There are many derbies in the League of Ireland, and despite the fact that historically more teams compete in the First Division, the majority are played in the Premier Division, the top flight of Irish football.
Founded in 1921 the League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Formed by the Football Association of Ireland out of split with the Irish Football Association for the first 65 years it consisted of a single division but since the mid 1980s it has expanded into a two tier system with a Premier Division and First Division.
Most derbies in the league occur due to close geographical proximity, with a number of clubs based in Dublin. However, there are also many rivalries between other city clubs outside the capital such as Cork City vs Limerick and Drogheda United vs Dundalk. These clubs also maintain rivalries with the Dublin-based clubs.
The earliest rivalry contested was between Bohemian and Shelbourne, Dublin based clubs who played in the Belfast-dominated Irish Football League from the early 1900s to 1920. They never won the League title, but they did win four Irish Cups between them. After the foundation of the League of Ireland in 1921 this rivalry continued along with newly formed rivalries between Shamrock Rovers and St James' Gate, with the four clubs winning all of the league's first eleven titles between them.
In the 1950s and 1960s matches between North Dublin-based Drumcondra and South Dublin based Shamrock Rovers became the premier event in leagues calendar until the Drums went out of business in 1972. While outside of Dublin Cork Celtic and Cork Hibernians enjoyed a rivalry in the 1960s. Today the Bohemians-Shamrock Rovers fixture is considered the main rivalry in the league by the media.
There are also important non-geographical rivalries such as Cork City and Shelbourne in the 2000s, or Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers in the 2010s which stem from title battles.
League of Ireland sides also have rivalries with their Northern Irish club counterparts and have often met in cross-border competitions, the latest being the Setanta Sports Cup. They can also meet in European Qualifying Rounds, this has happened on four occasions in the European Cup/Champions League with Waterford United overcoming Glentoran in 1970-71, Dundalk beating Linfield in 1979-80, Shamrock Rovers losing to Linfield in 1984-85 and Shelbourne defeating Glentoran in 2005-06.
With four Dublin based clubs currently competing in the league and a number of defunct clubs over the years the city of Dublin hosts a large amount of derbies each season.
| Dublin Derby results from 1922-23 season to 2022 season . Updated as of 02/09/2022. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Bohemians won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Shamrock Rovers won | |
| width=70px | 244 | width=70px | 74 | width=70px | 63 | width=70px | 107 |
See main article: Bohemians–Shamrock Rovers rivalry. The biggest rivalry in the league. Following the demise of Drumcondra in the 1960s, Bohemians became the only major club from the Northside of Dublin, automatically coming into conflict with southsiders, Shamrock Rovers. Since the 1990s, the rivalry has been extremely fierce both on and off the field,[1] with disturbances breaking out before, during and after fixtures, resulting in an excessive Garda presence at games. The attendances at the game had been declining for thirty years, but attendances unexpectedly rose in 2009, largely due to Rovers moving into Tallaght Stadium and Bohs' status as league champions, with the attendance at one game tripling on the previous encounter.[2]
The rivalry features elements of the North-South cultural divide that exists in the city.
In 2016 during an away 4-0 win for Rovers, fans from both side invaded the pitch, fighting was reported with the Garda Public Order unit intervening.[3] [4]
| Northside derby head to head league results from 1921-22 season to 2022 season . Updated as of end of 19/08/2022. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Bohemians won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Shelbourne won | |
| width=70px | 204 | width=70px | 88 | width=70px | 42 | width=70px | 75 |
| Luas derby head to head league results from 1922-23 season to 2023 season. Updated as of the end of the 2023 season. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Shamrock Rovers won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | St Patrick's Athletic won | |
| width=70px | 188 | width=70px | 80 | width=70px | 50 | width=70px | 58 |
| Red derby head to head league results from 1951-52 season to 2023 season. Updated as of end of the 2023 season. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Shelbourne won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | St Patrick's Athletic won | |
| width=70px | 145 | width=70px | 56 | width=70px | 35 | width=70px | 54 |
| Ringsend derby head to head league results from 1922-23 season to 2022 season . Updated as of end of 27/05/2022. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Shamrock Rovers won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Shelbourne won | |
| width=70px | 193 | width=70px | 79 | width=70px | 48 | width=70px | 66 |
| City derby head to head league results from 1951-52 season to 2023 season . Updated as of the end of the 2023 season. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Bohemians won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | St Patrick's Athletic won | |
| width=70px | 188 | width=70px | 62 | width=70px | 52 | width=70px | 74 |
| City derby head to head league results from 1951-52 season to 2022 season . Updated as of 19/08/2022. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | UCD won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Opponent won | |
