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League of Ireland Premier Division
Dates	24 February – 27 October 2017
Champions	Cork City (3rd title)
Relegated	Drogheda United; Finn Harps; Galway United
Champions League	Cork City
Europa League	Dundalk; Shamrock Rovers; Derry City
Matches played	198
Goals scored	549 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorer	Sean Maguire, Cork City 20
Biggest home win	Dundalk 6–0 St Patrick's Athletic
Biggest away win	Drogheda United 0–6 Dundalk
Highest scoring	Bray Wanderers 5–3 Finn Harps Limerick 5-3 Bray Wanderers
Longest winning run	Cork City (12 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Cork City (22 games)
Longest winless run	Drogheda United (21 games)
Longest losing run	Drogheda United (9 games)
Highest attendance	6,983 Cork City 1–1 Dundalk F.C.
Total attendance	377,362
Average attendance	1,906
	← 2016 2018 → All statistics correct as of 4 November 2017.

The 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 33rd season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on Friday 24 February 2017 and concluded on 27 October 2017. Fixtures were announced on 9 December 2016.

On 17 October, Cork City won the title after a 0-0 draw at home to Derry City.^[3]^[4]

Overview

The Premier Division consists of 12 teams. Each team plays each other three times for a total of 33 matches in the season.

Limerick, the 2016 First Division champion and Drogheda United, winners of the promotion/relegation playoffs, were promoted to the league, both bouncing straight back after having been relegated the previous season.

On 22 December 2016, the Football Association of Ireland announced that the league would be restructured into two 10-team divisions from the 2018 season onwards, one of the recommendations made in the 2015 Conroy Report.^[5] This meant the cancellation of the promotion/relegation playoff and relegation at the end of the 2017 season of 3 teams, with only the champions of the First Division promoted in return.^[5]

Teams

Stadia and locations

Dublin

Dublin teams
Bohemians
Shamrock Rovers
St Patrick's Athletic

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Locations of Premier Division teams

Bohemians

St Patrick's Athletic

Shamrock Rovers

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Locations of Dublin Premier Division teams

Team	Location	Stadium
Bohemians	Phibsborough	Dalymount Park
Bray Wanderers	Bray	Carlisle Grounds
Cork City	Cork	Turners Cross
Derry City	Buncrana	Maginn Park^[6]
Drogheda United	Drogheda	United Park
Dundalk	Dundalk	Oriel Park
Finn Harps	Ballybofey	Finn Park
Galway United	Galway	Eamonn Deacy Park
Limerick	Limerick	Markets Field
Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght	Tallaght Stadium
Sligo Rovers	Sligo	The Showgrounds
St Patrick's Athletic	Inchicore	Richmond Park

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	Keith Long	Derek Pender	Hummel	Mr Green
Bray Wanderers	Harry Kenny	Conor Kenna	Nike	Sonas Bathrooms
Cork City	John Caulfield	John Dunleavy	Nike	University College Cork
Derry City	Kenny Shiels	Gerard Doherty	Hummel	Diamond Corrugated
Drogheda United	Pete Mahon	Sean Thornton	CX+ Sport	Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Dundalk	Stephen Kenny	Stephen O'Donnell	CX+ Sport	Fyffes
Finn Harps	Ollie Horgan	Ciaran Coll	Joma	McGettigan Group
Galway United	Shane Keegan	Colm Horgan	Uhlsport	Comer Property Management
Limerick	Neil McDonald	Shane Duggan	Hummel
Shamrock Rovers	Stephen Bradley	Ronan Finn	New Balance	Pepper Asset Servicing
Sligo Rovers	Gerard Lyttle	Craig Roddan	Joma	Volkswagen
St Patrick's Athletic	Liam Buckley	Ian Bermingham	Umbro	Pieta House

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Limerick	Martin Russell	Mutual consent	3 April 2017^[7]	8th	Neil McDonald	18 May 2017^[8]
Sligo Rovers	Dave Robertson	Mutual consent	5 April 2017^[9]	11th	Gerard Lyttle	21 April 2017^[10]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Cork City (C)	33	24	4	5	67	23	+44	76	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Dundalk	33	22	3	8	72	24	+48	69	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3	Shamrock Rovers	33	17	3	13	49	41	+8	54
4	Derry City	33	14	9	10	49	40	+9	51
5	Bohemians	33	14	5	14	36	40	−4	47
6	Bray Wanderers	33	13	7	13	55	52	+3	46
7	Limerick	33	10	10	13	41	51	−10	40
8	St Patrick's Athletic	33	9	12	12	45	52	−7	39
9	Sligo Rovers	33	8	15	10	33	44	−11	39
10	Galway United (R)	33	7	14	12	45	50	−5	35	Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
11	Finn Harps (R)	33	9	3	21	35	67	−32	30
12	Drogheda United (R)	33	5	7	21	22	65	−43	22

Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[11]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams played each other twice (once at home, once away).

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	DUN	FHA	GAL	LIM	STP	SHM	SLI
Bohemians	—	3–2	0–2	1–4	0–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	0–4	0–2	2–0
Bray Wanderers	1–2	—	0–2	3–2	2–1	0–3	5–3	1–0	0–1	1–1	4–2	2–2
Cork City	0–1	2–1	—	3–0	5–0	2–1	5–0	4–0	4–1	1–0	4–1	2–1
Derry City	2–0	2–3	1–2	—	4–0	3–1	0–2	2–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	4–0
Drogheda United	0–1	0–0	1–4	0–0	—	0–6	0–2	2–2	0–2	2–0	2–1	1–1
Dundalk	2–0	1–3	0–3	0–0	3–1	—	4–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	4–0
Finn Harps	2–1	0–3	0–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	—	1–1	3–2	3–1	0–1	2–1
Galway United	1–2	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	—	3–1	1–1	1–2	1–1
Limerick	0–1	5–3	0–3	1–1	3–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	—	2–2	0–2	5–1
St Patrick's Athletic	1–3	1–2	0–3	2–1	2–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	0–2	—	2–1	1–1
Shamrock Rovers	2–1	2–0	1–2	0–1	4–1	2–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	—	1–0
Sligo Rovers	2–0	3–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–1	1–0	—

Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 23–33

Teams played each other once.

Home \ Away	BOH	BRW	COR	DER	DRO	DUN	FHA	GAL	LIM	STP	SHM	SLI
Bohemians	—	0–1	0–0	0–1	—	—	3–1	1–1	—	3–2	—	—
Bray Wanderers	—	—	—	—	2–1	—	2–3	3–3	1–1	—	1–0	—
Cork City	—	1–0	—	0–0	—	1–1	—	2–1	—	—	—	0–1
Derry City	—	0–5	—	—	2–1	0–4	3–0	—	3–0	1–1	—	—
Drogheda United	1–4	—	0–1	—	—	—	—	—	—	0–1	0–2	0–0
Dundalk	0–1	1–0	—	—	3–0	—	—	—	3–0	6–0	0–1	—
Finn Harps	—	—	0–1	—	2–3	0–2	—	1–3	—	—	—	1–2
Galway United	—	—	—	2–1	4–1	3–4	—	—	—	1–1	1–2	3–1
Limerick	1–0	—	2–1	—	1–0	—	0–2	2–2	—	—	—	0–0
St Patrick's Athletic	—	3–1	4–2	—	—	—	4–0	—	2–2	—	2–0	—
Shamrock Rovers	1–2	—	3–1	0–2	—	—	4–1	—	2–1	—	—	1–1
Sligo Rovers	1–0	0–0	—	3–0	—	1–1	—	—	—	1–1	—	—