| Select Year | ||
A controversial link-up with Premier Division side Leicester City and local outfit Mayfield United was not warmly received by the Cork fans. There were embarrassing home and away defeats against Liepajas on the European front. Inconsistency was again the bane of the team and another season of poor gates, with a mid-table finish and no decent FAI or League Cup run meant the club had reached another vital crossroads in its history. Yet again the Munster Cup offered meagre consolation from a difficult campaign. The board stepped down at season’s end and Brian Lennox assumed full control of the club.
Note 1: St Patrick’s Athletic had 15 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Shelbourne (C) | 33 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 50 | 28 | 22 | 63 |
| 2 |  Sham. Rovers | 33 | 17 | 6 | 10 | 54 | 32 | 22 | 57 |
| 3 |  St. Patrick's Athletic [Note 1] | 33 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 59 | 29 | 30 | 53 |
| 4 |  Bohemians | 33 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 57 | 32 | 25 | 52 |
| 5 |  Derry City | 33 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 42 | 30 | 12 | 51 |
| 6 |  Cork City | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 48 | 39 | 9 | 49 |
| 7 |  UCD | 33 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 40 | 39 | 1 | 48 |
| 8 |  Bray | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 54 | 45 | 9 | 46 |
| 9 |  Longford Town | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 41 | 51 | -10 | 40 |
| 10 |  Dundalk (R) | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 37 | 46 | -9 | 39 |
| 11 |  Galway United (R) | 33 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 28 | 73 | -45 | 19 |
| 12 |  Monaghan United (R) | 33 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 19 | 85 | -66 | 12 |
