2008 A Championship

The 2008 A Championship was the inaugural season of the A Championship. The league featured 16 teams. UCD A were the inaugural champions, Cork City A won the Shield competition and Mervue United were promoted to the First Division after a play off.

Location of teams in 2008 A Championship
A Championship
Season2008
ChampionsUCD A
PromotedMervue United
2009 →

A Championship Shield

Between March and June the twelve League of Ireland Premier Division reserve teams competed in the A Championship Shield. Mervue United, Salthill Devon and Tullamore Town did not play in the Shield as they were still playing in their previous junior/intermediate leagues which operated as winter leagues. This resulted in an overlap with the A Championship which operated as a summer league. The twelve teams were divided into four regionalised groups with the group winners then qualifying for the semi-finals. [1][2]

Group Stage
Group A Group B Group C Group D
Cork City A Bray Wanderers A Bohemians A Finn Harps A
Cobh Ramblers A St Patrick's Athletic A Drogheda United A Derry City A
Galway United A UCD A Shamrock Rovers A Sligo Rovers A
Semi-finals
? May 2008 Finn Harps A0–1
(a.e.t.)		Bohemians A [2]
May 25 2008 Cork City A3–2Bray Wanderers ABishopstown Stadium[2]
Final
2 June 2008 Cork City A2–0Bohemians ABuckley Park [3][4][2]
Tierney
Meyler (pen)

Regular season

The regular season saw the twelve League of Ireland Premier Division reserve teams joined by Limerick 37 A plus the first teams of Mervue United, Salthill Devon and Tullamore Town. The format saw the sixteen teams split into two groups of eight, divided roughly into southern and northern groups. The two groups used a traditional round-robin format. The two group winners, UCD A and Bohemians A, then played off in a final. UCD won the inaugural title. As the highest placed non-reserve team, Mervue United qualified for a promotion/relegation play-off and after defeating Kildare County, they were promoted to the League of Ireland First Division. [5][6][7]

Group 1

Teams
Team Base Manager Stadium
Bohemians APhibsboroughAUL Complex
Derry City ADerryBrandywell Stadium
Drogheda United ADroghedaUnited Park
Finn Harps ABallybofeyFinn Park
Mervue UnitedGalway Johnny GlynnFahy's Field
Salthill DevonSalthill Emlyn LongDrom Soccer Park
Shamrock Rovers ADrumcondraTolka Park
Sligo Rovers ASligoShowgrounds

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Bohemians A 14 11 2 1 34 12 +22 32[lower-alpha 1] A Championship play-off final
2 Finn Harps A 14 9 1 4 24 12 +12 28
3 Mervue United (P) 14 6 2 6 24 24 0 20 Promoted to First Division after play-off
4 Drogheda United A 14 5 5 4 23 23 0 17[lower-alpha 1]
5 Shamrock Rovers A 14 4 4 6 23 22 +1 16
6 Sligo Rovers A 14 4 3 7 24 23 +1 15
7 Derry City A 14 4 1 9 16 34 −18 13
8 Salthill Devon 14 3 2 9 13 31 −18 11
Source: www.rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Bohemians A and Drogheda United A were both deducted 3 points for fielding ineligible players.

Results
Home \ Away BOH DER DRO FHA MER SAL SHA SLI
Bohemians A 1–0 3–2 4–1 4–0 2–0 3–1 3–1
Derry City A 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–3 4–0 0–0 3–0
Drogheda United A 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 5–1
Finn Harps A 1–3 0–1 4–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 2–0
Mervue United 1–2 5–4 1–1 0–3 1–2 4–0 2–0
Salthill Devon 0–3 3–1 0–1 0–1 0–4 2–2 3–1
Shamrock Rovers A 2–0 4–3 4–4 2–0 0–1 6–0 2–2
Sligo Rovers A 1–4 1–4 3–1 0–4 3–0 2–1 1–0
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group 2

Teams
Team Base Manager Stadium
Bray Wanderers ABrayJackson Park
Cobh Ramblers ACobhSt Colman's Park
Cork City ACorkTurner's Cross
Galway United AGalwayAthenry
Limerick 37 ALimerickJackman Park
St Patrick's Athletic AInchicoreRichmond Park
Tullamore TownTullamore Keith ColshLeah Victoria Park
UCD ABelfieldUCD Bowl

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 UCD A 14 10 3 1 52 8 +44 33 A Championship play-off final
2 Cork City A 14 7 3 4 22 13 +9 24
3 Galway United A 14 6 4 4 20 14 +6 22
4 Bray Wanderers A 14 6 3 5 31 20 +11 21
5 St Patrick's Athletic A 14 5 4 5 16 16 0 19
6 Cobh Ramblers A 14 6 2 6 24 25 −1 17[lower-alpha 1]
7 Limerick 37 A 14 4 2 8 17 33 −16 14
8 Tullamore Town 14 1 1 12 7 60 −53 4
Source: www.rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Cobh Ramblers A were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player.

Results
Home \ Away BRW COB COR GAL L37 StP TUL UCD
Bray Wanderers A 3–4 1–0 2–2 3–0 4–0 9–0 1–5
Cobh Ramblers A 2–0 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 6–0 1–1 3–0 0–3[lower-alpha 2]
Cork City A 1–0 2–1 0–2 3–1 0–0 8–1 0–5
Galway United A 3–0[lower-alpha 3] 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–0 4–0 1–1
Limerick 37 A 1–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 4–3
St Patrick's Athletic A 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–4 3–0 0–2
Tullamore Town 1–5 1–2 0–4 2–1 1–1 0–4 0–8
UCD A 1–1 5–0 0–0 3–0 9–0 2–1 5–0
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match was awarded 3-0 to Cork City A after Cobh Ramblers A forfeited the game.
  2. The match was awarded 3-0 to UCD A after Cobh Ramblers A forfeited the game.
  3. The match was awarded 3-0 to Galway United A after Bray Wanderers A forfeited the game.

Play-Offs

A Championship Final

Bohemians A and UCD A competed in a playoff to decide the overall A Championship title. UCD A won 2–1.

11 November 2008 UCD A2 – 1
(a.e.t.)		Bohemians AUCD Bowl
19.45 GMT D. McMillan  85'
E. McMillan  107'		 Madden  37'
Ryan
Ennis

[5][6][8]

Promotion/Relegation

Kildare County and Mervue United, the highest ranked non-reserve team from the A Championship, played off to see who would play in the 2009 First Division.

18 November 2008 Mervue United2 – 2Kildare CountyFahy's Field
20:00 Keogh  10'
Goldbey  28'		 Hughes  54'  76' Referee: Pádraig Sutton (Clare)
21 November 2008 Kildare County0 – 3Mervue UnitedStation Road
19:45 O'Brien  15'
Goldbey  64'  81'		 Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford)

Mervue United won 5–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the First Division. [5][7]

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See also

References
  1. "A Championship Shield 2008 pg1". foot.ie. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  2. "A Championship Shield 2008 pg2". foot.ie. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  3. "Cork City Football Club Honours List". www.corkcityfc.ie. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  4. "Results". www.irishexaminer.com. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  5. "Ireland 2008". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  6. "UCD claim A Championship title". www.ucd.ie. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  7. "Kildare County 0-3 Mervue United (Mervue win 5-2)". www.rte.ie. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  8. "UCD v Bohemians - A Championship Final Photos". www.sportsfile.com. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
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