2009 A Championship
# 2009 A Championship

The 2009 A Championship was the second season of the A Championship in Ireland. The season was sponsored by Newstalk. The league featured 18 teams. Shamrock Rovers A were the champions while the runners up, Salthill Devon, were promoted to the First Division.

## Overview

18 teams participated in the 2009 A Championship. 12 of these were the reserve teams of League of Ireland clubs. The 2008 champions UCD A and Limerick 37 A did not enter teams for the 2009 season. They were replaced by Sporting Fingal A and Dundalk A. The six non-reserve teams included Salthill Devon and Tullamore Town, both of whom played in the 2008 season. Cobh Ramblers had been relegated from the 2008 Premier Division but were demoted directly to the A Championship after being refused a First Division licence. Castlebar Celtic, F.C. Carlow and Tralee Dynamos were making their debut at senior national level. They were the first clubs from their respective counties of Mayo, Carlow and Kerry to play at this level.

The regular season started on 4 April and was completed by early November. The format saw the 18 teams split into two groups of nine, divided roughly into southern and northern groups. The two groups used a traditional round-robin format. The two group winners, Shamrock Rovers A and Salthill Devon, then played off in a final. Shamrock Rovers emerged as champions. As the highest placed non-reserve team, Salthill Devon also qualified for a promotion/relegation play-off. However they were subsequently promoted directly to the 2010 First Division after their opponents, Kildare County, withdrew from the League of Ireland before the play-off could be played.

## Group 1

### Teams

| Team | Base | Stadium |
| - | - | - |
| Castlebar Celtic | Castlebar | Celtic Park |
| Derry City A | Derry | Brandywell Stadium |
| Drogheda United A | Drogheda | United Park |
| Dundalk A | Dundalk | Oriel Park |
| Finn Harps A | Ballybofey | Finn Park |
| Galway United A | Galway | Athenry |
| Salthill Devon | Salthill | Drom Soccer Park |
| Sligo Rovers A | Sligo | Showgrounds |
| Tullamore Town | Tullamore | Leah Victoria Park |

### Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Salthill Devon (P) | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 37 | 17 | +20 | 36 | Promoted to First Division |
| 2 | Drogheda United A | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 39 | 18 | +21 | 32 | |
| 3 | Finn Harps A | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 17 | +20 | 30 | |
| 4 | Castlebar Celtic | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 25 | |
| 5 | Derry City A | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 23 | |
| 6 | Tullamore Town | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 18 | |
| 7 | Dundalk A | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 24 | 34 | −10 | 18 | |
| 8 | Sligo Rovers A | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 32 | −16 | 15 | |
| 9 | Galway United A | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 48 | −40 | 7 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CAS | DER | DRO | DUN | FHA | GAL | SAL | SLI | TUL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Castlebar Celtic | | 1–2 | 2–3 | 5–0 | 2–5 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Derry City A | 6–1 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Drogheda United A | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 3–1 | 10–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 |
| Dundalk A | 2–3 | 2–5 | 2–1 | | 3–3 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Finn Harps A | 5–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Galway United A | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–4 | | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Salthill Devon | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | | 3–3 | 2–0 |
| Sligo Rovers A | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | | 1–0 |
| Tullamore Town | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 4–0 | |

* ↑ Originally reported 1-2, www.loi.ie has 1-3.
* ↑ The match was awarded to Finn Harps A with a score of 3-0 due to Galway United A failing to show up.
* ↑ The match was awarded to Castlebar Celtic with a score of 3-0 due to Galway United A failing to show up.
* ↑ The match was awarded to Drogheda United A with a score of 0–3 due to Galway United A being unable to field a team.
* ↑ The match was awarded to Salthill Devon with a score of 0–3 due to Dundalk A failing to travel to the match.
* ↑ Originally reported 3-1, www.loi.ie has 2-1, Galway United official site has 3-1.

## Group 2

### Teams

| Team | Base | Stadium |
| - | - | - |
| Bohemians A | Phibsborough | AUL Complex |
| Bray Wanderers A | Bray | Jackson Park |
| F.C. Carlow | Ballon | The Valley |
| Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | St Colman's Park |
| Cork City A | Cork | Turner's Cross |
| Sporting Fingal A | Fingal | ALSAA Sports Complex |
| St Patrick's Athletic A | Inchicore | Richmond Park |
| Shamrock Rovers A | Tallaght | Tallaght Stadium |
| Tralee Dynamos | Tralee | Cahermoneen |

### Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers A (C) | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 10 | +19 | 36 | A Championship winners |
| 2 | Bohemians A | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 26 | 21 | +5 | 31 | |
| 3 | Bray Wanderers A | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 28 | |
| 4 | Sporting Fingal A | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 26 | |
| 5 | Tralee Dynamos | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 21 | −1 | 25 | |
| 6 | Cork City A | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 24 | |
| 7 | St Patrick's Athletic A | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 15 | |
| 8 | F.C. Carlow | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 35 | −21 | 12 | |
| 9 | Cobh Ramblers | 16 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 32 | −21 | 6 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BOH | BRW | COB | COR | CAR | StP | SHA | SFI | TRA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bohemians A | | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Bray Wanderers A | 0–2 | | 4–2 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–7 | 1–0 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 0–1 | 2–5 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 |
| Cork City A | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| F.C. Carlow | 0–5 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 |
| St Patrick's Athletic A | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Shamrock Rovers A | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 5–0 |
| Sporting Fingal A | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 6–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 1–2 |
| Tralee Dynamos | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | |

* ↑ The match originally finished 4–0, but it was later awarded 3-0 to Bray Wanderers A due to Bohemians A having fielded an ineligible player.
* ↑ Originally reported 1-0, www.loi.ie has 2-0, Shamrock Rovers official site has 1-0.
