The SSE Airtricity League Premier and First Divisions will commence on Friday, March 4, and a total of 330 league and play-off games will be played in addition to matches in the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup, EA SPORTS Cup, President’s Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
Among the highlights of the new season will be a first ever appearance in the top flight by Wexford Youths and a return to the Premier Division by Finn Harps, while Dundalk will be bidding to become the first team since Shamrock Rovers over 30 years ago to win three successive league titles.
Launching the 2016 season, the FAI’s Director of Competitions, Fran Gavin said: “This is an opportunity to reflect where the national league is at the moment and I believe it is currently in a good place. Attendances are up, clubs are more stable than they have been in a long time, longer contracts are being offered to players and our under-age leagues have created a development side to our clubs that really didn’t exist prior to 2011.
“I am delighted to announce that we will be increasing the prize fund for the SSE Airtricity League Premier and First Divisions by 50 per cent this season. The prize money will rise from €315,500 to €475,500 for the League. In addition we have the prize fund for the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup, the EA SPORTS Cup and UEFA Fair Play which means our clubs will be competing for a total prize fund of €596,500.”
Ronan Brady, SSE Airtricity Head of Digital & Marketing said: “At SSE Airtricity we’re very proud to be sponsoring the League for the seventh year running, continuing our support for grassroots football in Ireland. We are also delighted to continue as the Official Energy Partner to the FAI and its international teams. The future is bright for our national league and our continued commitment to Irish football is made easy through the strong links that we’ve forged with clubs and football fans across the country. Like everyone here, we can’t wait for next week’s big kick-off, and we would like to wish all players, management and fans an exciting and successful season ahead.”
SSE Airtricity commissioned a special promotional video which was shown for the first time at today’s launch and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9c1rAHXjBM
RTE and Setanta Sports will continue their live coverage of matches during the season with RTE scheduled to show the Premier Division tie between Cork City and Bohemians on Friday, March 4, the opening night of the new season. RTE has also committed to covering the SSE Airtricity League each week during the season through their popular football programme Soccer Republic which will commence on Monday, March 7, at 11:05 on RTÉ2.
The 12 clubs participating in the 2016 Premier Division will be: Bohemians, Bray Wanderers, Cork City, Derry City, Dundalk, Finn Harps, Galway United, Longford Town, St Patrick’s Athletic, Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers and Wexford Youths. The eight clubs participating in the 2016 First Division will be: Athlone Town, Cabinteely, Cobh Ramblers, Drogheda United, Limerick, Shelbourne, Waterford United and UCD.
The EA SPORTS Cup will begin in March with First Round matches being played on Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22.