A-Z of the League of Ireland First Division in 2024

A – Astro

We start off on a bad note unfortunately with news that the number of astro pitches has jumped from two to five in the First Division for next season with work on a new Bray Wanderers surface having started in the last couple of weeks.

Cobh Ramblers played their first home games of this year in Turner's Cross as they waited for their new surface to be laid. They joined Kerry FC and Athlone Town in having an artificial surface.

Dundalk's relegation means 50% of the 2025 competition will be played on astro.

B – Basement

There was a real battle to avoid bottom spot in the First Division this year.

It had looked like Kerry FC were going to avoid it in their second year as a League of Ireland club with Longford Town enduring a miserable campaign.

Town have struggled to compete with some of the financial firepower around the league.

They did manage to avoid the embarrassment of slipping to 10th place by taking five points from their final three games to leapfrog the Kingdom.

C – Capacity

Time to look to the positives. The promotion/relegation play-off between Bray Wanderers and Drogheda United was moved from Richmond Park due to ticket demand.

The capacity in Inchicore was not sufficient so the game was switched to Tallaght Stadium. A crowd of 5,573 was present as Drogheda United defeated Bray Wanderers 3-1.

D – Developments

Wexford FC received €2 million in funding from the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund for the development of the new stadium in Wexford Town. They are partnering with Wexford County Council for the project.

The vision is a 6,000-seater stadium at SETU's Wexford campus. The move could be transformative for Wexford as they move closer to the town and look to boost their attendances.

There is genuine ambition