2008 A Championship

A Championship Shield

Between March and June the twelve League of Ireland Premier Division reserve teams competed in the A Championship Shield. Mervue United !Mervue United, Salthill Devon !Salthill Devon and Tullamore Town !Tullamore Town did not play in the Shield as they were still playing in their previous junior/intermediate leagues which operated as winter leagues. This resulted in an overlap with the A Championship which operated as a summer league. The twelve teams were divided into four regionalised groups with the group winners then qualifying for the semi-finals.

Regular season

The regular season saw the twelve League of Ireland Premier Division reserve teams joined by Limerick 37 A !Limerick 37 A plus the first teams of Mervue United !Mervue United, Salthill Devon !Salthill Devon and Tullamore Town !Tullamore Town. The format saw the sixteen teams split into two groups of eight, divided roughly into southern and northern groups. The two groups used a traditional round-robin format. The two group winners, UCD A !UCD A and Bohemians A !Bohemians A, then played off in a final. UCD won the inaugural title. As the highest placed non-reserve team, Mervue United qualified for a promotion/relegation play-off and after defeating Kildare County, they were promoted to the League of Ireland First Division.

Results

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Results

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final Tables

Group 1

Source: www.rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹Bohemians A and Drogheda United A were both deducted 3 points for fielding ineligible players.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Group 2

Source: www.rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹Cobh Ramblers A were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

A Championship Final

Bohemians A !Bohemians A and UCD A !UCD A competed in a playoff to decide the overall A Championship title. UCD A !UCD A won 2–1.

Promotion/Relegation

Kildare County and Mervue United, the highest ranked non-reserve team from the A Championship, played off to see who would play in the 2009 First Division.

Mervue United won 5–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the First Division.