2001–02 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2001–02 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 17th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Shelbourne were crowned champions for the tenth time.

League of Ireland Premier Division
Season2001–02
ChampionsShelbourne FC (10th title)
RelegatedDundalk
Galway United
Monaghan United
UEFA Champions LeagueShelbourne FC
UEFA CupShamrock Rovers
Dundalk
UEFA Intertoto CupSt Patrick's Athletic
Top goalscorerGlen Crowe: 21
(Bohemians) [1][2]

Regular season

The season saw each team playing three rounds of games, playing every other team three times, totalling 33 games. The 2002–03 season would see the League of Ireland Premier Division reduced from 12 to 10 teams. As a result, three teams were automatically relegated. [2][3] The season is best remembered for the controversy involving allegations of St Patrick's Athletic fielding ineligible players. St. Pat's originally had 9 points deducted for fielding Paul Marney in the first three games of the season. This was later revoked after arbitration. However Shelbourne appealed against this decision which was taken to the High Court where the appeal was rejected. It was then discovered by the Shelbourne chief executive, Ollie Byrne, that Charles Livingstone Mbabazi had not been registered by St. Pat's for the first five games of the season and so the club had 15 points deducted, three points for each game. The decision of the FAI appeal board to dismiss St. Pat's appeal in the Livingstone case saw Shelbourne confirmed as league champions.[2][4]

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Shelbourne (C) 33 19 6 8 50 28 +22 63 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Shamrock Rovers 33 17 6 10 54 32 +22 57 Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 St Patrick's Athletic[lower-alpha 1] 33 20 8 5 59 29 +30 53 Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
4 Bohemians 33 14 10 9 57 32 +25 52
5 Derry City 33 14 9 10 42 30 +12 51
6 Cork City 33 14 7 12 48 39 +9 49
7 UCD 33 12 12 9 40 39 +1 48
8 Bray Wanderers 33 12 10 11 54 45 +9 46
9 Longford Town (O) 33 10 10 13 41 51 −10 40 Qualification to Relegation play-off
10 Dundalk (R) 33 9 12 12 37 46 −9 39 UEFA Cup qualifying and relegation to First Division[lower-alpha 2]
11 Galway United (R) 33 5 4 24 28 73 −45 19 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
12 Monaghan United (R) 33 2 6 25 19 85 −66 12
Source: www.rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. St Patrick's Athletic had 15 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player.
  2. Dundalk qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round after winning the 2001–02 FAI Cup.

Matches 1–22
Home \ Away BOH BRW COR DER DUN GAL LON MON SHM SHE StP UCD
Bohemians — 2–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 3–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 4–6 0–2 6–0
Bray Wanderers 0–0 — 2–2 0–0 5–1 2–0 5–1 5–0 1–1 0–3 0–2 1–1
Cork City 0–1 2–2 — 1–0 0–1 4–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 0–2
Derry City 1–0 3–1 1–0 — 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 1–1
Dundalk 1–1 0–3 1–3 1–0 — 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–1
Galway United 1–5 0–2 0–3 0–1 0–1 — 1–1 8–0 0–2 0–1 0–4 1–0
Longford Town 2–0 3–2 4–1 1–0 2–2 1–2 — 1–1 1–2 1–0 3–3 1–3
Monaghan United 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 0–0 0–2 — 2–3 0–1 0–4 1–4
Shamrock Rovers 1–0 4–0 1–3 1–1 1–0 3–0 0–0 4–0 — 3–0 0–0 0–1
Shelbourne 1–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 4–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 2–0 — 1–1 0–1
St Patrick's Athletic 1–1 2–0 1–3 1–0 2–0 3–0 3–2 1–1 2–1 3–2 — 1–2
UCD 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 2–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–3 0–0 0–0 —
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33
Home \ Away BOH BRW COR DER DUN GAL LON MON SHM SHE StP UCD
Bohemians — — — 1–0 — — 1–0 3–0 1–1 4–0 — 3–0
Bray Wanderers 2–2 — 0–2 — 1–2 — 4–1 — 2–1 0–0 — —
Cork City 0–3 — — — 0–0 — — 5–1 0–2 0–1 — —
Derry City — 1–2 1–0 — — — — 6–1 3–0 — — 1–1
Dundalk 3–1 — — 4–2 — 1–1 — — — 1–2 0–1 1–1
Galway United 1–5 3–5 1–2 2–3 — — 0–2 — — — — —
Longford Town — — 0–0 1–0 1–3 — — 2–0 1–5 — 1–1 —
Monaghan United — 0–3 — — 0–3 1–2 — — — 1–0 — 0–3
Shamrock Rovers — — — — 4–1 3–0 — 3–2 — 0–2 — 3–1
Shelbourne — — — 1–1 — 2–0 3–0 — — — 2–1 —
St Patrick's Athletic 2–0 2–1 3–2 3–0 — 3–1 — 2–1 1–0 — — —
UCD — 0–0 1–1 — — 3–1 1–2 — — 2–3 0–0 —
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/relegation play-off

Longford Town who finished in ninth place played off against Finn Harps, the third placed team from the 2001–02 League of Ireland First Division.

1st leg
20 May 2002 Longford Town 1–0 Finn Harps

2nd leg
23 May 2002 Finn Harps 3–2 Longford Town

Longford Town win 6-5 on penalties after extra time and retain their place in the Premier Division. [2][5]

Locations of the Premier Division teams

See also

References
  1. "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. Graham, Alex. Football in the Republic of Ireland a Statistical Record 1921–2005. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 1-86223-135-4.
  3. "(Republic of) Ireland League Tables". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  4. "St Pats keep mum 'til report published". www.irishexaminer.com. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  5. "(Republic of) Ireland League Tables - Second Level". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
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