Bohemian Football Club Crest

Senior Competitions

Airtricity League of Ireland

The national league competition in Ireland is the FAI League of Ireland. Bohemians compete in the top tier or Premier Division of this competition. This is the most important and prestigious competition in Irish soccer. There are currently ten teams in total in the Premier division and each side plays the other twice at home and twice away to complete the league programme. There are therefore 36 games in the league campaign. Teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. The team that finishes with the most points in the league competition are pronounced Champions and are entitled to represent Ireland in Europe’s foremost club competition, The Uefa Champions League. Similarly, the league runners-up and third placed team can gain entry into the Europa League competition. The side finishing with the least number of points in the Premier Division is automatically demoted to the First Division and replaced by the winners of that division. The two teams finishing in 8th and 9th position in the Premier will be involved in a relegation play-off against each other over two legs. The winner of this play-off will remain in the Premier Division. The loser must then play against the winner of a similar play-off between 2nd and 3rd in the First Division. The prize for the winners of this final play-off will be a place in the Premier Division the following season. Bohemians have won the League eleven times and are the reigning Champions.

The FAI Ford Cup

The FAI Ford Cup is the oldest football competition in Ireland. The FAI Senior Cup contest is the blue riband event for clubs in Ireland and second only to the League of Ireland in its importance. The first contest was held in 1922. The Competition is run on a knock-out basis. Teams are drawn at random to play against each other in every round of the competition with only the winners advancing to the next round. The final fixture between the last two sides is normally held at a neutral venue. Bohemians have won the FAI Ford Cup eight times.

The EA Sports League Cup

The EA Sports League Cup is contested by clubs involved in the eircom League and the “A”Championship. The competition begins with the contestants divided into pools which are formed along geographic location. The top sides in each of the pools progress to a knock-out competition. This competition is regarded as the third most important in the domestic programme. Bohemians have won this competition three times.

The Setanta Sports Cup

This competition is an invitational tournament played between the top teams in the FAI League of Ireland and the JJB Premiership (Northern Ireland). The competition was inaugurated in 2005 but it is not the first cross border football competition. In general, places in the competition are awarded to clubs who are placed first and second in their domestic leagues and to the Senior Cup Winners. In the Irish Republic, the winners of the EA League Cup or the First Division Champions may also currently qualify. The format proposed for the 2009 rendition is to begin with three groups comprised of three teams. Each side will play the other two teams in its group on a home and away league basis. The winners of each group along with the best overall runner up, will progress to the knock out stage of the tournament (semi-final stage). In a new development, games will be played on the week-ends as opposed to mid-week. The league format will be run from August to November with the final knock-out rounds being held in the Spring of 2010. The competition has the unofficial title of “The All-Ireland Championship” and Bohemians will be making their long-awaited debut in the competition. This competition will rank highly on the club’s list of priorities this season.

Uefa Champions League

Bohemians will be competing in the qualifying stages of the Premier Club Competition in World football as a result of their Eircom League Championship success in 2009. It is the fourth occasion since the new millennium that “The “Gypsies” will enter the competition but a revised format awaits in 2009. From the 2009/10 season, there will be four qualifying rounds (including a play-off round), to be played in the format of home-and-away ties. There are two qualifying routes, the Champion’s Path and the Best-Placed Path. Bohemians, as Irish League Champions will be participating in the Champion’s Path. The first qualifying round comprises three two-legged ties involving the champions of the countries ranked 48 to 53 in UEFA competition. Bohemians will not be involved in this round. The winners of those ties progress to the second qualifying round where they are joined by the champions of the 31 countries ranked 16 to 47 (except Liechtenstein). The sides ranked from 16 to 33 will be seeded in the second qualifying round. The sides emerging from the second qualifying round will join the Champions from the National Associations ranked 13 to 15 in the third qualifying round. These two additional teams added to the surviving teams from round two of the “Champions Path” will be drawn against each other in the third round draw. Should Bohemians advance to this stage, it is extremely unlikely that they will be seeded. The winners of this third round advance to the final play-off round. At this point there will be ten teams left on this side of the competition. Five play-off ties will take place on a home-and-away basis with the winners qualifying for the UEFA Champion’s League group stage. It is worth noting that defeat in the third qualifying round of the Champions league would not bring our European involvement to an end. The losing team from each of the UEFA Champion’s League third qualifying round ties (Champion’s Path) will go into the UEFA Europa League play-offs. Victory over two legs in this round of the secondary European Competition would give the Club a place in the group stages of the Europa League. Should our Champion’s League campaign extend further than the third qualifying round but fall short of the Champion’s League Group qualification, Bohemians would automatically gain entry into the UEFA Europa League group stage. .

The Main Academy Competitions

The Newstalk A Championship

The Newstalk A Championship is a competition involving the reserve teams of Premier, First Division and other senior league clubs. The Newstalk A Championship serves two purposes: firstly, to act as a pathway for players and clubs into the League of Ireland, and secondly to provide a competitive environment for squad players from existing League of Ireland clubs. It is mandatory for clubs in the Premier Division to enter teams into the Newstalk A Championship. Only a limited number of players over the age of 23 are allowed to participate on each team so the emphasise remains on youth development. Bohemians were runners-up in the inaugural competition in 2008. The competitors are divided into two pools. Each pool then operates on a league basis. The top two teams in each pool qualify for the knock-out stages. Bohemians were runners-up in the inaugural competition in 2008.

The U-20’s League

The Under 20’s league is contested on the same basis as the Newstalk A Championship but the age limited is adhered to strictly. Again, the primary purpose of this competition is youth development. Bohemians were runners-up in this competition last season.