Ireland. Ranked 30th. 3 points for a win and interesting season – unusual winners. Two teams fought for the title, leaving the rest well behind and surprising Cup final.
Second Division – 4 teams competed for the top 2 positions and promotion. Kilkenny City finished 4th with 35 points.
Bray Wanderers clinched 3rd place on better goal-difference. Unable to climb to the top league, they still had their best season in their history so far.
Sligo Rovers finished 2nd with 37 points, losing the Second-division title on worse goal-difference, but achieved the prime goal: promotion to the top league.
Waterford United won the Second Division championship with 37 points: 16 wins, 5 ties, 6 losses and 58-28 scoring record, giving them the edge of +30 goal-difference vs Sligo Rovers’ +18. Promoted up, of course.
First Division.
University College Dublin finished last with 17 points and Drogheda United – 11th with 18 points. Both relegated to Second Division.
Not much above, except rather weak season for Shamrock Rovers.
They ended 4th with 40 points.
Dundalk bested them with 42 points, but like Shamrock Rovers, they were well outside the championship race.
Two teams competed for the title:
Derry City lost it and took 2nd place with 49 points.
St. Patrick’s Athletic had amazing season, crowned with the Irish title: they finished with 52 points from 22 wins, 8 ties, and 3 lost games. Their scoring record was not the best in the league – 51-22, quite insignificant to Derry City’s 72-18, but that more of a grieving matter for Derry City, for St. Patrick’s won the championship by 3-point difference. It was great victory – they waited for it since 1955-56 and finally won their 4th title. What a triumph.
The Cup final was even more surprising – not only no top league team reached the final, but not even two second-tier teams: Bray Wanderers, which failed to win promotion up, represented the Second Division and St. Francis came from much lower tiers. Alas,so lowly club had no chance – Bray Wanderers won 3-0.
All sympathy to St. Francis – would have been wonderful if they won, but even in a battle of underdogs size matters.
Bray Wanderers (pictured here at the semifinal) won their first Cup – it is a matter of pure speculation whether they would have prevailed against a team from the top division, but their opponent was not even in the second tier of Irish football, so Bray Wanderers were favourites in the final. Well deserved victory and much cheer, for they were going to play in Europe and still remain in Second Division in the fall.
First-time winners deserve a second look at least and this is the team which won the Cup final – historic squad indeed.