[FM22] 'Just Sign on the Dotted Line' - A Career in Limerick

[Kirwan24]

 

In the shadow of St. John's Cathedral, neighboring a prison and a college of further education, lies Markets Field. A historic old ground who sadly lost it's tenant when Limerick FC went the way of Sporting Fingal, Monaghan United, Kildare County, and a hideously large number of Cork teams. But Markets Field is filled again. Treaty United acquired a First Division license and football returned to the Midwest. It'll be a long aul slog but I've a hatful of virtual League of Ireland experience under my belt and I'm ready for the fight of my life.

First, a little History. As you can see on the badge, Treaty United were formed in 2020 after Limerick FC folded the year before. Named after the Treaty of Limerick that ended the Williamite war in Ireland in 1691 (Limerick as a result is known as the Treaty County.) A First Division License was granted to Treaty for the 2021 season. With red and white shirts, a nod to the Limerick team colours of the 1930s, and playing their home games in the spiritual home of Limerick football, Markets Field, Limerick is once again braced for a storied football team.

THE TEAM

 

It's a mixed bag but what can you expect for a new club. Tadgh Ryan is quality in goal, and Jack Lynch and Marc Ludden are olid options at full back. Stephen Christopher is far and away the best player at the club, and Dean George offers a competent option up front. The rest of the squad is average at best, while some are plain awful. Rhys Gorman is our only signing. Funds are low, and I reckon a solid midfielder is needed more so than anything else right now. With a low tempo Gegenpress 4231 and a more conservative counter attacking 4123, we're primed for our first ever season.

 

JAN/FEB 2021 - PRE SEASON

 

Confidence is very much the name of the game in pre season. I just want to get every one firing. We're a semi pro outfit, so that means training only twice a week. We start off with a convincing 6-0 hammering of Everton (not that one), which leads us into the first annual JP McManus Cup, an entirely fictional pre season tournament for teams in Limerick. We're joined in the inaugural event by Geraldines AFC, a 7 minute walk away from Markets Field, Limerick Under 19s, and Aisling Annacotty. Showing no mercy against a bunch of 18 year olds, we march to the final, where we're honestly very poor against an amateur side, but steal a 2-0 win and the trophy is ours!

Christopher and Lynch help us to a good win over Warrenpoint, and the performance against Premier League side Sligo Rovers is very promising. We wind down a successful pre season with a thrashing of Leeds (not that one) and a stuttering win over Portadown. We're 7 from 7, nicely match sharp and ready to get the league under way! A trip to Cabinteely is our league opener and our first competitive game ever. Its sure to be a Treat.

[Kirwan24]

FEBRUARY 2021

It has not been the start we wanted. Far, far from it.

8 mins into our opener Dean George put us 1-0 up. We're pegged back 20 minutes later, and then...nothing. For a really long time, nothing. The game decrescendos into the dampest of squibs, and we share the points, though neither of us deserve them. It's good to have George up and running. He's going to be important. Wexford prove to be very frustrating. We finally break them down after half an hour through Clyde O'Connell, and Will Armshaw doubles it on 52 mins. We look to be cruising toward a first win, but 2 goals in 8 minutes for Wexford peg us right back. We fall apart and are lucky to come away with even a point. I resist the water bottle for now, but the lads get a stern talking to over the second half debacle.

And I thought Wexford was bad.

The first Munster Derby of the season pits us against Cobh. Again, we take the lead through Christopher, and we go ding-dong from there until its 2-2. Cobh are battering us, we sit back and try to hold firm to claim a third successive point, but in the 91st minute, Sean Guerins lets Killian Cooper meander right passed him to fire home the winner. 

We slump to 7th with 2 points from our opening 3 games. There are some bright spots for sure, but our leaky defence and lack of concentration for a full 90 minutes is really going to cost us. Its an unforgiving league but we have time to turn things around.

 

MARCH 2021

 

Look at all that green!

Thats what I'm talking about. What a cracking month of football. We're a little tentative against UCD, maybe a little bruised from our first 3 games. A Joe Collins goal is enough to give us our first win, and in front of our own fans too. Its a much needed result, and the momentum carries through to the Athlone game. Against a good team, we control most of the game, with George and Lynch on the scoresheet again. There's more to celebrate against Shelbourne. Another good side, another excellent performance. First goals for Sean McSweeney and Joel Coustrain see us rocket up the table. 

Another month, another Munster Derby. Cork City, Premier Division champions in 2017, visit the Field and its a nail biter. Don't let the scoreline fool you. 0-0 at half time and no one taking control just yet. It a tense and tight game, no one wants to give up possession, no one wants to be the one to cause the house of cards to fall. In the 64th minute, Christopher thinks he has the ball in the net, only for Anthony O'Donnell to be called offside in the buildup. 7 minutes later Cork also have the ball in the net, but again, its disallowed by the linesman who are having a great time of it. 

Thankfully, Dean George answers the call again to nudge us in front with 14 minutes to play. Cork pepper our goal for the remainder and I'm reminded of our leaky defence and our knack for throwing away leads. amazingly, we hold firm and Kieran Hanlon whips away to score a second in the dying embers. Its a golden month and the team who couldn't win can't stop winning. We've rocketed to the top of the league, and while I doubt we'll stay there for long, I'll be reveling in this for some time.

[Kirwan24]

APRIL 2021

I think we're in trouble

Its funny how quickly things can fall apart. One day you're rising the wave, swatting teams aside with ease, the next you're being called a ****** in the queue for the deli in Centra. Life is funny

April started as March ended, a good, if slightly tentative win over a very good Galway side. Kieran Hanlon snatched the win for us in the 87th minute. Marc Ludden has been dropping some howlers despite our good form. I tell him to buck up his ideas. I think he misheard me because he continues to do something that only rhymes with 'Buck up.'

