The 2021 League of Ireland First Division season was the 37th season of the League of Ireland First Division, the second tier of Ireland's association football league. The fixture list was released on 8 February 2021 and the competition commenced on 26 March 2021. Shelbourne were confirmed Champions and promoted to the League of Ireland Premier Division on 1 October 2021.
Overview The First Division has 10 teams. Each team plays each other three times for a total of 27 matches in the season.
Teams
Team changes Shelbourne and Cork City joined following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2020 season. Drogheda United and Longford Town departed following their promotion from the 2020 First Division.
Additional teams On 10 November 2020 a newly formed Limerick based club Treaty United announced that they would apply for a 2021 League of Ireland licence. Former Dublin based League of Ireland club St Francis FC and Wexford based Yola FC also both expressed interest in joining for 2021 by the deadline for expressions of interest which was 10 November 2020. An application was made by a brand new entity under the name Dublin County F.C. but did not ultimately materialise. Bray Wanderers and Cabinteely F.C. merged at the end of the season, keeping the name Bray Wanderers.
Stadia and locations Team Location Stadium Capacity Athlone Town Athlone Athlone Town Stadium 5,000 Bray Wanderers Bray Carlisle Grounds 4,000 Cabinteely Dublin Stradbrook Road 1,620 Cobh Ramblers Cobh St. Colman's Park 3,000 Cork City Cork Turners Cross 7,845 Galway United Galway Eamonn Deacy Park 5,000 Shelbourne Dublin Tolka Park 3,700 Treaty United Limerick Markets Field 5,000 UCD Dublin UCD Bowl 3,000 Wexford Crossabeg Ferrycarrig Park 2,500
Personnel and kits
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 Athlone Town Paul Doolin Kurtis Byrne Nike Hayden & Co. SolicitorsBray Wanderers Gary Cronin Aaron Barry Umbro Matt Britton CarpetsCabinteely Pat Devlin Daniel Blackbyrne Nike EdufitCobh Ramblers Darren Murphy (interim) John Kavanagh Joma Metropole HotelCork City Colin Healy Gearoid Morrissey Adidas University College CorkGalway United John Caulfield Conor McCormack O'Neill's Comer Property ManagementShelbourne Ian Morris Luke Byrne Umbro Hamptons HomesTreaty United Tommy Barrett Jack Lynch Umbro UPMCUCD Andy Myler Jack Keaney O'Neill's O'Neill'sWexford Ian Ryan Karl Manahan Bodibro Wallace's Asti
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointmentWexford Brian O'SullivanMutual Consent10 May 202110th Ian Ryan15 May 2021Cobh Ramblers Stuart AshtonSacked22 July 20219th Darren Murphy (interim)23 July 2021Athlone Town Adrian CarberrySacked17 August 20216th Paul Doolin18 August 2021Shelbourne Ian MorrisMutual Consent29 October 20211st Damien Duff3 November 2021
League table
Results
Matches 1–18 Teams play each other twice (once at home, once away).
Matches 19-27
Season statistics
Top scorers
As of matches played 29 October 2021. RankPlayerClubGoals1 Colm WhelanUCD192 Ryan BrennanShelbourne153 Liam KerriganUCD124 Cian MurphyCork City115 Kyle RobinsonWexford9 Ruairí KeatingGalway United
Play-offs First Division play-off Semi-finals First leg
Second leg
First Division play-off Final
Promotion/relegation play-off
See also 2021 League of Ireland Premier Division 2021 FAI Cup
References