Cork City and Shelbourne are promoted to the Premier League

The First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Cork City (C) (P)	30	20	9	1	73	26	+47	69
2	Shelbourne (P)	30	22	2	6	62	24	+38	68
3	Monaghan United	30	21	4	5	60	27	+33	67
4	Limerick FC	30	20	6	4	49	22	+27	66
5	Waterford United	30	13	3	14	37	31	+6	42
6	Longford Town	30	12	4	14	38	41	−3	40
7	Mervue United	30	10	4	16	37	45	−8	34
8	Athlone Town	30	9	5	16	25	53	−28	32
9	Finn Harps	30	8	4	18	29	45	−16	28
10	Wexford Youths	30	4	2	24	29	69	−40	14
11	Salthill Devon	30	2	5	23	18	74	−56	11

                                                                                                                                                           
Well the First Division has been wrapped up. Cork City is your Champion for the 2011 season. The Champions (Cork City) and Shelbourne will be automatically promoted to the Premier Division next year. This will give the Premier Division the exposure they need in the second largest City (Cork) in the Republic of Ireland. Shelbourne is also an excellent addition to the Premier Division since they will add more exposure to Dublin. Last year Dublin had 3 clubs in Shamrock, St Patrick Athletic and Bohemians. The Bohemians are in big financial trouble and the existence is in question. Shelbourne will make sure there will be at least 3 quality clubs in Dublin.

            Monaghan United beat out Limerick FC for the playoff/promotion with the last place finisher of the Premier Division (Galway United). It is believed that Monagham United should win easily.  Monaghan will give the Premier Division 3 new quality teams to spice up the League.

            Limerick FC is a model club will all the community work they do to promote the club and the sport. They also have a quality club that could be very competitive in the Premier division. There is still an outside chance they will be promoted. Since the Bohemians are in big financial trouble they may fold for a season to work out their debt. This will open one slot in the Premier division. Limerick is the next club in line for promotion. Limerick is also the 3^rd largest city in the republic. The League would want to promote this club. Only time will tell.

League of Ireland ....

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Shamrock Rovers	34	21	8	5	63	23	+40	71
2	Sligo Rovers	34	20	7	7	66	17	+49	67
3	Derry City	34	18	12	4	62	22	+40	66
4	St Patrick's Athletic	34	17	11	6	58	30	+28	62
5	Bohemians	34	17	8	9	39	24	+15	59
6	Bray Wanderers	34	13	6	15	46	50	−4	45
7	Dundalk	34	10	11	13	49	52	−3	41
8	UCD	34	10	4	20	39	74	−35	34
9	Drogheda United	34	6	4	24	28	73	−45	22
10	Galway United	34	1	3	30	20	105	−85	6

The League of Ireland

            The Shamrock Rovers are sitting in the best position. They have 2 games left against 2 of the worst clubs in the League. The Shamrock Rovers play UCD “the students” and then Galway United. They should win each game, however they could be distracted with the Europa League games. They are in Greece today playing in the Europa cup. They have to fly back then play Monday the 24^th then again 4 day later on the 28^th against Galway United to finish this great season.

            The Sligo Rovers have the at Bohemians than they play home against UCD to wrap their season up. Their only chance is to have Shamrock slip up.

            Derry City is 5 points behind the leaders. They need a miracle. They have to win both of their games and have Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers lose their 2 games.

The exciting news is the expansion of the League of Ireland. The League will expand the Premier League from 10 clubs to 12 clubs. The Premier division has had 10 teams since the 2001-02 season. The top 2 clubs will be automatically be promoted. There are 33 games to be played so about 5 games left.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Monaghan United	28	20	4	4	55	26	+29	64
2	Cork City	28	18	9	1	68	24	+44	63
3	Shelbourne	27	20	2	5	53	21	+32	62
4	Limerick FC	28	18	6	4	45	22	+23	60
5	Longford Town	29	12	4	13	37	38	−1	40
6	Waterford United	28	12	3	13	35	28	+7	39
7	Athlone Town	29	9	5	15	25	48	−23	32
8	Mervue United	28	9	4	15	36	43	−7	31
9	Finn Harps	27	7	5	15	25	36	−11	26
10	Wexford Youths	28	3	2	23	25	61	−36	11
11	Salthill Devon	28	2	5	21	15	65	−50	11