| width=70px | 82 | width=70px | 15 | width=70px | 19 | width=70px | 48 (Bohemians) | |
| width=70px | 76 | width=70px | 9 | width=70px | 23 | width=70px | 44 (Shamrock Rovers) | |
| width=70px | 64 | width=70px | 12 | width=70px | 17 | width=70px | 35 (Shelbourne) | |
| width=70px | 82 | width=70px | 12 | width=70px | 34 | width=70px | 37 (St Patrick's Athletic) |
Source:[9]
| Munster derby head to head league results from 1984-85 season to 2018 season . As of end of 2018 season. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Cork City won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Limerick won | |
| width=70px | 30 | width=70px | 16 | width=70px | 6 | width=70px | 9 |
See main article: Munster Derby. The Munster Derbies are contested between the two largest Munster clubs, Cork City and Limerick FC but sometimes the rivals are kept apart due to playing in different divisions. In recent times, Cork City and Limerick FC have been competing the Munster Derby in the Premier Division. They have been tight matches normally which draw big crowds to both stadiums. The most recent result was at Turners Cross in Cork where Limerick FC won 3-2. This derby is between the two biggest cities in what is arguably Ireland's most sports passionate province. Although the football mad cities are 100 km apart, they are the two largest clubs in the province of Munster with both clubs having large fan-bases and support at their home stadiums. They both represent their respective cities with no other club in their city. Turners Cross is well known in Irish football as one of the great stadiums for atmosphere, meanwhile since Limerick FC have returned to their 'spiritual home' of football at Markets Field for the first time in 31 years, attendances have rocketed and the famous Markets Field atmosphere of old has come back. This fixture is seen as one of Ireland's more physical league games, and statistics have shown that the Munster Derby is one of the fixtures with the most red and yellow cards issued.
In the table below records of game results can not be found from the 1986-87 season to the 1994-1995 season where Limerick were relegated and did not face Cork in a league fixture until 2010.
| Northwest derby head to head league results from 1996-97 season to 2022 season . Updated as of 17/07/2022. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Derry City won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Finn Harps won | |
| width=70px | 39 | width=70px | 25 | width=70px | 9 | width=70px | 5 |
See main article: North-west Derby (Ireland).
Very little distance separates these two clubs and Northern bragging rights are laid on the line for these games. Traditionally, they have provided some entertaining and often talked about games down the years. The last game of any note between the two teams was a promotion/relegation play-off match in 2003 in which Derry were the victors in front of a crowd of over 6,000. With Harps promotion for the 2008 season, it returned with great anticipation and the three meetings were all sold out. Unlucky for Harps, though, Derry came out on top on all three occasions. The derby returned in 2010 following Derry's relegation from the Premier Division the previous year, but the Foylesiders still held the advantage over the Donegal men in the ties.
| Louth derby head to head league results from 1963-64 season to 2022 season . Updated as of 23/06/2023. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Drogheda United won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Dundalk won | |
| width=70px | 105 | width=70px | 22 | width=70px | 25 | width=70px | 58 |
See main article: Louth Derby. The Louth Derby is contested by Drogheda United and Dundalk. The derby had not been played in many years due to the clubs being in different divisions. Many of Dundalk's most successful periods have corresponded with Drogheda being at the lower end of the league table or in the First Division, while Drogheda's most successful period (between 2004 and 2008) occurred while Dundalk were in the lower tier. The fixture never fails to generate a hostile and heated atmosphere, and fans of the respective clubs despise each other. During the 2017 League Of Ireland Premier Division, the fixture produced 4 red cards in 4 matches. Since Drogheda's promotion from the First Division in 2020, it has been evenly contested 10 times (including friendlies), resulting in 6 Dundalk wins and 4 Drogheda wins.
| Connacht derby head to head league results from 1977-78 season to 2024 season . Updated as of 26-05-2024. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Played | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Galway United won | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Draw | width=70px style="background: #ffdead;" | Sligo Rovers won | |
| width=70px | 64 | width=70px | 15 | width=70px | 20 | width=70px | 29 | |
There are many other derbies and rivalries in Irish football, including:
Drumcondra vs Shamrock Rovers
Was seen as the biggest rivalry between North and South Dublin but ended with the five times League of Ireland Champions and winners of five FAI Cup finals Drumcondra going out of business in 1972 and amalgamated with Home Farm. Most of Drums support floated to nearby Phibsborough with Bohemians who had dropped their strict amateur status in 1969 allowing them to become a major force in Irish football again.
Cork Celtic vs Cork Hibernians
Contested from the 1950s to mid 1970s. Hibernians only won one of the first 18 league fixtures but enjoyed a better record before resigning from the league losing only one of the last 14 fixtures.