2025 League of Ireland Premier Division
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(22nd title)
| Season | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14 February 2025 – 1 November 2025 |
| Champions | Shamrock Rovers (22nd title) |
| Relegated | Cork City |
| Champions League | Shamrock Rovers |
| Europa League | Derry City |
| Conference League | Shelbourne Bohemians |
| Matches | 180 |
| Goals | 437 (2.43 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Pádraig Amond (14 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Derry City 7–2 Waterford (4 July 2025) |
| Biggest away win | Waterford 0–4 Sligo Rovers (18 April 2025) |
| Highest scoring | Derry City 7–2 Waterford (4 July 2025) |
| Longest winning run | 5 matches Shamrock Rovers Shelbourne |
| Longest unbeaten run | 11 matches Shamrock Rovers |
| Longest winless run | 14 matches Cork City |
| Longest losing run | 7 matches Waterford |
| Highest attendance | 33,208 Bohemians 1–0 Shamrock Rovers (16 February 2025) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,611 Cork City 1–2 Shelbourne (13 October 2025) |
| Total attendance | 679,959 |
| Average attendance | 3,778 |
← 2024 2026 → | |
The 2025 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons,[1] was 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 concluded 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]
On 13 October, Cork City's relegation, their third of the decade, was confirmed following a 1-2 home defeat to Shelbourne in front of the division's lowest crowd of the season.[8]
On 29 October, Shamrock Rovers won the title after a 1-0 victory over Galway United. It was their 22nd Premier Division title and their fifth in the last six seasons.[9]
Stadiums and locations
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.[10] They replaced Dundalk, who were relegated after 16 consecutive seasons in the top flight.[11]
| 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 | 5,750 |
| 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
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 | Gerard Nash |
Sean Maguire |
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 |
Conor McCormack |
O'Neills | Comer Property Management |
| Shamrock Rovers | Stephen Bradley |
 Roberto Lopes |
Macron | MASCOT Workwear |
| Shelbourne | Joey O'Brien |
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 | Jon Daly |
Pádraig Amond |
Puma | DG Foods |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derry City | Ruaidhrí Higgins |
Mutual consent | 15 November 2024[12] | Pre-season | Tiernan Lynch |
18 November 2024[13] |
| Waterford | Keith Long |
Sacked | 19 April 2025[14] | 8th |  Matt Lawlor (interim) |
20 April 2025[15] |
| Matt Lawlor (interim) |
End of interim spell | 6 May 2025[16] | John Coleman |
3 May 2025[16] | ||
| Cork City | Tim Clancy |
Resigned | 9 May 2025[17] | 9th | Liam Kearney & Greg Yelverton (interim) |
14 May 2025[18] |
| Liam Kearney & Greg Yelverton (interim) |
End of interim spell | 15 May 2025[19] | Gerard Nash |
15 May 2025[20] | ||
| Shelbourne | Damien Duff |
Resigned | 22 June 2025[21] | 6th | Joey O'Brien[note 1] |
22 June 2025[21][22] |
| Waterford | John Coleman |
Sacked | 28 September 2025[23] | 9th | Matt Lawlor (interim) |
28 September 2025[24] |
League table
Results
Teams play each other four times (twice at home and twice away).
Promotion/relegation play-offs
The ninth-placed team (Waterford F.C.) from the 2025 League of Ireland Premier Division qualified for a play-off alongside the second, third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams from the 2025 League of Ireland First Division (Cobh Ramblers, Bray Wanderers, UCD, and Treaty United).
The First Division teams contest the semi-finals and final. The semi-finals will be held over two legs, with the second-placed team facing the fifth-placed team and the third-placed team facing the fourth-placed team. The semi-final winners then contest the First Division final, with the winners ultimately facing the ninth-placed League of Ireland Premier Division team for the final place in the 2026 League of Ireland Premier Division.
