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The League of Ireland is a national association football league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry City F.C. in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was the name of the single division top-level football league in the Republic of Ireland from its foundation in 1921 until the introduction of a second division in 1985, upon which it became the name of the league in its entirety.
There are three divisions in the league as of the end of the 2025 season – the Premier Division and First Division for men, and the Women's Premier Division. From 2026, a third tier for men, the National League is anticipated to begin play.
The men's league is divided into the Premier Division and the First Division with ten teams in each division, and promotion and relegation between the highest-placed teams in the First Division and the lowest-placed teams in the Premier Division. From 2026, the National League will consist of a further twenty teams in two parallel conferences of ten teams, North and South. Underage divisions include the U19 Division, U17 Division, U15 Division, and most recently the U14 Division.
Of the twenty teams currently in the Premier Division and First Division, nineteen teams are located in the Republic of Ireland, while one – Derry City – is located in Northern Ireland. League teams also participated in two knockout cup competitions: the FAI Cup, organised by the FAI, and until its suspension in 2020, the League of Ireland Cup.
The league has always worked closely with the FAI, with which it formally merged in 2006. The league is currently sponsored by SSE Airtricity, and as such is known as the SSE Airtricity League for sponsorship reasons. In 2007, it became one of the first leagues in Europe to introduce a salary cap.
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First level
The League of Ireland was founded in 1921 as a single division known as the A Division. The inaugural season featured eight teams from County Dublin, all of whom had spent the 1920–21 season playing in the Leinster Senior League: Bohemians, Dublin United, Frankfort, Jacobs, Olympia, St James's Gate, Shelbourne and YMCA. Bohemians and Shelbourne had previously played in the 1919–20 Irish League. St James's Gate were the inaugural champions, and also went on to complete a treble, having also won both the FAI Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup.
The League expanded to twelve teams in 1922–23. Among the new members were Shamrock Rovers, who would win the title at the first attempt, and Athlone Town, who became the first team from outside County Dublin to compete in the League. Along with Bohemians and Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers would go on to dominate the League during the 1920s and 1930s.
Bray Unknowns and Fordsons became the second and third teams from outside County Dublin to join the League in 1924–25, the latter also becoming the first team from Munster to play in the league. The League continued to expand both numerically and geographically during its first two decades, with Dundalk being elected in 1926–27 and subsequently becoming the first team from outside County Dublin to win the title in 1932–33. Dundalk were subsequently joined by Waterford in 1930–31, Cork Bohemians in 1932–33, Sligo Rovers in 1934–35 and Limerick in 1937–38. Sligo Rovers became only the second team from outside County Dublin to win the title in 1936–37.
Cork United emerged as the strongest team in the League during the Emergency, winning five titles between 1940–41 and 1945–46, three of which in succession. However, they subsequently resigned from the League in 1948.
The 1950s was marked by the emergence of St Patrick's Athletic and the re-emergence of Shamrock Rovers, with the former winning the title at the first attempt in 1951–52 and claiming two more in the middle of the decade, and the latter winning their first title in fifteen years in 1953–54. While Drumcondra and Dundalk won two titles each during the 1960s, Waterford were the dominant team of the decade by winning four titles, including three in succession between 1967–68 and 1969–70. Six different teams won the title during the 1970s, with Bohemians, Dundalk and Waterford each winning two titles. While Athlone Town won two titles at the start of the 1980s, the decade was marked by the four successive titles won by Shamrock Rovers between 1983–84 and 1986–87.
Following the conclusion of the 1984–85 season, the League was restructured and the A Division was replaced by the Premier Division.
In 2002, the league was branded as the Eircom League after sponsors, Eircom.
Second level
A second division known as the B Division was introduced in 1964–65, featuring reserve teams and emerging senior teams. This led to the original league occasionally being referred to as the A Division. While there was no formal promotion and relegation to and from the A Division, a number of B Division teams — including Athlone Town, Bray Wanderers, Home Farm, Longford Town, Monaghan United and UCD — were subsequently elected to the A Division.
In 1985, the B Division was replaced as the second-level of the football pyramid when the First Division was introduced to the League of Ireland. The First Division consisted solely of first teams, with promotion to and relegation from the new Premier Division.
Third level
A third division known as the A Championship was introduced in 2008, and like the former B Division featured reserve teams and emerging senior teams. However, unlike the B Division, there was promotion and relegation between the Premier Division, First Division and A Championship.
The A Championship was disbanded following the conclusion of the 2011 season.
The FAI announced a new third tier, the National League, on 12 December 2024. The National League will be integrated into the existing football pyramid in Ireland, offering a clear route for promotion and relegation to and from the League of Ireland. The FAI aims to recruit 20 clubs in total for the new league, split into north and south divisions. On 19 December 2025, fifteen clubs were announced as the founding teams of the FAI National League, a new step in the Republic of Ireland football league pyramid. The competition is expected to commence with a truncated league season, beginning in Autumn 2026.
Youth leagues
A number of youth leagues have also been introduced since the 2000–01 season.
The original men's youth league was an under-21 division, and later became an under-20 division before becoming an under-19 division, the winners of which are awarded the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup. In February 2024, the league returned to under-20 status.
A women's under-19 youth league was introduced in 2021. In September 2025, this was replaced by an expanded under-23 development league, funded by UEFA.
A men's under-17 division was introduced in 2015. A women's under-17 division followed in July 2018.
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