In our first cup game of the year, we're drawn against Athlone. With a rotated squad I'm pleasantly surprised by the result and performance. We've put no weight on the cups this year, the board instead demanding that we remain an established team in a league with no relegation (mission accomplished I suppose?) But a cup run of sorts would be nice, and we've taken the first step.

Thins come a bit undone from here. We're dreadful against Bray, our worst performance of the year so far. It will remain our worst performance for 7 days. We are utterly embarrassing at home to Cabinteely. We're quickly coming down with a case of Cabin Fever, an inability to get any kind of performance against one of the weaker teams in the league. 0-0 is flattering to us, Tadhg Ryan is the only reason we kept the point. In the midst of the mayhem is the draw for the second round of the League Cup. Galway, who we started the month by beating end the dream. Despite leading from the 16th minute, Galway equalise with 25 to play, and are then awarded a very, very soft penalty in added time. Colin Kelly slots it home and we're out.

Not to worry, the league is the priority, and two games against the bottom 2 sides in the league is a great way to get back to winning ways. I'm by no means complacent, and this trend of conceding late has to end sometime, right? Right?

See, we have a fundamental misunderstanding about football. It's 90 minutes long, but we tend to not see it out that long. I know what you're thinking, 'you're Gegenpressing, you're probably tired' but that's where you're wrong. We're playing at a low tempo, with a low line of engagement and standard line of defence. My players have rarely had a red heart. Our defence is just leaky and its costing us big time. 

Just 1 win in April is a massive disappointment and unsurprisingly we're usurped from 1st place. I'll adjust our lines and some player roles before our next game, but the slide must be stopped if we;re going to salvage anything from this season.

 

MAY 2021

The fabled 'reverse traffic light'

Athlone are becoming something of a comfort club. We face them for a third time, and notch a third win, an important one too. It snaps the bad run from April and gives us a brief respite from the awfulness. Coming into the summer, we're all in need of some sunshine. It doesn't last all that long though. We need Joe Collins to save us with a late goal of our own to snatch a draw from the students. We revert to form against Shelbourne though, another late equaliser, another loss. 

This is the start of a run of 1 game every 2 weeks. That means I'll be filling the gaps with friendlies. Aisling Annacotty return to Markets Field after their third place in the JP McManus Cup, and are swiftly send packing again. Its a morale boosting win that we needed. 

We're a little over halfway through the 27 game regular season. Its been a topsy turvey run so far. We've been as high as 1st and as low as 7th. I think the playoffs are a possibility if we can put a run together in the last half Shelbourne being right on top of us won't help, but even a few wins can help out massively. As well as that, whisper it, but we're only 4 points off top.

 

As you can see from our top performers, no one has really captured the imagination. O'Connell has been quietly solid in defence, as has Murphy in his few appearances. Christoper's assists numbers are good but I'd like him to chip in with a few more goals. Jack Lynch will be a big return after missing the last 3 games through injury, and Dean George is another player who could do with stepping up. One thing to note is Rhys Gorman, while his rating is average, I think he's been immense. his tackling and passing have been great and he's been a real asset to the midfield. 

With a transfer window coming up I'm hoping, praying, pleading, that someone will end up leaving. As well as that, trials will be offered to everyone in Ireland as we look to bolster ourselves any way we can. Its still all to play for.

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Quite the topsy-turvy start! 

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice choice and a good story told so far. Best of luck as you progress.

[Kirwan24]

JUNE 2021

If we could carry our friendly form into the league we'd be flying

Two competitive games of football in a month is a strange predicament. It's short months from here until October, and then hopefully it's playoff country. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. 

Another day, another Munster Derby, another defeat. We are once again hapless away from home, folding quicker than a deck chair to Cork who walk through us. It's painful watch but we're well used to those around here now. Linfield offer some decent friendly opposition, so I'm happy that a rotated squad play reasonably well. It's also clear to me that I'm something of artist, because I love a good draw. The game against Galway is one of the most boring games you'll ever see. Our awful habit of having a lot of shots, but next to no shots on target is obviously the main fault. That, and the fact we're not great at a lot of the other elements of football. We take on Blarney hoping for the gift of the goal and we find it, now lets get them where they count.

Our youth intake preview came through this month, and it looks okay. I mean okay comparative to the non existent youth team we have right now. I know its a lot to ask, but just 1 players who could slot into the XI or at least a reliable sub would be so useful.

JULY 2021

More friendlies disrupt the flow of the league this month, and more lackluster performances disrupt our flow in the league. Our midfield triangle of Gorman, Collins and Christopher perform well, but everyone else is dreadful. We slump to a shocker and drop out of the pay off places. But I notice something. Both full backs when they have the ball out wide are running to the byline before crossing. They box themselves in and lose possession. I decide to switch up the rolls to WB(A) for Lynch and WB(S) for Ludden, with instructions to cross from deep. This small change pays off instantly against Tralee in the test run, and against Cabinteely. Its out best performance in a long time, with 2 of our three goals coming from crosses. It really is the little things sometimes. We cruise past Rovers II and hammer Wexford, avenging our embarrassing loss from earlier in the season. 

We're back in the playoff places now, and for the first time in a long time I'm feeling good about our play. We have a chance to build on some positive momentum, and with a FAI Cup 1st round tie against Crumlin coming up, a cup run is not impossible either. 

[Kirwan24]

4 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Quite the topsy-turvy start! 

I think its down to the rough-and-tumble of lower league football, and partly because we're a bit crap

[Kirwan24]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Nice choice and a good story told so far. Best of luck as you progress.

