After what has seemed at times like an interminable wait for the new League of Ireland season (or the new SSE Airtricity League season to give it its official title) is almost ready to kick off. The first round of fixtures takes place Friday 7th March with the pick of the fixtures being Dundalk v Drogheda Utd in the Louth derby and Shamrock Rovers playing host to Derry City which will be shown live on TV. We’ve already had a few tasters with the opening rounds of the Setanta Sports Cup already underway as well as some fixtures taking place in the Leinster Senior Cup.
The abnormally long off-season has been thankfully light on drama, previous years have seen teams withdraw or be expelled from the league and various financial scandals emerge, however things seem to be “as you were” for the 2014 season, the only major changes being the addition of a Shamrock Rovers “B” team (who will not enter the cup competitions, or be eligible for promotion from the First division) and the return of a unified team for Galway City in the form of Galway FC whose formation is discussed in this recent article. All this means that the division will feature eight teams while the top flight will feature twelve.
Apart from these changes to the First division the other main talking points have been the news of two Irish internationals returning home to play in the League. Keith Fahey (31), a League Cup winner with Birmingham in 2011 who has been capped 16 times by Ireland has re-joined his beloved St. Patrick’s Athletic and has already helped them to their first piece of silverware, scoring a screamer in the inaugural President’s Cup final against last season’s Cup winners Sligo Rovers. Another ex-Ireland midfielder returning to home shores is Stephen McPhail. McPhail (34) who captained Cardiff to the 2008 FA Cup final and was most recently lining out for Sheffield Wednesday, won ten caps for Ireland and has signed for Shamrock Rovers.
He also made a scoring debut in the Setanta Cup against Belfast side Glentoran. Irish manager Martin O’Neill and his assistant Roy Keane both began their career in domestic football before moving on to success and fame in England and have said that they will be attending League of Ireland matches this season to keep an eye on players like Fahey or to try and unearth the next Seamus Coleman or Shane Long, for League of Ireland fans this is a welcome change of attitude compared with Giovanni Trappatoni who was infamously dismissive of the League.
St. Patrick’s Athletic look to be favourites to retain their League title this year, not only have they added Fahey to their ranks but have also brought in striker Mark Quigley and defender Ken Oman from Shamrock Rovers while keeping hold of key players from last season’s Championship winning squad, young winger Christopher Forrester is an especially exciting prospect. Likely challengers for honours include Shamrock Rovers whose squad has undergone some major restructuring, McPhail has come in, along with the versatile Conor Kenna from St. Pat’s and full-back Simon Madden from Derry while midfielder Robert Bayly has re-joined the club he left in 2010.
Although Rovers won the EA Sports and Setanta Cups last year their failure to mount a serious title challenge meant that many fans viewed their season as unsuccessful which has resulted in a bit of a clear-out by manager Trevor Croly. Also expected to challenge will be Cup winners Sligo Rovers and last years’ league runners-up Dundalk. Sligo Rovers have lost ex-Leeds Utd. striker Anthony Elding, who started last season in impressive form, to Cork City but have brought in former Inverness Caledonian Thistle forward Eric Odihmabo who grabbed a hat-trick on his debut in the Setanta Cup. Dundalk have done well to keep last years’ star players from their somewhat unexpected title challenge, with Richie Towell and young striker Pat Hoban staying at the club, Daryl Horgan and Ruaidhrí Higgins have joined but it remains to be seen whether last years’ surprise package can challenge again.
Derry City have made one of the most interesting signings of the season by recruiting Roddy Collins as their manager. The colourful and controversial Collins (brother of former world champion boxer Steve Collins and a genuine media star ) led Athlone Town to promotion from the First Division but in inimitable Collins style and amid some controversy he left to take over from Declan Devine at Derry City. The signings of veteran ex-Scunthorpe and Oldham man Cliff Byrne and the influential Danny Ventre from Sligo Rovers look to be tidy bits of business. Whether Roddy can work his magic with Derry or whether the wheels come off this project remains to be seen but it certainly won’t be boring at the Brandywell this season.
For the rest of the top flight there is a chance that someone else could make a unexpected push in the manner of Dundalk last year, much will depend on how new managerial appointments adapt to their surroundings. John Caulfield, a Cork City legend on the pitch is now in the dugout and the Leesiders have brought winger Liam Kearney back to Cork after his couple of years playing in Australia. Caulfield will also be hoping that the arrival of the physically imposing Elding from Sligo can add to Cork attack.
