3 1–1 0–1 2–0 3–0 0–1 1–2 1–1
2–0 3–3 0–2 1–4 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–1 1–1
Longford Town 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–4 2–3 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–2
1–1 1–0 2–0 1–4 1–1 2–2 1–4 1–2 3–0
Treaty United 0–1 2–2 3–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–2
1–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 2–2 1–3
UCD 3–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 3–3 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–2
1–2 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 1–1 1–1
Wexford 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–2 3–2 2–3
2–1 0–0 3–0 1–3 2–0 4–0 2–2 0–1 2–0
Source: SSE Airtricity League of Ireland 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.

League of Ireland Promotion/Relegation play-off

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The ninth-placed team (Drogheda United) from the 2024 League of Ireland Premier Division qualified for a play-off alongside the second, third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams from the 2024 League of Ireland First Division (Athlone Town, Bray Wanderers, UCD, and Wexford).

The First Division teams contest the semi-finals and final. The semi-finals will be held over two legs, with the second-placed team facing the fifth-placed team and the third-placed team facing the fourth-placed team. The semi-final winners then contest the First Division final, with the winners ultimately facing the ninth-placed League of Ireland Premier Division team for the final place in the 2025 League of Ireland Premier Division.

Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinalPromotion/Relegation Playoff
2UCD011
Drogheda United3
5Bray Wanderers202
5Bray Wanderers2 (4p)Bray Wanderers1
4Athlone Town2 (2p)
3Wexford000
4Athlone Town101

Semi-finals

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First leg

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24 October 2024 Bray Wanderers 2–0UCDBray
19:45 IST Guillermo Almirall   17'
Cristian Măgerușan   70'
Report Stadium: Carlisle Grounds
Attendance: 1,205
Referee: Mark Houlihan
24 October 2024 Athlone Town 1–0WexfordAthlone
19:45 IST Dean Ebbe   53' (pen.) Report Stadium: Athlone Town Stadium
Attendance: 572
Referee: Oliver Moran

Second leg

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28 October 2024 UCD1–0
(1–2 agg.)
Bray Wanderers Dublin
17:00 IST Ronan Finn   88' (pen) Paul Murphy   58' Stadium: UCD Bowl
Attendance: 1,112
Referee: Declan Toland
28 October 2024 Wexford0–0
(0–1 agg.)
Athlone Town Wexford
15:00 IST Report Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park
Attendance: 1,251
Referee: Alan Patchell

Final

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2 November 2024 Bray Wanderers 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 p)
Athlone TownDublin
16:00 IST Hand   63' (o.g.)
Omorehiomwan   90+2'
Report Ebbe   11'
Fuentes   24'
Stadium: Dalymount Park
Attendance: 1,782
Referee: Marc Lynch
Penalties
Griffin  
Craven  
Măgerușan  
O'Sullivan  
Connolly  
Torre  
McKenna  
Oakley  

Promotion/Relegation Playoff

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16 November 2024 Bray Wanderers1–3 Drogheda United Dublin
14:00 IST Groome   63' Report Bolger   33'
Pierrot   36', 52'
Stadium: Tallaght Stadium
Attendance: 5,573

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "League of Ireland and SSE Airtricity announce rise in prize money ahead of 2024 season". Irish Examiner. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Shamrock Rovers to host Dundalk on 2024 League of Ireland opening day". RTÉ. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  3. ^ "2024 SSE Airtricity Men's First Division Fixture List" (PDF). League of Ireland. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Cork City turn on the style to celebrate league title". RTE Sport. 18 October 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.