Thanks bud, I'll need the luck 

[Kirwan24]

AUGUST 2021

FAI Cup Fever

Everyone is sick of friendlies now, at least thats what the performance against Janesboro says. But look, its fine, they're just for sharpness anyway. Plus, it lets us get on to the good stuff. Since the draw was made I've felt good about the cup. not like we'll win it or anything, but getting through a round or two will be a nice sheen of gloss on this season, whatever happens. 

Crumlin don't pose much of a challenge. We rotate the squad, Mark Walsh, Anthony O'Donnell and Matt McKevitt all start, but its the usual suspects of Joel Coustrain and Stephen Christopher that get the goals. We're into the hat for the next round, and Premier Division Drogheda will prove to be an exciting game. In between that, have you seen this result? UCD can't handle us at all as we run wild at the Bowl. Coustrain,Christopher, O'Donnell and two from George give us our biggest win of the season and a big dose of momentum going into our cup tie. 

I expected a bumper crowd for a big cup tie, but only 591 people turn up. It's okay, Friday night in Limerick city, people are probably busy, we can still intimidate teams with 600 people. Its a cagy first half, Drogheda are on top but we're doing a good job of keeping them out. We get to half time at 0-0 and I rally them to think we nick a result here. After  65 mins, result. Dean George pokes in from close range. Carnage in Markets Field. 10 mins later, Rhys Gorman launches one from 25 yards into the top corner. Bedlam in Markets Field. I can't believe it, we're surely going through. I try to lock it down, ease us through a nervy last 15, but with 2 mins to play, Doyle slips in behind and fires one home. No harm, just hold firm.

But you've seen enough us this to know what happens. 93 minutes on the clock, the get in behind us again, my defence fatally misunderstanding what a deep line looks like. Doyle rounds the keeper and sends us to extra time. That's when Doyle hurts us again. slinking in behind for a third time and slotting home. We're destroyed mentally, but somehow with 5 minutes to go Christopher saves us with a free kick from 20 yards. What a game, and still penalties to come. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 penalties each go by, each one better than the last. We ran out of good takers after our 3rd, we're running on pure vibes, and vibes are a limited commodity, baby. 

Sean McSweeney skies his penalty and sends it into the River Shannon. Molloy steps up and coolly converts, and we crash out in the cruelest way. I feel like our season so far was summed up in that game. Elating highs, crushing lows, moments of magic and pure bonehead stupidity all in one. At least we can focus on the league now, cause you know, we're so good. 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

You’re not wrong. If a season could be summarised in a single game then I would favour the Drogheda game to be the pick of the bunch. Wow, what a collapse.  Never short on drama here!

[Kirwan24]

SEPTEMBER 2021

Despite the disappointment of the cup exit, our league form has been solid over the past little while. We're sitting comfortably in the playoff places, which would be a gret result for the season no matter what happens. We carry our strong form into Septmeber, dispatching Cobh pretty easily despite going a goal down on 11 mins. Athlone are top when they visit Markets field on my birthday no less. We go 1-0 up through Joel Coustrain after 8 minutes, but are pegged back by Geln McAuley just shy of the hour mark. Despite being second best for most of the game, Joe Collins staunches one into the top corner with 6 minutes left to play. McAuley has the ball in the net again in added time, but mercifully the linesman flags, and we take a huge win. With another big game between league games we bide our time with a friendly. Cork City this time, a step up in class from our previous gap-fillers. We rotate and still win, so who can complain.

Somehow, with 4 games to go, we've found ourselves in a title race. We have the best form in the league and that has seen us rise to 2nd, just two points behind Athlone who we just beat. Its a ludicrously tight division, with anyone from 1st to 6th feasibly having a chance at the title. One of these teams is going to miss out on the playoffs, and its not going to be pretty.

You know what else is not pretty? Our defeat to Shelbourne, one that draws them level with us. Promise Omochere runs us ragged, scoring twice in a comfortable win for them all things considered. We've faltered again at the worst time, setting up one of the most spectacular title races of recent years. With three games to go its anyone's to play for.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Kirwan24

[Kirwan24]

OCTOBER 2021

The big one. The final month of the regular season. 3 games to go and its all up for grabs. We could win the league, we could earn a play off place, or we could get nothing. But before all of that, lets take a look at the cream of your youth intake crop. 

There's some solid looking players in here, Tim Henderson and Jim O'Reilly leading the way. There's definitely a value in holding onto the rest of them, and even keeping some of the lesser players not shown just to bolster the U19 squad, which at present is made up of the cast offs from the first team who don't play very often. There's probably no ready-made starter like I hoped for, but I'm happy with what we've got. 

Our first game of the month sends us to Bray, and we are largely in control. Thankfully there's no hangover to the Shelbourne defeat, and Conor Melody's brace has amazingly sent us to the top of the league with just 2 games to play. We couldn't could we?

What a time for a derby. Cork visit the Market and Coustrain and Christopher send them packing again. Its a swashbuckling performance that threatens to derail on the hour when Cork pull it back to 2-1, but thankfully we keep calm, scoring in the 89th minute to seal a huge win. We're still top going into the final day. We couldn't, could we?

So here we are. One game to play, 4 title contenders. Our superior goal difference has us in prime position, but it only take a few to go against us to cause a swing. Athlone, after collapsing in September and October will Play Cork, Shelbourne face Bray, and that leaves us with the bumper tie, the only way it could possibly be. 

Its 1st vs 2nd. If Galway win with a 5 goal swing, as unlikely as that may be, they'll usurp us to the title. Anything else, and we've stolen it. Its a nervous first half, s you might expect, no one wants to put a foot wrong, but thats what its going to take. A bit of magic, a mistake, someone willing to take a risk. After 50 minutes we take it. Melody drives at the defence, poking a ball through for Christopher, he in turn releases Coustrain to nod home for 1-0. I insist on calm, but Markets Field is rocking, and why shouldn't it? 

