2015 League of Ireland Premier Division

League of Ireland Premier Division
Season	2015
Champions	Dundalk (11th title)
Relegated	Limerick; Drogheda United
Champions League	Dundalk
Europa League	Cork City; St. Patrick's Athletic; Shamrock Rovers
Matches played	198
Goals scored	548 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorer	Richie Towell: 25 ; (Dundalk)
Biggest home win	Dundalk 8-1 Bray Wanderers; (4 May 2015)
Biggest away win	Bray Wanderers 0-5 Galway United; (25 April 2015)
Highest scoring	Dundalk 8-1 Bray Wanderers; (4 May 2015)
Highest attendance	6,900
Total attendance	324,332
Average attendance	1,638
	← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 31st season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. Dundalk were champions and Cork City finished as runners-up.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Dublin

Dublin teams
Bohemians
Shamrock Rovers
St Patrick's Athletic

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Locations of Premier Division teams

Bohemians

St Patrick's Athletic

Shamrock Rovers

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Locations of Dublin Premier Division teams

Team	Location	Stadium
Bohemians	Phibsborough	Dalymount Park
Bray Wanderers	Bray	Carlisle Grounds
Cork City	Cork	Turners Cross
Derry City	Derry	Brandywell Stadium
Drogheda United	Drogheda	United Park
Dundalk	Dundalk	Oriel Park
Galway United	Galway	Eamonn Deacy Park
Limerick	Limerick	Markets Field
Longford Town	Longford	City Calling Stadium
Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght	Tallaght Stadium
Sligo Rovers	Sligo	The Showgrounds
St Patrick's Athletic	Inchicore	Richmond Park

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
Bohemians	Keith Long	Derek Pender	Hummel	Mr Green
Bray Wanderers	~~Alan Mathews~~ ~~Maciej Tarnogrodzki~~ ~~David Cassidy~~ ~~Trevor Croly~~ ~~David Cassidy~~ Mick Cooke	David Cassidy	Nike	Royal Hotel
Cork City	John Caulfield	John Dunleavy	Nike	Clonakilty Sausages
Derry City	~~Peter Hutton~~ Paul Hegarty	Ryan McBride	Umbro	Diamond Corrugated
Drogheda United	~~John McDonnell~~ Mark Kinsella	Michael Daly	Nike	Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Dundalk	Stephen Kenny	Stephen O'Donnell	Umbro	Fyffes
Galway United	Tommy Dunne	Paul Sinnott	Macron	Comer Property Management
Limerick	Martin Russell	Shane Duggan	Macron	Galtee Fuels
Longford Town	Tony Cousins	Mark Salmon	Macron	City Calling
Shamrock Rovers	Pat Fenlon	Conor Kenna	Warrior	Pepper
Sligo Rovers	~~Owen Heary~~ ~~Joseph N'Do & Gavin Dykes~~ Micky Adams	Gavin Peers	Umbro	Volkswagen
St Patrick's Athletic	Liam Buckley	Ger O'Brien	Umbro	Clune Construction Company L.P.

Overview

The 2015 Premier Division consisted of 12 teams. Each team played each other three times for a total of 33 games. The season began on 6 March and concluded on 30 October.^[4] On 9 October, with three games still remaining, Dundalk retained the title after a 1–1 draw with Shamrock Rovers.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Final table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dundalk (C)	33	23	9	1	78	23	+55	78	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round^[a]
2	Cork City	33	19	10	4	57	25	+32	67	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3	Shamrock Rovers	33	18	11	4	56	27	+29	65
4	St Patrick's Athletic	33	18	4	11	52	34	+18	58
5	Bohemians	33	15	8	10	49	42	+7	53
6	Longford Town	33	10	9	14	41	53	−12	39
7	Derry City	33	9	8	16	32	42	−10	35
8	Bray Wanderers	33	9	6	18	27	51	−24	33
9	Sligo Rovers	33	7	10	16	39	55	−16	31
10	Galway United	33	9	4	20	39	61	−22	31
11	Limerick (R)	33	7	8	18	46	73	−27	29	Qualification to Relegation play-offs
12	Drogheda United (R)	33	7	7	19	32	62	−30	28	Relegation to League of Ireland First Division

Source: League of Ireland, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[8]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Dundalk qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015 FAI Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