There are also new managerial roles for Mick Cooke, so harshly released by Drogheda United, who has replaced Roddy Collins at promoted Athlone Town, back in the top flight for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Joining Cooke at the Republic’s oldest football club are a number of his former Drogheda charges including Alan Byrne and Derek Prendergast, never afraid of a challenge Cooke is sure to have the midlanders well-drilled and organised in their bid for survival.
The Drogheda United hotseat has been taken over by Cooke’s erstwhile assistant Robbie Horgan who has managed to keep some of last year’s key performers like Gavin Brennan and Michael Daly as well as veteran striker Declan “Fabio” O’Brien, they have however lost a number of players who have followed Cooke to Athlone as well as the influential Ryan Brennan to Shamrock Rovers. In have come veterans like Daire Doyle, Philly Hughes and a returning Paul Crowley, whether that will be enough to match the last couple of year’s achievements under Cooke is uncertain. A couple of the other sides that might offer a few surprises in the league or even a cup run are Bohemians and Limerick FC.
Bohemians finished up last season under the management of Owen Heary, a legend for both Bohs and for Shelbourne and winner of 7 league titles as a player. Owen has now officially hung up his boots, and is working on his UEFA Pro Licence however the early signs are that he is a young manager of real promise having helped revive the Gypsies sagging late season form to steer them clear of relegation Heary has managed to add some quality to this season’s squad with the return of the experienced duo of Aidan Price and Jason Byrne to Dalymount. Bohs struggled in both defence and attack last year so centre half Price brings some maturity to a young back four.
Former Ireland cap Byrne is on the hunt for Brendan Bradley’s League of Ireland scoring record and feels he can reach the magic tally of 235 while at Bohs. Another exciting addition to Bohs front line is well-traveller Dubliner Steven Beattie who was most recently plying his trade in Iceland after a spell in the United States. The 25 year old has already looked a threat in pre-season.
Limerick FC have some of the strongest financial backing in the league, however it hasn’t helped them keep key players like Joe Gamble now plying his trade in Brunei. They also have the league’s best stadium in Thomond Park, the 26,000 seat home of Munster Rugby is playing host to Limerick while their spiritual home at Market’s Field is being redeveloped. After a somewhat inconsistent first season in the Premier division that included a heavy 6-0 defeat to Derry City, Limerick will be expected to push on this year and a lack of goals will be a significant problem that needs to be overcome.
Likely strugglers this year are Bray Wanderers and UCD. Both teams have recently lost key personnel; Bray Wanders dispensing with the managerial services of Pat Devlin in somewhat controversial circumstances. Devlin was upset at the way that his departure was managed and his removal seems to have created some bad feeling around the club, with Devlin suggesting that key players from last season have left as a result. Whatever the motivation for their departure the loss off Jason Byrne to Bohs and Kieran Marty Waters to Shamrock Rovers will certainly reduce Bray’s attacking options. The decision to replace Devlin, a man who first took charge of Bray way back in 1986, with Alan Matthews who resigned from his role as Shelbourne manager last season with the club propping up the table has been one greeted with trepidation by many Bray fans.
UCD have lost Martin Russell to St. Patrick’s Athletic, with the highly-rated coach joining Liam Buckley’s backroom team, his role has gone to former Bohemians boss Aaron Callaghan who will tasked with getting the best from another young crop of footballers. UCD have a reputation for playing an aesthetically pleasing brand of football and giving youth a chance, whether the Students have enough to stay up this year is by no means certain so expect them to by scrapping for survival come October.
The relative stability of the League this year with no club licencing drama is a welcome change from previous seasons and the return home of internationals like Fahey and McPhail has helped create a bit of glamour ahead of the launch of the 2014 season. The League of Ireland has tended to be, for reasons good and bad, one of the most open leagues in Europe over the past few years with a fair few surprises regularly in store. A key aim for the new season will be an improvement on European results from last year’s abysmal showing, St. Pat’s, Dundalk, Sligo Rovers and Derry will aim to recover some pride after all of the League’s 2013 representatives were eliminated in the first tie they played.
The other major hope for the league is that it can continue to produce quality young players that can take the next step by moving abroad. The few hundred thousand euro that the sales of players like Seamus Coleman, James McClean and others generate may seem paltry in comparison to the huge sums bandied about by clubs like PSG and Man City but they provide an invaluable financial lifeline for League of Ireland clubs. With first team opportunities likely to become more limited for Irish born players in the UK it is going to be increasingly important for the League of Ireland to be able to hot-house the next generation of Irish international.