20 minutes later, Christopher is involved again, playing a terrific pass through to Dean George, he coolly slots home past Horgan in the Galway goal, and we're home and hosed.

From out of nowhere we capture the league title, and promotion to the Premier Division, in our first ever season of football. Its an astonishing end to a ridiculous campaign.We'll have our work cut out for us to be any way competitive next year, but for now its time to revel in the fact, Treaty United - First Division Champions!

[abulezz]

Great save so far!

Can we get a look at Tim Henderson?

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Get in! Congratulations. An immensely close division right to the very end.

[Jogo Bonito]

Very well done on steering your side to promotion, hopefully you'll settle at the higher level next year. A nicely told story.

[Kirwan24]

On 08/12/2021 at 13:02, abulezz said:

Great save so far!

Can we get a look at Tim Henderson?

Absolutely, I’m away from my laptop unfortunately but as soon as I’m back I’ll upload 

[Kirwan24]

On 08/12/2021 at 21:10, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Get in! Congratulations. An immensely close division right to the very end.

Thanks bud. It was insanely tight. Such a small division with so few games and many teams of a similar level will lead to that 

[Kirwan24]

On 08/12/2021 at 21:43, Jogo Bonito said:

Very well done on steering your side to promotion, hopefully you'll settle at the higher level next year. A nicely told story.

Thanks my friend. Big task ahead but trust the process!

[Kirwan24]

2022

It's been a long winter of preparation but Limerick is finally ready for Top division ball again. The board only expect a brave fight against and I'm inclined to agree with them, but just like last season I'll back us to overachieve a little. 

The Team

So, we released a whopping 16 players at the end of last season. No one of particular note left the club, apart from Sean McSweeney and Joe Collins, both of whom I was sad to see go but also couldn't justify their demands for money and playing time in a tougher division. Not because money was no object, the board have given me a very generous €9k wage budget, ginormous compared to the scrimping from last season.

The new arrivals as you can see above are as follows. Gary Delaney is in on loan from St. Pats, Callum Thompson, Jamie Hollywood, Dean Parret and Tommy Caffrey all joined on free transfers, as did Dayle Rooney. We're also boosted by the promotion of youth players Jayson O'Halloran, Krystian Pawelec and Jim O'Reilly. I still feel we're lacking a bit, but its tough to attract quality players right now, so we have to make do. Stephen Christopher is very upset by the 'making do' already, so he may not be long for the club.

The board also did not share my ambition about turning professional to match our top flight status, nor did they find my compromise solution of finding a senior affiliate acceptable. I really hope this doesn't become a pattern.

You may remember Tim Henderson as one of the standouts from the youth intake. You may also notice he's not in the above squad. Well my friend that's because in my infinite wisdom, I mistakenly offered him a Star Player contract, and knowing that could not fulfill that promise, I decided to ship him off on loan to Cabinteely instead. Next year's problem now.

Jan/Feb 2022 - Pre Season

Our first pre season as a Premier Division club goes about as well as you could expect. We begin by staging the second annual JP McManus Cup, opening the door to teams from outside Limerick for the first time. Shannon Hibs and Regional United are in the hat, while last year's runners up Geraldines return for another bite at the trophy. We cast Hibs aside in an entertaining game, and dash Geraldines' dreams for the second year in a row. Two time JP McManus Cup Champions, you'll never sing that.

Cork City once again are brushed aside too, and a very impressive win over our division mates St Pats caps off a solid January. One last run out vs Cobh gives a 100% record over pre season. There's no points on offer of course, but the blood is pumping and everyone is raring to go in our maiden voyage in the Premier Division

[Kirwan24]

FEB 2022

As good a start as I could have hoped for

The excitement is at fever pitch at the home of the JP McManus Cup Champions. We have a long trip to Derry for our Premier Division opener, but we;re in high spirits, still riding the high of our JP McManus Cup win (Did I mention that we won that?) We're keeping up the low tempo press this season, albeit it with a lower line and a little more compact as we look to frustrate teams, but its Derry who do all the frustrating in the Brandywell. They go ahead after just 3 minutes, and spend the rest of the half peppering our goal with shots which mercifully stay out. They finally find a second after 68 minutes and it looks like we're consigned to an opening day defeat.

We have a brief flurry in the last quarter, and Caffrey opens his account with a well taken header from a Lynch cross. It's looking like a more respectable end, until Kieran Hanlon comes off the bench to head in an injury time corner to bag us a point. We carry that momentum into the next game against Shamrock Rovers, and in front of our home fans we battle bravely, narrowly going down to one of the division's top outfits.

Dean George secures us our first  Premier Division win with a great goal against Sligo, a huge result for us in any circumstances. Dundalk are defending champions and they showed it, sweeping us aside without coming out of second gear. At the end of the month we're sitting 6th after a solid start. I really can't complain. 4 points from the first 12, with two defeats coming from 2 of the top 3 teams in the league With 6 games coming in March, I'd be happy if we can just keep ourselves out of the relegation zone for now.

[Kirwan24]

Just a quick check in to say, due to an unfortunate Covid case in my house, I have no access to my laptop until after Christmas, so there’ll no updates until then.

But I will say, This season is shaping up to be a cracker and you really don’t want to miss it!

[Kirwan24]

March 2022

Welcome back!

