2025 League of Ireland Premier Division
| Season | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14 February 2025 – 1 November 2025 |
| Matches played | 65 |
| Goals scored | 169 (2.6 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Moses Dyer (7 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Drogheda United 3–0 Sligo Rovers (21 February 2025) St Patrick's Athletic 3–0 Bohemians (14 March 2025) Shamrock Rovers 4–1 Cork City (14 April 2025) Derry City 3–0 Sligo Rovers (22 April 2025) |
| Biggest away win | Waterford 0–4 Sligo Rovers (18 April 2025) |
| Highest scoring | St Patrick's Athletic 4–3 Sligo Rovers (28 February 2025) |
| Longest winning run | Bohemians Shamrock Rovers (3 matches) |
| Longest unbeaten run | Galway United Shamrock Rovers Shelbourne (7 matches) |
| Longest winless run | Cork City (8 matches) |
| Longest losing run | Waterford (7 matches) |
| Highest attendance | 33,208 Bohemians 1–0 Shamrock Rovers (16 February 2025) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,859 Waterford 2–1 Derry City (25 April 2025) |
| Total attendance | 277,416 |
| Average attendance | 4,403 |
← 2024 2026 →
All statistics correct as of 2 May 2025. | |
The 2025 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons,[1] is the 41st season of the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top Irish league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1985.
The competition began on 14 February 2025 and is set to conclude on 1 November 2025.[2] As part of the opening weekend of fixtures, the derby between arch-rivals Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers took place at the Aviva Stadium, the national football stadium of the Republic of Ireland where a record Premier Division crowd of 33,208 was present.[3] The 2025 season became the first year that the league is entirely made up of full-time professional clubs and players.[4][5]
On 27 January 2025, it was announced that Virgin Media Television (Ireland) would become the "sole and exclusive free to air broadcaster of the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division" for the next four years, pledging to show one live game from each round of the division.[6] A new radio deal for broadcasting on Newstalk was announced just before the season started.[7]
Teams
[edit]The league consists of ten teams – the top nine teams from the previous season and one team promoted as champions from the First Division, Cork City.[8] They replaced Dundalk, who were relegated after 16 consecutive seasons in the top flight.[9]
Stadiums and locations
[edit]
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | Dublin (Phibsborough) | Dalymount Park | 4,500 |
| Cork City | Cork | Turners Cross | 7,485 |
| Derry City | Derry | Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium | 6,242 |
| Drogheda United | Drogheda | Sullivan and Lambe Park | 3,500 |
| Galway United | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park | 5,000 |
| Shamrock Rovers | Dublin (Tallaght) | Tallaght Stadium | 10,500 |
| Shelbourne | Dublin (Drumcondra) | Tolka Park | 4,750 |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds | 3,873 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Dublin (Inchicore) | Richmond Park | 5,340 |
| Waterford | Waterford | RSC | 5,160 |
Personnel and kits
[edit]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 |  Alan Reynolds
|
Keith Buckley
|
O'Neills | Des Kelly Interiors |
| Cork City | Tim Clancy
|
Charlie Lyons
|
Rebel Army | Zeus Packaging |
| Derry City |  Tiernan Lynch
|
Mark Connolly
|
O'Neills | Diamond Corrugated |
| Drogheda United | Kevin Doherty
|
Ryan Brennan
|
Macron | NoFo Brew Co |
| Galway United | John Caulfield
|
Greg Cunningham
|
O'Neills | Comer Property Management |
| Shamrock Rovers | Stephen Bradley
|
 Roberto Lopes
|
Macron | MASCOT Workwear |
| Shelbourne | Damien Duff
|
Mark Coyle
|
O'Neills | Chadwicks |
| Sligo Rovers | John Russell
|
John Mahon
|
Umbro | Avant Money |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Stephen Kenny
|
Joe Redmond
|
Umbro | Manguard Plus |
| Waterford |  John Coleman
|
Pádraig Amond
|
Puma | DG Foods |
Managerial changes
[edit]| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of
departure |
Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of
appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derry City | Ruaidhrí Higgins[10]
|
Mutual consent | 15 November 2024 | Pre-season | Tiernan Lynch[11]
|
18 November 2024 |
| Waterford | Keith Long[12]
|
