The 2022 SSE Airtricity First Division season will see nine teams take part in four rounds of games scheduled beginning on February 18th.
Longford Town were relegated to the first division in 2021. Cabinteely and Bray Wanderers merger has left the league with an odd number of members.
A statement by the FAI read; “The Board of the Football Association of Ireland has approved a nine-team. The decision was taken in light of the circumstances presented by the very recent merger of Bray Wanderers and Cabinteely and their new application for a First Division licence for 2022”.
The FAI also said “Plans for the 2023 First Division will be evaluated during the course of next season”.
The nine-team format will see the SSE Airtricity First Division champions promoted automatically to the Premier Division with the sides finishing in second, third, fourth and fifth spots contesting a promotion/relegation play-off series alongside the team that finishes ninth in the Premier.
The First Division teams finishing second and fifth and the teams in third and fourth place will play each other in a two-legged play-off with the winners then contesting a one-legged final. The winner of this tie will then play the team that finishes ninth in the Premier Division to secure the final top flight spot for the 2023 season.
Fixtures for the nine-team SSE Airtricity First Division season will be released on Monday along with the fixture list for the 2022 SSE Airtricity Premier Division.
