A Championship

A Championship

Countries	Ireland
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Founded	2008
Number of teams	16
Levels on pyramid	3
Promotion to	League of Ireland First Division
Domestic cup(s)	FAI Cup
League cup(s)	League of Ireland Cup
Current champions	Derry City A (2011)
Most championships	UCD A (2)
Website	AirtricityLeague.ie

The A Championship was the third tier in the Republic of Ireland football league system.^[1][2] It was created in 2008 by the FAI to act as the first stop for clubs hoping to move into the League of Ireland, but cancelled at the end of the 2011 season. The title sponsor of the league from 2009 to 2011 was Newstalk.

History

The inaugural season was won by UCD A who beat Bohemians A 2-1 in the final, held in the UCD Bowl on the 11th of November 2008. Mervue United finished 3rd in Group 1 to enter a two-legged play-off with Kildare County for a spot in the 2009 League of Ireland. Mervue United won 5-2 on aggregate to win promotion to the First Division, with Kildare County being relegated.

Before the 2009 season, Newstalk were named as the title sponsors of the championship, now called the Newstalk A Championship.

Cobh Ramblers failed to obtain a First Division license and were therefore relegated to the A Championship at the beginning of the 2009 season. This gave Kildare County the opportunity to remain in the First Division. Shamrock Rovers A were the 2009 Newstalk A Championship champions defeating Salthill Devon 1-0 at Drom, Co. Galway on 31 October 2009. Salthill Devon were promoted after Kildare County were unable to fulfill the play-off fixture.

UCD A were the 2010 Newstalk A Championship champions defeating Bohemians A 2-1 at the UCD Bowl on 1 November 2010.

In 2011, Derry City A won the final A Championship, beating UCD A 3-2 in the final.

Previous Seasons

Season	Champions	Group 1 Winner	Group 2 Winner	Promoted	Cup Winner	Top goalscorer	Highest placed non-reserve team	Team faced in Play-Off
2008	UCD A	Bohemians A	UCD A	Mervue United	Not played	N/A	Mervue United	Kildare County
2009	Shamrock Rovers A	Salthill Devon	Shamrock Rovers A	Salthill Devon	Not played	N/A	Salthill Devon	N/A
2010	UCD A	Bohemians A	UCD A	None	Sporting Fingal A	N/A	Cobh Ramblers	Salthill Devon
2011	Derry City A	Derry City A	Bray Wanderers A		Not played	N/A	FC Carlow

Format

The league was split into two regional groups, which were made up of reserve teams of all League of Ireland Premier Division and some First Division clubs, as well as first team clubs which received an A Championship license from the FAI. The clubs in the A Championship constantly changed due to promotion/relegation in the League of Ireland. The 2 group winners played off for the A Championship title. The highest placed first team club competed in a two-legged play-off against the bottom team in the First Division for the right to play in the First Division, provided they finished in the top 3 of their group.

Teams

The following teams competed during the four A Championship seasons:

Team	2008 season	2009 season	2010 season	2011 season
Bohemians A	1st (Group 1) Losing finalist	2nd (Group 2)	1st (Group 1) Losing finalist	5th (Group 1)
Bray Wanderers A	4th (Group 2)	3rd (Group 2)	8th (Group 2)	1st (Group 2) Losing semi-finalist
Castlebar Celtic		4th (Group 1)	7th (Group 1)
Cobh Ramblers		9th (Group 2)	2nd (Group 2) Not promoted after play-off	6th (Group 2)
Cobh Ramblers A	6th (Group 2)
Cork City A	2nd (Group 2)	6th (Group 2)
Derry City A	7th (Group 1)	5th (Group 1)		1st (Group 1) Winner
Drogheda United A	4th (Group 1)	2nd (Group 1)	9th (Group 1)	6th (Group 1)
Dundalk A		7th (Group 1)	3rd (Group 1)	8th (Group 1)
Fanad United				4th (Group 1)
FC Carlow		8th (Group 2)	5th (Group 2)	4th (Group 2)
Finn Harps A	2nd (Group 1)	3rd (Group 1)	5th (Group 1)	7th (Group 1)
Galway United A	3rd (Group 2)	9th (Group 1)	9th (Group 2)	8th (Group 2)
Limerick A	7th (Group 2) (as Limerick 37 A)		6th (Group 2)	7th (Group 2)
Mervue United	3rd (Group 1) Promoted
St Patrick's Athletic A	5th (Group 2)	7th (Group 2)	3rd (Group 2)	3rd (Group 2)
Salthill Devon	8th (Group 1)	1st (Group 1) Losing finalist, Promoted
Shamrock Rovers A	5th (Group 1)	1st (Group 2) Winner	4th (Group 2)	2nd (Group 2) Losing semi-finalist
Shelbourne A			6th (Group 1)
Sligo Rovers A	6th (Group 1)	8th (Group 1)	4th (Group 1)	3rd (Group 1)
Sporting Fingal A		4th (Group 2)	2nd (Group 1)
Tralee Dynamos		5th (Group 2)	7th (Group 2)	5th (Group 2)
Tullamore Town	8th (Group 2)	6th (Group 1)	8th (Group 1)
UCD A	1st (Group 2) Winner		1st (Group 2) Winner	2nd (Group 1) Losing finalist

Cup

In 2010, a cup competition was also launched. The A Championship Cup was a pre-season competition for A Championship clubs. With the A Championship starting later than the League of Ireland, the A Championship Cup was a warm-up competition for the clubs involved. This was discontinued after just one season.

See also

• Republic of Ireland football league system
• League of Ireland
• List of A Championship stadiums

External links

• Official Website

References

1. ^ http://loi.ie/index.php/matchzone/newstalk-a-championship/information
2. ^ "Newstalk A Championship". Loi.ie. http://www.airtricityleague.com/index.php/matchzone/a-championship/information. Retrieved 2009-08-08.