The Interdepartmentally Choreographed 2006 eircom League Thread
Special Thanks to Damien Richardson's Hat Department
So the annual thread on the greatest League in North-Western Europe which has the letters "e" "r" and "c" in it's name makes it's appearance a bit sooner than last time.
I won't thank Roy Race - becuase lets face it - we don't need to be making a ****ies ego even more bigger than it already is (only joking - well done down there on the title - God I feel so dirty now having to say that
Anyway onto the important stuff:
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League
Code:
eircom League Super Fabulous Premier Division
Final Table:
Premier Division
Final Table:
1.Cork City 33 22 8 3 53-18 74 Champions
2.Derry City 33 22 6 5 56-25 72
3.Shelbourne 33 20 7 6 62-25 67
4.Drogheda United 33 12 12 9 40-33 48
5.Longford Town 33 12 9 12 29-32 45
6.Bohemians 33 13 6 14 42-47 45
7.Bray Wanderers 33 11 6 16 40-57 39
8.Waterford United 33 9 7 17 30-49 34
9.University College Dublin 33 7 12 14 28-44 33
10.Saint Patrick's Athletic 33 7 11 15 26-36 32
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11.Shamrock Rovers 33 9 8 16 33-52 27 [-8] Relegated Hilariously in the Playoff
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12.Finn Harps 33 5 6 22 30-51 21 Relegated
NB: Shamrock Rovers 8 points deducted due to financial
irregularities in license application
So Cork Village carry off their first title since 1992/93 - when they had that quite farcial play-off system in place - Bohs won the first two stages - but didn't win the title due to 1 game right at the end of the season.
I'll post the table of that season shortly
Anyway - Harps were relegated automatically - tbh looked pretty much down and out of it early on - will they bounce back at the first attempt - time will tell.
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Code:
eircom League There's a "First Division" ?
P W D L F A GD Pts
Sligo Rovers 36 15 16 5 45 27 18 61 Promoted
Dublin City 36 15 14 7 57 34 23 59 Promoted Hilariously in the Playoff
Cobh Ramblers 36 15 11 10 49 40 9 56
Kilkenny City 36 15 8 13 46 35 11 53
Galway Utd 36 14 11 11 46 43 3 53
Dundalk 36 12 13 11 44 40 4 49
Limerick FC 36 13 9 14 44 49 -5 48
Kildare County 36 10 11 15 33 42 -9 41
Monaghan Utd 36 9 9 18 36 66 -30 36
Athlone Town 36 6 10 20 28 52 -24 28
Probably a very good title race in the First Division - but as we get no media coverage of it at all - I know nothing about it.
Code:
Promotion/Relegation Playoff
First Leg [Nov 22, Dalymount Park]
Shamrock Rovers 1-2 Dublin City
[Trevor Molloy 58pen; Aidan Lynch 45, David McGill 86]
Second Leg [Nov 25, Tolka Park]
Dublin City 1-1 Shamrock Rovers
[Robbie Collins 55; Derek Treacy 57]
Dublin City promoted, Shamrock Rovers relegated (first relegation since entering the top flight in 1922/23)
- nothing more needs to be said - sure DC are a boil on the face of Irish Football - but hey - who cares - they did a great thing in Tolka that night
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Onto the final standings for the Premier Division Top Scorers Award - something I've christened the "Brendan Bradley Award" - after the League of Ireland's All-Time Top Goalscorer
Code:
22 Jason Byrne Shelbourne
18 Mark Farren Derry City
13 Kevin McHugh Finn Harps
12 Eamon Zayed Bray Wanderers
11 John O'Flynn Cork City
8 Gavin Whelan Drogheda United
8 Glen Crowe Shelbourne
7 Kevin Doyle Cork City
7 Pat McCourt Shamrock Rovers
7 Declan O'Brien Drogheda United
7 Patrick McWalter UCD
7 Stephen Ward Bohemians
7 Robbie Doyle St. Patricks Athletic
7 Fergal Harkin Bohemians
7 Ciaran Martyn Derry City
7 Gary O'Neill Shelbourne
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FAI Cup
Code:
Final [Dec 4, Lansdowne Road]
Cork City 0-2 Drogheda United
[Gavin Whelan 52, Declan O'Brien 83]
Cork City: Michael Devine; Neal Horgan, Greg O'Halloran (Colin O'Brien 84),
Dan Murray, Alan Bennet, Joe Gamble, George O'Callaghan, Billy Woods,
Liam Kearney, John O'Flynn, Neale Fennn (Dennis Behan 63); coach:
Damien Richardson;
Drogheda United: Dan Connor; Damian Lynch, Simon Webb, Graham Gartland,
Stephen Gray, Gavin Whelan, Shane Robinson, Stephen Bradley (Paul
Keegan 71), Jermaine Sandvliet, Sami Ristila (Mark Rooney 77), Declan
O'Brien (Paul Bernard 90); coach: Paul Doolin;
Yellow cards: Cork: George O'Callaghan 27, Dan Murray 28;
Drogheda: Gavin Whelan 31, Damian Lynch 80;
Referee: Ian Stokes (Dublin);
Att: 24,521
Drogheda prevent Cork from doing the double with a 2-0 win to carry off their first ever FAI Senior Challenge Cup - in front of a
very impressive crowd at Lansdowne Road!
I feel it fitting to name those teams that pulled off cup shocks last season:
Malahide United taking Sligo to Extra-Time in a replay in Round 2 - before going down 2-0
Dundalk beating Monaghan 7-1 in Round 2
Bray getting to the Semi-Finals despite having a rotten League season - conceding the most League goals in the process
But the special Cup Performers award goes to:
Wayside Celtic defeating Cobh in Round 2 - before coming back from 2-0 down against Bohemians to take it to a Replay in Round 3 - eventually going out 2-1 to Bohs at the Carlisle Grounds
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PFAI Awards
These took place at the Burlington Hotel back in November:
PFAI Players' Player of the Year:
Mark Farren (Derry City)
Young Player of the Year:
Pat McCourt (Derry City)
First Division Player of the Year:
Kieran O'Reilly (Cobh Ramblers)
PFAI Merit Award for Services to Irish Football:
Tony Mannion (Galway United)
Referee of the Year:
Alan Kelly (Cork)
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2006 Season Key Dates
28th January: League AGM to decide League Format for 2006 season
13th February: Fixtures Released
Friday 10th March: Season Starts
Friday 9th June: League Shuts Down for World Cup
Sunday 18th June: League Resumes
November: Season Ends
Here's to next season!
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