2009 A Championship Explained

Competition:	Newstalk A Championship
Season:	2009
Winners:	Shamrock Rovers A
Promoted:	Salthill Devon
Prevseason:	2008
Nextseason:	2010

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.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} 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.^{[5] [6] [7]}

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.^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

Group 1

Teams

Team	Base	Stadium
		United Park
	Sligo	Showgrounds

Results

Group 2

Teams

Team	Base	Stadium
		The Valley
		ALSAA Sports Complex
St Patrick's Athletic A		Richmond Park
		Tallaght Stadium
	Tralee	Cahermoneen

Results

See also

• 2009 League of Ireland Premier Division
• 2009 League of Ireland First Division
• 2009 League of Ireland Cup

Notes and References

1. Web site: April kick-off for Newstalk A Championship . rte.ie . 2011-12-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100408121257/http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/0323/soccer.html . 2010-04-08 .
2. Web site: Ireland 2009. 27 July 2016. RSSSF.
3. Web site: Ireland Third Level 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090406073200/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ier3-09.html. dead. April 6, 2009. www.rsssf.com. 29 August 2016.
4. Web site: Ireland 2008. 25 July 2016. RSSSF.
5. Web site: April kick-off for Newstalk A Championship . rte.ie . 2011-12-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100408121257/http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/0323/soccer.html . 2010-04-08 .
6. Web site: Newstalk A Championship Spotlight - Castlebar Celtic . www.extratime.ie . 18 April 2016 . 22 April 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160427041046/http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/1708/ . 27 April 2016 .
7. Web site: Tralee Dynamos Football Club. traleedynamos.com. 11 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160312080642/http://traleedynamos.com/Dynamos.htm. 12 March 2016. dead. dmy-all.
8. Web site: Ireland 2009. 27 July 2016. RSSSF.
9. Web site: Ireland Third Level 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090406073200/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ier3-09.html. dead. April 6, 2009. www.rsssf.com. 29 August 2016.
10. Web site: Rovers - Newstalk A Champions Winner 2009 . www.shamrockrovers.ie . 19 August 2016 . 2 November 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160821094011/http://www.shamrockrovers.ie/news/latest-news/57-a-championship-news/1106-rovers-newstalk-a-champions-winner-2009 . 21 August 2016 .
11. Web site: Hoops claim Newstalk A Championship title. www.fai.ie. 19 August 2016. 31 October 2009.