March is a big month of football as the league gets into full swing. After a solid introduction to Premier Division ball, Finn Harps and Longford in particular give us a chance to push on a grab some wins. Longford though have other ideas. After falling behind to a penalty on 14 mins, it takes us until the hour mark to level through Tommy Caffrey. A 79th min strike from Stephen Christopher looks to secure us a win, only to once again get pegged back late on. Aaron Dobbs equalises for Longford and we drop 2 points. At this point, at least its not a defeat. We follow up with a frankly brilliant draw away to Bohs. The penalty and late goal are on our side this time, Christopher again grabbing the goal. We didn't play particular well, but neither did Bohs and thats a big point.

We leave it late again back at home against Finn Harps. Dayle Rooney slots home a 90th minute winner to give us our second win of the season. We're doing much better than I imagined we would at this point and I'm ready for the good times to keep rolling. We are slightly fortunate to get a point against Waterford, but its still another point. We're unbeaten in 4 going into the Pats game, but who saw this coming? We dismantle Pats with ease, barely coming out of third gear as we push them aside. Christopher and Caffrey share the goals between them. We're up to 5th and I have a nosebleed.

We are of course, brought crashing back to earth by Derry City. We're not as bad as the scoreline reflect. with 15 minutes to go we're 2-1 down but still in the game. We're scuppered by a dodgy red card for Clyde O'Connell, and the floodgates open for Derry then. They put another two past us and its a humbling defeat to end what was otherwise a great month of football. 

We remain in 5th and honestly, this season is going way better than I thought it would at this point. I don't want to get ahead of myself and start thinking about Europe, its all about getting away from Relegation for now, and go from there. We're laying some very nice groundwork.

[Kirwan24]

April 2022

We're getting the hang of this.

What a result. What a performance. What a team. We're off and running away to Rovers within in 3 minutes, Gary Delaney, on loan from St. Pats, heads home from a corner. Our defence are incredible, as Rovers pepper us with shot after shot. We keep them out through the first half and in the second we take over. We are all over them and after 78 mins Dean George sneaks in behind and puts us 2-0. Its bedlam in Tallaght as we take our biggest scalp yet. I almost don't even care about the League Cup tie coming up against Athlone. Except I do, and we add another W to the belt. 

We play pretty poorly against the champions Dundalk, but I'm still a little disappointed that we didn't get something out of it. Despite our win against Rovers its not a game I was expecting to get something out of though, so we move on. Pats come to Markets Field looking for revenge and they take it. We lead at the break, but we're pinned back for the rest of the game. Pats strike a double salvo within 7 minutes and sink us to our first set of back-to-back defeats. Its not a disaster, but we need to make sure we snap it so we don't tumble into something bad.

Spoiler - It doesn't turn into something bad. There's something pedestrian about the 1-0 win over Longford, but its exactly what we need, taking the lead in the 1st minute, and then not letting anything happen. We send Cork packing in the second round of the League Cup, and its now officially our longest cup run! What better way to celebrate than the game of the season at Finn Park. We go behind after 2 mins, and level after 10 through Callum Thompson. Naturally, we concede straight from kick off again. 2-1 down after 10 minutes. its the 63rd minute when Thompson scores again. We survive a few scares, and in the 84th minute he plods home his hat trick and we steal all three points. We're exhausted after that, and a bring 0-0 is actually welcomed in the next game. 

Amazingly, our record of 5 wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats in our first 12 game has us still in 5th, gradually moving away from the relegation conversation. Its been an amazing start to the league and I couldn't have asked for better. With some less frantic months coming up, things are really starting to blossom for us

[Hootieleece]

Ireland makes for a fun save if you can get to Europe and then compete with Dundalk for titles!

 

[Kirwan24]

14 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Ireland makes for a fun save if you can get to Europe and then compete with Dundalk for titles!

 

It’s one of my favourite things to do in FM, take an Irish team into Europe. I’ve had a couple of forays into the Europa League with Limerick before. Got as deep as the second knockout round. Would love to get that far with this lot!

[Kirwan24]

 May 2022 

Its another very decent month for us as the league rumbles on. Our cup run continued despite a stuttering penalty shootout win over Longford in the League Cup. We made it 2-1 in the 120th minute, only to immediately be pegged back to send it to penalties. We kept our bottle and went through. We have a semi final to look forward to now.It was another bit of a Stutter against Sligo, but its still a good point to take away. I'm becoming very concerned at the performance o my wingers. Coustrain and Rooney in particular have player very, very poorly for weeks now and something will have to be done. 

We might one of the big guns again and again we take a brilliant result. Dean Parret converts a penalty to make it 1-1 and we shut Bohs out to gain another impressive point, with our wingers again dropping clangers. Coustrain redeems himself a bit with a goal in our impressive 2-0 over St Pats, and Callum Thompson keeps us unbeaten for the month with a goal in the draw with Derry. Its now 7 games without a defeat in the league and we're really starting to impress. Over half way through the season it has gone better than we probably could have hoped.

At the end of the month we sit 5th in the league, comfortably clear of relegation and flirting with a european place, but we won't get ahead of ourselves yet. 

Christopher has been our star so far this season, with Ryan also being very impressive in the sticks. Young players like Pawelec and O'Reilly has been solid in there outings too which is great to see. There;s a lot of players who could do with pushing on in the second half of the season. Despite our good form, I'm half expecting a handful of these guys won't be around next season.

[Kirwan24]

June 2022

Its a short month for us in June, and I'm not even filling it out with friendlies. Maybe a rest would do us good. We probably need it after Rovers come to town. Sean Kavanagh makes it 1-0 to the visitors early. We equalise after 50 minutes through Dean George but the mountain becomes too high. A Lynch own goal and a belter from Mark McGuinness sink us to a first defeat since the 11th of April. But what better way to follow up a defeat than winning away at the Champions?

