Eircom U21 League The inaugural season of the U21 division took place in 2000–01 and
St Patrick's Athletic finished as the first champions. In 2001–02
Waterford United won the title before
Cork City won their first title in 2002–03. City then retained the title in 2003–04.
UCD subsequently won three of four remaining titles during the U21 era. As well as featuring the youth teams of contemporary
League of Ireland clubs, the division also featured the representative teams of junior leagues such as the
Kerry District League, the
Mayo Association Football League and the Sligo/Leitrim League. In 2004 Sligo/Leitrim reached the final of the Enda McGuill Cup. In addition to featuring UCD, the division also featured three other university teams –
NUI Galway, the
University of Limerick and
Dublin University. In addition to competing for the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup and the Enda McGuill Cup, teams in the U21 division also played in several other competitions including pre-season tournaments in 2006 and 2007 and a futsal league in 2007 which was won by
Shamrock Rovers. This latter competition evolved into the
FAI Futsal Cup.
Eircom U20 League In 2008, as part of a restructuring of the
League of Ireland that also saw the introduction of the
A Championship, the U21 division was relaunched as a U20 division. The new division featured the youth teams of the 22 clubs in the
Premier Division and
First Division plus four other teams –
F.C. Carlow,
Kilkenny City,
Salthill Devon and
Mervue United.
Cork City were the first U20 champions in 2008–09 followed by
UCD in 2009. In 2010
Andrew Myler guided
Shamrock Rovers to their first title.
Airtricity U19 League The Under-19 version of the competition began in 2011. At the start of the U19 era
Cork City established themselves as the dominant team, winning the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup four seasons out of five and winning the Enda McGuill Cup on three occasions. In
2016 Cork City also became the first team to represent the division in the
UEFA Youth League. EA Sports reached a sponsorship agreement to become title sponsor for all of the National Underage Leagues in 2021, including the Under-19 league. In 2022, a rule change saw the introduction of overage players to the league.
Return to U20 league In 2024, the league returned to an Under-20 competition when the
League of Ireland (LOI) introduced the EA Sports LOI Academy MU20 League to replace the existing MU19 league. ==Format==