2012 League of Ireland First Division

The 2012 League of Ireland First Division season was the 28th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 8 teams and Limerick won the title.

League of Ireland First Division
Season2012
ChampionsLimerick
Matches played112
Goals scored305 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorerDanny Furlong: 13
(Wexford Youths)
Kevin McHugh: 13
(Finn Harps)
Sean Maguire: 13
(Waterford United) [1]
← 2011
2013 →

Teams
Athlone Town
Mervue United
SD Galway
Waterford United
Wexford Youths
Locations of First Division teams
Team Location Manager Stadium
Athlone TownAthlone Mike KerleyAthlone Town Stadium
Finn HarpsBallybofey Peter HuttonFinn Park
LimerickLimerick Pat ScullyJackman Park
Longford TownLongford Tony CousinsFlancare Park
Mervue UnitedGalway Johnny GlynnFahy's Field
SD GalwayGalway Tony MannionTerryland Park
Waterford UnitedWaterford Paul O'BrienWaterford RSC
Wexford YouthsWexford Shane KeeganFerrycarraig Park

Overview

Due to the expansion of the Premier Division, coupled with the withdrawal of Galway United during the off-season, the 2012 First Division consisted of just eight teams. Applications to join the Division from Cobh Ramblers and Tralee Dynamos, both of whom had played in the 2011 A Championship, were rejected. Each team played every other team four times, totalling twenty eight games.[2][3]

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Limerick (C, P) 28 20 2 6 50 20 +30 62 Promoted to Premier Division
2 Waterford United 28 18 4 6 46 29 +17 58 Lost promotion/relegation play-offs
3 Longford Town 28 15 5 8 42 33 +9 50
4 Wexford Youths 28 11 6 11 45 40 +5 39
5 Finn Harps 28 10 6 12 40 43 −3 36
6 Athlone Town 28 8 5 15 25 41 −16 29
7 Mervue United 28 6 5 17 34 49 −15 23
8 SD Galway[lower-alpha 1] 28 5 5 18 23 51 −28 20
Source: [2][4]
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Salthill Devon changed their name to SD Galway

Results

Matches 1–14
Home \ Away ATH FHA LIM LON MER SDG WAT WEX
Athlone Town 2–0 0–1 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–4 0–1
Finn Harps 1–2 1–3 1–3 4–3 3–0 0–1 0–1
Limerick 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–0 3–0 0–1 4–0
Longford Town 2–1 1–3 0–2 4–2 1–0 3–2 1–0
Mervue United 0–1 3–0 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–0 3–0
SD Galway 0–1 1–5 2–5 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–1
Waterford United 1–1 0–2 3–1 0–2 3–1 1–0 4–0
Wexford Youths 1–2 3–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 2–0 6–0
Source: www.rsssf.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 15–28
Home \ Away ATH FHA LIM LON MER SDG WAT WEX
Athlone Town 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–3 2–0 2–3 0–3
Finn Harps 2–0 1–1 1–0 3–2 2–0 1–2 3–3
Limerick 1–0 3–0 0–0 4–0 1–0 0–1 1–3
Longford Town 0–0 0–1 0–2 2–0 1–2 0–1 2–0
Mervue United 2–0 1–1 0–3 4–5 0–0 0–2 0–0
SD Galway 3–0 2–0 0–1 1–3 2–1 0–1 2–2
Waterford United 0–0 1–1 2–1 4–2 1–2 3–0 1–2
Wexford Youths 4–2 2–2 1–3 1–1 1–2 4–1 1–2
Source: www.rsssf.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/Relegation play-off

The second and third placed First Division teams, Waterford United and Longford Town, played off to decide who would play Dundalk, the eleventh placed team from the Premier Division. The winner of this play off would play in the 2013 Premier Division.

First Division
20 October 2012 Longford Town0–2Waterford UnitedFlancare Park [5]
[ Report] Peter White  1'
Craig Burns  52'		 Attendance: 550
Referee: Kevin O'Regan (Kerry)
26 October 2012 Waterford United1–1Longford TownWaterford RSC [6]
Kirby  ?' [ Report] Peter Higgins  9' Referee: Keith Callanan

Waterford United win 3–1 on aggregate

First Division v Premier Division
30 October 2012 Dundalk2–2Waterford UnitedOriel Park [7]
Lorcan Shannon  23'
Stephen McDonnell  75'		 [ Report] Paul Phelan  50'
Ben Ryan  60'		 Referee: Paul McLaughlin (Monaghan)
2 November 2012 Waterford United0–2DundalkWaterford RSC [8]
[ Report] Michael Rafter  45' (68) Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Padraig Sutton (Clare)

Dundalk win 4–2 on aggregate and retained their place in the Premier Division. Waterford United appealed the result of the playoff, claiming Michael Rafter was ineligible as Dundalk had incorrectly registered him when they signed him earlier that season. However the appeal was unsuccessful. [8][9][10]

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Danny Furlong Wexford Youths 13
Kevin McHugh Finn Harps 13
Sean Maguire Waterford United 13
4 Tom Elmes Wexford Youths 11
5 Shane Tracy Limerick 10
Rory Gaffney Limerick 10

See also

References
  1. "Ireland - List of Topscorers". www.rsssf.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. "Ireland 2012". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  3. "Dynamos face stiff opposition for league berth". kerryman.ie. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  4. "Salthill Devon set to rebrand and play at Terryland · The Score". Thescore.thejournal.ie. 26 January 2012.
  5. O'Flaherty, Deniese (21 October 2012). "Longford Town 0 – 2 Waterford United". extratime.ie. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  6. "Waterford United 1–1 Longford Town (Agg 3–1)". RTÉ News. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  7. "Dundalk 2–2 Waterford United". RTÉ News. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  8. "Waterford United 0–2 Dundalk (agg 2–4)". RTÉ News. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  9. "Waterford to appeal Dundalk play-off result". RTÉ News. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  10. "FAI dismiss Waterford protest". The Irish Times. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
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