Sacked | 19 April 2025 | 8th | Matt Lawlor (interim)[13]
|
20 April 2025 |
| Matt Lawlor (interim)[14]
|
End of interim spell | 3 May 2025 | 8th | John Coleman[14]
|
3 May 2025 |
League table
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 26 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Derry City | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 26 | Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Drogheda United | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 24 | Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | St Patrick's Athletic | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 22 | |
| 5 | Bohemians | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 21 | |
| 6 | Shelbourne | 15 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 22 | |
| 7 | Waterford | 15 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 23 | −8 | 21 | |
| 8 | Galway United | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 20 | |
| 9 | Cork City | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 25 | −8 | 12 | Qualification for promotion/relegation play-off |
| 10 | Sligo Rovers | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 29 | −10 | 9 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[15]
Results
[edit]Teams play each other four times (twice at home and twice away).
Positions by round
[edit]To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
| Leader and qualification for Champions League first qualifying round | |
| Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round | |
| Qualification for Conference League first qualifying round | |
| Qualification for promotion/relegation play-off | |
| Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
Season statistics
[edit]
Top scorers[edit]
|
Top assists[edit]
|
Clean sheets
[edit]- As of 3 May 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Anang
|
St Patrick's Athletic | 7 |
| 2 |  Luke Dennison
|
Drogheda United | 6 |
| 3 | Brian Maher
|
Derry City | 5 |
| 4 | Conor Kearns
|
Shelbourne | 3 |
| 5 | Edward McGinty
|
Shamrock Rovers | 2 |
| James Talbot
|
Bohemians | ||
 Evan Watts
|
Galway United | ||
| 8 |  Kacper Chorążka
|
Bohemians | 1 |
 Leon Pöhls
|
Shamrock Rovers | ||
| Sam Sargeant
|
Sligo Rovers |
Discipline
[edit]Player
[edit]- Most yellow cards: 9
John Mahon (Sligo Rovers)
- Most red cards: 1
- 16 players (Various)
Club
[edit]- Most yellow cards: 47
- Sligo Rovers
- Most red cards: 3
- Derry City
- Sligo Rovers
- St Patrick's Athletic
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "2025 League of Ireland fixtures released". League of Ireland. 15 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Date agreed for release of 2025 League of Ireland fixtures". Irish Mirror. 20 November 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Bohemians to meet Shamrock Rovers at Aviva Stadium in league opener". leagueofireland.ie. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Doyle, Garry (6 January 2025). "League of Ireland set to break new frontier in 2025". Irish Mirror.
- ^ "Bragging rights for Bohemians on historic day for the League of Ireland". RTE Sport. 16 February 2025. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
- ^ "Virgin Media Television secures exclusive rights for SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division". 27 January 2025.
- ^ "Off The Ball secures national radio deal with League of Ireland for Newstalk". RadioToday. 10 February 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
- ^ "Cork City secure First Division title with win over UCD". Irish Examiner. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Dundalk relegated as Derry City maintain title push with St Pat's test to come". Irish Independent. 18 October 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
- ^ "Club Announcement". Derry City Football Club. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Welcome Tiernan Lynch". Derry City Football Club. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ FC, Waterford (19 April 2025). "CLUB STATEMENT: KEITH LONG". Waterford FC. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ FC, Waterford (20 April 2025). "Lawlor Appointed Interim Head Coach". Waterford FC. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
- ^ a b FC, Waterford (3 May 2025). "Welcome to Waterford FC, John Coleman!". Waterford FC. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
- ^ a b "PREMIER DIVISION". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 12 February 2024.