We line up at Oriel Park off the back of two successive defeats vs Dundalk in our previous games. When Stephen Christopher gives us the lead after 17 mins, we start to believe.  Its a defensive master class as Delaney and O'Connell sweep up everything. Lynch and Fleming are immense at full back. Rooney and Thompson are catastrophic on the wings, a 6.1 each despite a great result. Everyone else does their job and we hang on for another famous victory. We've taken some scalps now, only a win against Bohs eludes us.

We do go back to our usual trick of following up a great performance with an average one. Gary Delaney has to head us out of jail in the 83rd min to seal a 2-1 win over struggling Harps. We still come out of Jun relatively unscathed with another huge result in our pocket. I'm willing to breathe now and say we might not go down this year. Now, lets see if we can push on.

In other news, the youth intake preview is....

Yeah. I don't expect much, but its still poor.

July 2022

A double feature

Dayle Rooney is potentially the worst player I have ever signed. He should be at least functional, but he isn't. He's been dropping 6.1s consistently and I'm without even a solid option to replace him. Conor Melody isn't really up to snuff, Coustrain is playing just as bad and the less said about Shane Lowth, the better. Its not just Rooney's fault that Longford turn us over 3-0, though. They hit us for 3 in a 15 minute period at the start of the second half and we just have nothing to give. We have to roll over and accept this one. At home to Waterford we at least this time score, but our defense collapses on us again. Dean Parret's 92nd minute leveler saves us a point in a game that could have been a lot worse, but it was all leading us to something big. 

I mentioned that Bohs was the last scalp that remained. Having drawn twice, a win was surely up for grabs? Gary Delaney thought so too. The big man stuck his giant head on a Christopher corner on the hour mark. Dalymount fell silent as the Shannonsiders stole the day again. Another huge win in this magical season. Longford who? Amazingly, my wingers again failed to perform. So heading into Sligo game, I made a change. Gone was the low tempo press of the 4231, and in came a slick, passing focused 41212.

As the player ratings will show, it paid off. The combination of Gorman sitting in front of the defence, allowing Ludden and Boyle (a June free signing to bolster the full back ranks) to bomb down the wings, with a triple pronged midfield of Hollywood, Christopher and Parrett feeding not 1 but 2 strikers? how could I lose? We sweep Sligo aside 3-1, and put Pats to the sword 3-0 in another vindication of binning off my wingers. Its been another excellent month and I'm starting to get excited. 

[Kirwan24]

August 2022

August was just about as wild a month as you could have had. No result seemed to make sense compared to the one before it. Form was irrelevant, players were superstars one day and duds the next. It was  a month of highs and lows. Starting with a low, a home defeat to Derry. We had a new signing in Rowan McDonald, formally of Man City who came in for his debut, and despite him impressing along with the rest of the midfield, we conceded twice in the second half to lose 2-0. It was a poor result, but we have cup fever, baby, so what does a little defeat matter?

It doesn't matter at all when you book your place in your first cup final ever. We were lucky to be drawn against First Division opposition, but its a semi final and stuff like that generally doesn't matter. Today though, the quality difference is on full show. Dean George gives us the lead on 17 mins, followed up by the inevitable Stephen Christopher to make it 2. We ease off a but in the second half, but never lose control. Tommy Caffrey adds a third with 4 minutes to play and we're in the final. It may just be the League Cup, but it just became the most prestigious tournament in the world to a team competing in just their second ever competitive season. 

Cup Fever rolls on and there is no cure, baby. We're away to Cobh in the first round of the FAI Cup and I am on top of the world. The League Cup Finalists/Two Time JP McManus Cup champions are in town. We're the bumper tie as far as I'm concerned. Bohs beating 3-0 by Galway? Who cares. Leinster Senior league side Home Farm knocking out Waterford? Worth a glance, but its not us. Cobh Ramblers vs Treaty United is the glamour tie.

Until it isn't.

We take the lead on 4 mins through Caffrey, and seem to be in control. Caelin Rooney scores for Cobh just on halftime but its not a disaster. We're the better team and I can;t see us not grabbing at least 1 goal. The chances come thick and fast, but the old problem returns. None of them are on target. We've been here before. We don;t make it count. We don't trouble the keeper. We shoot and shoot and shoot, 20 times in 90 minutes, accumulating 2.18 xG, but we don't score. Extra Time comes, but part of me knows the jug us up. You'll remember our penalty heartbreak in the FAI cup vs Drogheda last season. Somehow, we're about to repeat the trick. Dean Parret's missed penalty is the kicker, and we're out. Elation to devastation in just two games. You can't write drama like this. 

As if that wasn't enough, We have to face the champions again. We're in a limbo of emotions, but manage to take the lead and hold it all the way. We're largely second best but it doesn't matter. We've beaten Dundalk for the second time in a row. Somehow, we also take revenge on Rovers. They battered us 3-1 in our last meeting, so we do the same to them this time. We beat them in front of their own fans for the second time this year, and our impossibly good record against the big three goes on. Its a great end to an up and down month. Our form is pushing us into a  European Race, and for the first time I think we're in with a shout

[Kirwan24]

September 2022

Into the final month of our first venture into the Premier Division. If it isn't clear already, we're very safe from relegation. Its been a great campaign for us, so why not go out with a bang and qualify for Europe? We make a good start at that by coming from behind to beat Longford 3-2. jack Lynch returned to the scoresheet to win that one for us. The last of the big three come to town and are sent packing with their tails between their legs. Dean George scores again, in the 84th minute to grab the win. We're level on points with Shamrock Rovers, and have a better goal difference by 1. More importantly, we're up to 4th, and have put some distance between us an Waterford. By my calculations, as long as a team below us doesn't win the cup, 4th should get us a Conference League spot.

