2008 A Championship

A Championship

Season	2008
Champions	UCD A
Promoted	Mervue United
2009 →

The 2008 A Championship was the inaugural season of the A Championship in Ireland. 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.

Derry City A

Drogheda United A

Finn Harps A

Mervue United

Salthill Devon

Sligo Rovers A

Bray Wanderers A

Cobh Ramblers A

Cork City A

Galway United A

Limerick 37 A

Tullamore Town

Dublin

Dublin teams

• Bohemians A
• Shamrock Rovers A
• St Patrick's Athletic A
• UCD A

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Location of teams in 2008 A Championship

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

Finn Harps A v Bohemians A[2]

? May 2008

Finn Harps A

0–1 (a.e.t.)

Bohemians A[2]

Cork City A v Bray Wanderers A

May 25, 2008

Cork City A

3–2

Bray Wanderers A

Bishopstown Stadium[2]

Final

Cork City A v Bohemians A

2 June 2008	Cork City A	2–0	Bohemians A	Buckley 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 A	Phibsborough		AUL Complex
Derry City A	Derry		Brandywell Stadium
Drogheda United A	Drogheda		United Park
Finn Harps A	Ballybofey		Finn Park
Mervue United	Galway	Johnny Glynn	Fahy's Field
Salthill Devon	Salthill	Emlyn Long	Drom Soccer Park
Shamrock Rovers A	Drumcondra		Tolka Park
Sligo Rovers A	Sligo		Showgrounds

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

Group 2

Teams

Team	Base	Manager	Stadium
Bray Wanderers A	Bray		Jackson Park
Cobh Ramblers A	Cobh		St Colman's Park
Cork City A	Cork		Turner's Cross
Galway United A	Galway		Athenry
Limerick 37 A	Limerick		Jackman Park
St Patrick's Athletic A	Inchicore		Richmond Park
Tullamore Town	Tullamore	Keith Colsh	Leah Victoria Park
UCD A	Belfield		UCD 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[a]
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[a]	1–2	6–0	1–1	3–0	0–3[b]
Cork City A	1–0	2–1		0–2	3–1	0–0	8–1	0–5
Galway United A	3–0[c]	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: ^[citation needed]
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.

UCD A v Bohemians A

11 November 2008	UCD A	2 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Bohemians A	UCD 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.

Mervue United v Kildare County

18 November 2008	Mervue United	2 – 2	Kildare County	Fahy's Field
20:00	Keogh 10' Goldbey 28'		Hughes 54' 76'	Referee: Pádraig Sutton (Clare)

Kildare County v Mervue United

21 November 2008	Kildare County	0 – 3	Mervue United	Station 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]

See also

• 2008 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2008 League of Ireland First Division
• 2008 League of Ireland Cup

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". RSSSF. 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.