Results

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	DUN	GAL	LIM	LON	SHM	SLI	StP
Bohemians	—	0–0	1–1	4–2	0–1	0–3	2–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	1–0	0–1
Bray Wanderers	0–1	—	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	0–5	4–0	0–1	0–3	1–0	1–0
Cork City	4–0	1–0	—	3–0	4–1	1–2	2–0	5–0	2–0	0–0	3–2	3–1
Derry City	1–2	0–0	0–2	—	3–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	0–3
Drogheda United	0–1	4–2	1–2	1–1	—	1–2	2–0	1–1	0–3	0–1	3–2	0–2
Dundalk	1–2	8–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	—	3–0	6–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	3–0
Galway United	5–3	0–1	1–3	1–2	1–0	2–4	—	3–2	1–2	1–2	0–1	1–4
Limerick	0–3	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–4	—	2–2	1–1	3–2	1–2
Longford Town	2–1	2–0	1–4	0–0	1–1	0–2	0–1	1–0	—	0–2	1–1	2–2
Shamrock Rovers	0–0	1–0	0–0	4–1	1–0	2–2	3–0	4–1	3–2	—	5–1	1–0
Sligo Rovers	0–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–2	—	0–3
St Patrick's Athletic	3–1	3–0	0–0	2–0	2–2	0–2	3–1	3–1	3–0	0–0	3–0	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	DUN	GAL	LIM	LON	SHM	SLI	StP
Bohemians	—	—	0–1	—	—	2–2	3–0	—	1–1	—	—	2–0
Bray Wanderers	3–1	—	0–0	—	1–0	—	1–1	2–2	—	2–2	—	—
Cork City	—	—	—	0–0	—	2–2	1–0	2–3	2–3	—	—	—
Derry City	2–3	3–1	—	—	0–2	0–2	—	—	—	1–0	—	—
Drogheda United	2–2	—	1–1	—	—	—	—	1–4	0–3	—	0–4	—
Dundalk	—	4–0	—	—	6–0	—	0–0	—	0–0	—	2–2	4–1
Galway United	—	—	—	0–4	1–1	—	—	1–3	4–2	—	2–1	0–1
Limerick	4–3	—	—	0–2	—	1–3	—	—	3–3	0–2	—	3–1
Longford Town	—	1–0	—	4–2	—	—	—	—	—	1–3	1–1	0–3
Shamrock Rovers	1–1	—	3–0	—	5–3	1–1	2–0	—	—	—	—	0–2
Sligo Rovers	0–2	3–2	0–2	1–0	—	—	—	2–3	—	1–1	—	—
St Patrick's Athletic	—	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	—	—	—	—	—	0–2	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Richie Towell	Dundalk	25
2	Karl Sheppard	Cork City	13
3	Vinny Faherty	Limerick	12
	Jake Keegan	Galway United
	Enda Curran	Galway United
	Michael Drennan	Shamrock Rovers
	David McMillan	Dundalk
	Daniel Corcoran	Sligo Rovers
9	Christopher Forrester	St Patrick's Athletic	11
9	Brandon Miele	Shamrock Rovers	11

Source:^[1]^[9]

Awards

Team of the Year

No.	Pos.	Player	Club
1	1GK	Micheál Schlingermann	Drogheda United
2	2DF	Seán Gannon	Dundalk
3	2DF	Brian Gartland	Dundalk
4	2DF	Andy Boyle	Dundalk
5	2DF	Dane Massey	Dundalk
6	3MF	Richie Towell	Dundalk
7	3MF	James Chambers	St Patrick's Athletic
8	3MF	Stephen O'Donnell	Dundalk
9	4FW	Brandon Miele	Shamrock Rovers
10	4FW	Mark O'Sullivan	Cork City
11	4FW	Daryl Horgan	Dundalk

Promotion/relegation playoff

Limerick, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division played off against Finn Harps, the winner of the 2015 First Division play off, to decide who would play in the 2016 Premier Division.^[4]

2 November 2015	Limerick	1–0	Finn Harps	Markets Field
	Kelly 34'	Report		Referee: Rob Rogers

6 November 2015	Finn Harps	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Limerick	Finn Park
	Funston 38' Banda 117'			Attendance: 3,200 Referee: Derek Tomney

Finn Harps won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2016 Premier Division. Limerick are relegated to the 2016 First Division.

Notes

^ Total attendance figures based upon reported 9.8% increase from the 2014 season https://www.newstalk.com/sport/league-of-ireland-match-attendances-show-encouraging-rise-for-2015-627173

References

^ ^a ^b "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
^ "League Report: Cork City 1 - 2 Dundalk". extra time. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^ "League of Ireland Attendances 2016 - A complete breakdown (Updated)". extra time. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Ireland 2015". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
^ "Dundalk crowned champions with draw in Tallaght". www.rte.ie. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
^ "We now have a Premier Division champion and the relegation battle is really hotting up". www.the42.ie. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
^ "CHAMPIONS - Dundalk retain their title in Tallaght". www.independent.ie. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
^ "PREMIER DIVISION 2015 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
^ "2015 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division". inform.fai.ie. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

[table_note_res_CL2Q0.89946016152364-9] Dundalk qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015 FAI Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

[4] Total attendance figures based upon reported 9.8% increase from the 2014 season https://www.newstalk.com/sport/league-of-ireland-match-attendances-show-encouraging-rise-for-2015-627173

[rsssftop-1] "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.

[2] "League Report: Cork City 1 - 2 Dundalk". extra time. Retrieved 1 February 2021.

[3] "League of Ireland Attendances 2016 - A complete breakdown (Updated)". extra time. Retrieved 1 February 2021.

[rsssf2015-5] "Ireland 2015". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 August 2016.

[6] "Dundalk crowned champions with draw in Tallaght". www.rte.ie. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.

[7] "We now have a Premier Division champion and the relegation battle is really hotting up". www.the42.ie. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.

[8] "CHAMPIONS - Dundalk retain their title in Tallaght". www.independent.ie. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.

[10] "PREMIER DIVISION 2015 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 11 July 2015.

[faiie-11] "2015 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division". inform.fai.ie. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

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