The big day finally arrives. The European Race takes a backseat as we travel the 2 hours and 50 minutes to Dundalk's Oriel Park for the League Cup Final. I really can't overstate the significance of this game. We are a fledgling club, founded in 2020, competing for the first time in 2021. Winning the First Division last season was incredible enough, adding a cup to that would be nigh on impossible t think about two years ago. 

We again face First Division opposition in Drogheda, who also have semi home advantage, based just 36 minutes away from Dundalk. In a nervy first half, no one takes control. There's been lots of shots but they aren't dangerous and predictably are not on target. Luke Heeney gives Drogheda the lead on 67 minutes and i feel the walls closing in. Its not an achievement to just be here anymore. We have to win. These are First Division, lads, show them who's boss. It takes us just 15 minutes to regain a bit of pride, Dean George on hand again to equalise. We go toe to toe after that. Caution to the wind and end to end action. Its stressful as hell, and we somehow give up 21 shots despite Drogheda having just 33% possession. Football makes no sense. 

Extra time comes and goes, look you know the story. Its penalties again. We've only won 1 of our 3 previous shootouts, and we lost one a lot more recently than we won one. But things start well. Drogheda miss their first,  and Christopher slots home. We both score our second, and Drogheda miss again. Tommy Caffrey scores and its on.  Drogheda score their fourth, and up steps Rowan McDonald. He has a chance to win it, but I'm not exaggerating here. His penalty lands in the Isle of Man. I've never seen anything like it in FM. Redmond scores Drog's fifth, and Gary Delaney slots home ours. We've done it! We've won the League Cup!

Its an incredible day, and honestly one of my favorite FM achievements. We don't have long to savour it, as we have another long trip to Ballybofey to face rock bottom Finn Harps. We're still celebrating apparently, or maybe we're hungover, because we lose 2-1. not to worry, 3rd is still possible. We stumble again against Waterford, still hungover. It's okay, 3rd is still possible. You can see the theme here. We're not even present against Sligo on the final day. the draw with Waterford at least confirmed 4th, but 3rd is slipping away. with 5 minutes to play, Rovers are also losing, and by just 1 goal we are in 3rd. As the minutes tick on it looks like we're going to fail upwards in the table, but look you've been around long enough to know its not that easy. Rovers score in the 94th minute, a second goal in a 3-2 defeat, which amazingly lets them leapfrog us to 3rd by virtue of goals scored after we finish with identical records. Never a dull moment.

Thankfully, Dundalk defeat Shelbourne in the FAI Cup final, and as you can see above, we've confirmed qualification for the Conference League. Its another wonderful achievement and a great way to end the season, even if we tried really hard to throw it all away!

 

[Kirwan24]

2023

Its a new year, so you know what that means. That's right. JP McManus Cup time baby. But before we can dive into the defence of our crown, there's some business to attend to. If we're to push on this season and make a real mark we'll need some upgrades. Sean McGinty (Free) and Joe Redmond (Drogheda United) are the first to arrive, bolstering our defence. This is particularly important as Gary Delaney, a star for us last year, turned down a permanent move in favour of going to Sligo. Who needs him.

Jack Keaney (UCD) is the next arrival as backup for our midfield. Blair Henderson (Free) follows him in as a back up striker. Slowly, our depth is building up. As we cross into the new year We make an actualy money signing, €2k is paid to Cliftonville for Levi Ives, a super Left Back who instantly improves us. We strengthen his opposite side with the arrival of Niall Keown (Free). Arguably our two biggest signings round off our winter. Noam Emeran, formerly of Man United and Keith Buckley formerly of Bohs provide a real touch of quality to the first team. Its been an exciting winter, now I'm just praying the singnings pay off. We say goodbye to Sean Guerins, Rhys Gorman, Kieran Hanlon, Shane Lowth and Conor Melody, who just don't have it anymore.

Jan/Feb 2023

Pre Season is as you'd expect. The third Annual JP McManus Cup kicks off with us going up against Ballynanty Rovers, and predicable sweeping them aside. Limerick U19s return, beating Prospect Priory with a last minute winner to win 4-3. Probably the tournaments best ever game. All good will from that game is gone as we crush the kids 4-0 to take him the trophy for a third time. 'Farmers League' they say. The rest of our friendlies go off without a hitch. Our new signings blood in well in good wins over Wexford, Corrib and Drogheda, and a strong showing over Cabo rounds us off.

February 2023

I get the feeling that we've been here before. We line out in trailblazing diamond midfield once again but its a shaky start. Pat McEleney puts Derry ahead, and after half time we fall 2 down. Its a very familiar start, especially when Tommy Caffrey pulls one back. We leave it late again for Rowan McDonald to salvage a point and its a good point given that we didn't play great. 

The Rovers game is much better, and our stellar record against the league's top sides continues. Mr Dependable Stephen Christopher delivered from the spot. The trip to Waterford brings a formation change, as we reintroduce wingers to our life with a 4-2-2-2 formation. And it pays off. We go a goal down, but the second half is all about us. We are scintillating going forward and Noam Emeran grabs a goal and an assist on his debut. What a signing he could be. We end the month with another good point against Bohs, who just can't seem to beat us. Its a very solid start to our campaign, I'm looking forward to hopefully pushing on!

Edited January 24, 2022 by Kirwan24

[Blarney]

This is a quality read.  I really want to do an Irish save next since it is home after I grow bored of Wrexham or get sacked.  It looks like fun. 

[Kirwan24]

On 25/01/2022 at 02:07, Blarney said:

This is a quality read.  I really want to do an Irish save next since it is home after I grow bored of Wrexham or get sacked.  It looks like fun. 

Thanks man. I highly recommend Irish saves they're always entertaining, Looking forward to updating soon.

