| Season | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Bohemians (10th title) |
| Relegated | Finn Harps Cobh Ramblers UCD |
| UEFA Champions League | Bohemians |
| UEFA Europa League | St Patrick's Athletic Derry City Sligo Rovers |
| Setanta Cup | Bohemians St Patrick's Athletic Derry City Sligo Rovers |
| Matches | 198 |
| Goals | 440 (2.22 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | David Mooney: 15 (Cork City) Mark Quigley: 15 (St Patrick's Athletic) Mark Farren: 15 (Derry City)[1] |
| Biggest home win | Cork City v Cobh Ramblers 5-0 (20 June 2008) |
| Biggest away win | Cobh Ramblers v Drogheda United 0-4 31 May 2008 Galway United v Derry City 0-4 (25 July 2008) |
| Highest scoring | Bray Wanderers v Drogheda United 4-3 (7 November 2008) |
←2007 2009 → | |
The2008 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 24th season of theLeague of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams.Bohemians were champions whileSt Patrick's Athletic finished as runners-up.
| Team | Base | Manager | Main sponsor | Kit supplier | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | Phibsborough |  Pat Fenlon | Des Kelly Interiors | Umbro | Dalymount Park | 8,500 |
| Bray Wanderers | Bray | Eddie Gormley | Hard Metal | Umbro | Carlisle Grounds | 7,000 |
| Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | Stephen Henderson | Goodyear | Uhlsport | St. Colman's Park | 5,000 |
| Cork City | Cork | Alan Mathews | Beamish | Hummel | Turners Cross | 8,000 |
| Derry City | Derry | Stephen Kenny | MeteorElectrical.com | O'Neills | Brandywell Stadium | 7,700 |
| Drogheda United | Drogheda | Paul Doolin | Hunky Dorys | Jako | United Park | 5,400 |
| Finn Harps | Ballybofey | Paul Hegarty | Donegal Creameries | Masita | Finn Park | 7,900 |
| Galway United | Galway |  Ian Foster | O'Connell Drylining Ltd | Rival | Terryland Park | 5,000 |
| Shamrock Rovers | Drumcondra |  Michael O'Neill | Woodie's DIY | Umbro | Tolka Park | 9,700 |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | Paul Cook | Toher's | Jako | The Showgrounds | 5,500 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Inchicore | Jeff Kenna | Paddy Power | Umbro | Richmond Park | 5,500 |
| UCD | Belfield | Pete Mahon | Budweiser | O'Neills | UCD Bowl | 3,000 |
The regular season began on 7 March and concluded on 14 November. Each team played the other teams three times, totaling 33 games.Bohemians finished the season as champions, winning by a margin of nineteen points. There was no promotion/relegation play-off between Premier Division andFirst Division teams. This was because the2009 Premier Division would be reduced to 10 clubs. This saw three clubs relegated out of the Premier Division.[2]
For the first time in the history of the league the national broadcasterRaidió Teilifís Éireann started showing highlights of every Premier Division game played on its new showMonday Night Soccer. This show was presented byCon Murphy. This replacedeircom League Weekly which had run onTV3 on Monday nights from 2002 to 2007. The final season of live weekly radio coverage was provided by national broadcaster RTÉ with live reports and commentary on match nights, which was dropped from the end of 2008. Live games were shown by RTÉ,Setanta Sports andTG4'sSacar Beo.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bohemians(C) | 33 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 55 | 13 | +42 | 85 | Qualification toChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | St Patrick's Athletic | 33 | 20 | 6 | 7 | 48 | 24 | +24 | 66 | Qualification toEuropa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Derry City | 33 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 46 | 25 | +21 | 58 | |
| 4 | Sligo Rovers | 33 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 41 | 28 | +13 | 48 | Qualification toEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Cork City[a] | 33 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 46 | |
| 6 | Bray Wanderers | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 28 | 52 | −24 | 39 | |
| 7 | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 33 | 35 | −2 | 37 | |
| 8 | Drogheda United[b] | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 35 | |
| 9 | Galway United | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 32 | |
| 10 | Finn Harps(R) | 33 | 9 | 4 | 20 | 26 | 53 | −27 | 31 | Relegation toLeague of Ireland First Division |
| 11 | Cobh Ramblers(R) | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 55 | −28 | 26 | Relegation toA Championship[c] |
| 12 | UCD(R) | 33 | 4 | 9 | 20 | 19 | 46 | −27 | 21 | Relegation toLeague of Ireland First Division |
| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COB | COR | DER | DRO | FHA | GAL | SHM | SLI | StP | UCD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Bray Wanderers | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Cork City | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Derry City | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 4–1 |
| Drogheda United | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Finn Harps | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 |
| Galway United | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 |
| UCD | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | — |
| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COB | COR | DER | DRO | FHA | GAL | SHM | SLI | StP | UCD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | — | 2–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | — | — | — | 3–0 | — |
| Bray Wanderers | — | — | 3–2 | — | 2–1 | 4–3 | 0–1 | — | — | — | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 0–2 | — | — | 1–1 | — | — | — | 4–1 | 1–0 | — | — | 2–0 |
| Cork City | — | 3–0 | — | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — | 2–0 |
| Derry City | — | — | 4–2 | — | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — |
| Drogheda United | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | — | — | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | — |
| Finn Harps | — | — | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Galway United | 0–2 | 4–0 | — | 3–2 | — | — | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | — | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | — | 3–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| St Patrick's Athletic | — | — | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | — | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | — | 2–0 |
| UCD | 0–1 | — | — | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — |
| Goalscorers | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
| David Mooney | 15 | Cork City[1] |
| Mark Quigley | 15 | St Patrick's Athletic[1] |
| Mark Farren | 15 | Derry City[1] |
| Killian Brennan | 11 | Bohemians |
