Domestic football is set to return with the SSE Airtricity Premier and First Divisions getting underway on Friday, February 18, and the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League following on Saturday, March 5.
Players and managers from across the three divisions made their way to North Dublin yesterday where the season launch took place at HBV Studios, from which our own Sport for Social Good event will come live on Thursday, February 24th.
A League Launch Live Show, hosted by Marie Crowe with pundits Conan Byrne, Alan Cawley, Ruth Fahy and Rebecca Creagh, was broadcast on LOITV last night
The streaming platform which came to life during the pandemic as a way to enable fans see games that were being played in empty stadia will continue its coverage of all three divisions with the SSE Airtricity Premier Division set to receive an enhanced two-camera set-up.
Every game throughout the three divisions will be broadcast and available to watch live, with the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League fixtures free to view with registration.
More announcements on enhanced programming will be made in the next week as the broadcast alternative in the hands of the FAI and the League lays down a marker.
Read more about the return of LOITV for 2022
RTE will broadcast 15 Premier Division live fixtures through the season as well as the Finals of the Extra.ie FAI Cup Final and the Evoke.ie Women’s FAI Cup Final. There will also be an additional three matches from the Extra.ie FAI Cup.
TG4 are set to continue their support of the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League with nine live matches in the 2022 season.
The Women’s League is set for a ground-breaking season as Sligo Rovers enter the competition to make the division a 10-team league, meaning 27-matches scheduled per team.
SSE Airtricity Premier Division Champions Shamrock Rovers will kick-off the domestic season against Extra.ie FAI Cup holders St. Patrick’s Athletic in the 2022 President’s Cup Final on Friday, February 11, with the match live and free to view on LOITV.
“We’re delighted to officially launch the 2022 season with plenty of action to look forward to across the three divisions,” said League of Ireland Director Mark Scanlon, speaking at the league launch.”
Excitement
“We’ve seen an incredible amount of excitement across the country ahead of the season with incredible season ticket sales in the SSE Airtricity Premier & First Division. It is set to be a ground-breaking year for the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League as well, with Sligo Rovers joining the league to make it a 10-team division.”
“We’re delighted to announce TG4 & RTE continued support of the domestic game with 15 live SSE Airtricity Premier Division matches, nine live SSE Airtricity Women’s National League fixtures, three Extra.ie FAI Cup ties and the Evoke.ie FAI Women’s Cup final all live on terrestrial TV.”
“As title sponsor, SSE Airtricity is looking forward to another exciting season for the Leagues,” said David Manning, Director of Customer Experience at SSE Airtricity.
“Last year we extended our sponsorship to the women’s league for the first time – acknowledging the commitment and determination within both the men’s and women’s game – and it couldn’t have been a better season.”
“For the 2022 season, we look forward to celebrating even more success, including the promotion of UCD and Shelbourne FC to the SSE Airtricity Premier Division and Sligo Rovers joining the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League. We are delighted to see TG4 extend the coverage of the WNL this season.”
“At SSE Airtricity, we are Ireland’s largest provider of green energy, and the leagues create an opportunity for us to work with the clubs and the fans to support their sustainability efforts. In doing so, this year we’ll also be celebrating everything that makes our league different – the closeness to our national league between player, supporter, club and community, that few other leagues can rival We’re looking forward to another great season and wish the players, clubs and supporters the very best of luck for 2022.”
Bank of Ireland also came on board last year as an associate sponsor of the Leagues and Laura Lynch, Chief Marketing Officer, said yesterday “We are delighted to see the League of Ireland launched today and we would like to extend our best wishes to all in the season ahead.”