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | Promotion/relegation play-off | |||||||||||||
| 4 | UCD | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| PD9 | Waterford | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Bray Wanderers | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Bray Wanderers | 1 | FD3 | Bray Wanderers | 1 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Treaty United | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Treaty United (a.e.t.) | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Cobh Ramblers | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
Semi-finals
| 24 October 2025 | UCD | 0–1 | Bray Wanderers | Belfield |
| 19:45 | Report | Doyle  90+4' |
Stadium: UCD Bowl Attendance: 927 Referee: Lucas Keating |
| 28 October 2025 | Bray Wanderers | 3–2 | UCD | Bray |
| 19:45 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Carlisle Grounds Attendance: 2,030 Referee: Daniel Murphy |
Bray Wanderers won 4–2 on aggregate
| 24 October 2025 | Treaty United | 1–0 | Cobh Ramblers | Limerick |
| 19:45 | Hanson 77' |
Report | Stadium: Markets Field Attendance: 1,849 Referee: Oliver Moran |
| 28 October 2025 | Cobh Ramblers | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Treaty United | Cobh |
| 19:45 | Whelan 90+4' |
Report | Martin 105' |
Stadium: St. Colman's Park Attendance: 1,636 Referee: Mark Houlihan |
Treaty United won 2–1 on aggregate
Final
| 2 November 2025 | Bray Wanderers | 1–0 | Treaty United | Athlone |
| 15:00 | Ferizaj 90' |
Report | Stadium: Athlone Town Stadium |
Promotion/relegation play-off
| 7 November 2025 | Bray Wanderers | 1–2 | Waterford | Drumcondra |
| 19:45 |
|
Report | Stadium: Tolka Park Attendance: 3,648 Referee: Kevin O'Sullivan |
Positions by round
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
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[26] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pádraig Amond |
Waterford | 14 |
| 2 | Mason Melia |
St Patrick's Athletic | 13 |
| 3 | Michael Duffy |
Derry City | 12 |
| Owen Elding |
Sligo Rovers | ||
| 5 |  Moses Dyer |
Galway United | 10 |
| 6 | Rory Gaffney |
Shamrock Rovers | 9 |
| Tommy Lonergan |
Waterford | ||
| Harry Wood |
Shelbourne | ||
| 9 | Liam Boyce |
Derry City | 8 |
| Graham Burke |
Shamrock Rovers | ||
| James Clarke |
Bohemians | ||
| Mipo Odubeko |
Shelbourne |
Hat-tricks
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colm Whelan |
Bohemians | Waterford | 3–0 (A) | 7 March 2025 | [27] |
| John Martin |
Shelbourne | Sligo Rovers | 3–2 (H) | 23 May 2025 | [28] |
| Liam Boyce |
Derry City | Waterford | 7–2 (H) | 4 July 2025 | [29] |
Clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Joseph Anang |
St Patrick's Athletic | 18 |
| 2 |  Luke Dennison |
Drogheda United | 14 |
| 3 | Brian Maher |
Derry City | 12 |
| 4 |  Kacper Chorążka |
Bohemians | 11 |
| 5 | Edward McGinty |
Shamrock Rovers | 10 |
| 6 | Sam Sargeant |
Sligo Rovers | 7 |
| 7 | Stephen McMullan |
Waterford | 5 |
| Conor Kearns |
Shelbourne | ||
| 9 |  Wessel Speel |
4 | |
| 10 | Conor Brann |
Cork City | 3 |
 Evan Watts |
Galway United |
Discipline
Player
- Most yellow cards: 15
Adam O'Reilly (Derry City)
- Most red cards: 1
- 32 players (Various)
Club
- Most yellow cards: 114
- Derry City
- Most red cards: 7
- Derry City
Awards
Attendances
| No. | Club | Average attendance[47] | Change | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers | 5,996 | -1,2% | 9,522 |
| 2 | Bohemians | 5,860 | 38,2% | 33,208 |
| 3 | Shelbourne | 4,556 | 6,7% | 5,633 |
| 4 | St Patrick's Athletic | 4,342 | -1,4% | 5,374 |
| 5 | Derry City | 3,466 | 20,7% | 4,327 |
| 6 | Cork City | 3,053 | 15,8% | 5,034 |
| 7 | Sligo Rovers | 2,814 | -1,5% | 4,023 |
| 8 | Galway United | 2,785 | -7,6% | 4,323 |
| 9 | Waterford | 2,608 | -4,4% | 3,488 |
| 10 | Drogheda United | 2,295 | 13,5% | 2,596 |