[Kirwan24]

Hi Folks. Its been a while and I've fallen very behind in updating, so I think its best that I just do one big review of 2023 here. I've finished that season and will only get further and further behind if I go month by month. So lets get into it!

 

As you can see, we went on a pretty spectacular run from March through to May. Our first defeat didn't arrive until the end of April. We had some huge results along the way, the wins over Rovers and Bohs standing out. We also booked our place in the League Cup Semi Final as we look to defend our crown. At this point we were keeping touch with Dundalk at the top and looking like we could mount a serious title challenge.

Nothing is ever easy around here. Overnight, we slump into a truly dreadful patch of form. Nothing is coming off for us. We're poor all over and I really don't know why. All of a sudden we lose 3 on the bounce, but somehow hammer Rovers, only to then lose another 2 in a row. It's a catastrophic run of form that throws any glint of title hopes out the window. We also crash out of the League Cup in the midst of the madness. I hope hammering some amateurs 5-1 in the FAI cup will lift things, but it doesn't seem to.

 

In the middle of this though, we have the welcome distraction of our first European adventure. Our first port of call is Knatts- em, Vikingur from Iceland in the Conference League First qualifying Round. Despite dominating them all throughout the first leg at Loughtagalla Park in Tipperary (which according to a google search is just a field and is in no way suitable for a UEFA tie. Thomond is just down the road, lads) we can only draw 0-0. Thankfully, we find a vein of form away from home to put 5 past the Icelanders to power through to the next round. 

My hopes for a deep run are dashed a bit as we draw Aberdeen in the next round. Its an unfortunately tough tie, but one that we take right to the wire. A very credible 1-1 at home is followed by a last minute equaliser in the second leg to send it to extra time, and eventually penalties. A year ago, we'd be through on away goals. Despite Aberdeen missing their 1st kick, we miss two and Joe Redmond, who got the equaliser, is the unlucky man to knock us out. I can't complain too much, we gave it a hell of a go. 

Maybe we got a bit of confidence from Europe, but we do turn a corner eventually in the last half of the season. Our draw luck is still down as we get Rovers in the FAI cup, who promptly knock us out, and after being hammered by Dundalk, we only lose 1 of remaining 8 games. That's enough for us to seal 3rd in the League, our highest finish ever, an improvement on last year and another crack at Europe!

Our shocking form in the summer ruined any chance of a title push. Despite keeping touch with Dundalk for most of the first half of the season, we finish 18 points behind them. Its a big gap to overturn, and it'll be an important winter of recruitment, but I think we have a shot next year. Tommy Caffrey finishes the season as the league top scorer with 21 goals, a remarkable achievement for a great player. Its also interesting to note that this is our first ever trophyless season in the club's history. What a weird stat. 

On to bigger and better things for us in 2024, I'll see you there. 

[Blarney]

Was a good season regardless of the slump.  Something to build on going forward. 

[Kirwan24]

2024

Once again its time for a big season-long roundup because I'm awful at updating, but i promise its worth it. After a respectable 3rd place we went about trying to strengthen the squad to push on even more. 10 players were let go from the club at the end of 2023. Dean Parret, Joel Coustrain, Marc Ludden, Jamie Hollywood, Ethan Boyle,  Clyde O'Connell, jack Lynch, Dayle Rooney, Blair Henderson and  Reece Murphy all parted ways. Replacing them was slow and arduous, but worth it to improve the squad, even if we were left a little light. 

Gabriel Ramadan (CM) arrived on a free from Ebbsfleet and immediately went on loan to Avondale. Adrian Hayes (ST) came in on loan from Rochdale, Kian Le Fondre (RW) arrived on a free, as did Darragh Leahy (LB) and Baba Fernandes (CB). Louis Annesley (CB) joined on a free too, meaning our new CB pairing have a combined total of almost 80 international caps between them. Harvey Neville (RB), Henry Woods (CM) and Sean Hoare (CB) rounded out the business this winter. 

We also said goodbye to my trusty Assman, David Van Zantan, whom we couldn't agree on a wage with. (He wanted more than I'm on!) But thankfully we found a suitable replacement.

 

We are stacked with international experience in all departments now! We're sticking to our 4-2-2-2 this year as I feel its a strong tactic that suits well. 

 

After another JP McManus Cup triumph, we started the season pretty well, just 2 defeats in our opening 8 games. Dundalk look worryingly strong but there's a lot of ball left to play. We've started well and given ourselves a great launching pad.

We've had a shocker in the League Cup, bowing out to First Division Galway. We battered them all game but just couldn't put the ball in the net. Despite good wins over Bohs and Rovers, we lose to Dundalk twice in this stretch and even though we're mixing it with the top, we're still a bit off their level.

 

The League pretty much paused in June for the Euros, so we just kept things ticking over with some friendlies. They paid off in July as we watzed through our games, before another stinker in the FAI Cup, AGAIN to Galway. Dundalk completed the full set against us. i think they can put a hotel in Limerick now. We're keeping up the faith as Dundalk have dropped points here and their, we still have a chance. 

July also means European Football as we draw Connah's Quay from Wales in the Conference League. I'm quietly confident we'll be progressing. We batter them in the First Leg, but let them slip 2 sloppy goals past us. We just don't show up in the second leg, they score another 2 and we limp out of Europe in the 1st round.

It's a really poor showing, our finances really needed the boost of a bit of a run in Europe.

We get back on it winning everything in September, and we go top of the League on goal difference. A big win over Longford sends us into a tough run in for the title. Graeme McGinty, a free signing in the summer scores the winner on 67 mins to beat Bohs 2-1, Dundalk match our result with a win over Longford. We stumble annoyingly against Rovers, losing 1-0 in a poor game. It looks to be all over but somehow, Dundalk lose to Sligo and it's still on. We're top on goal difference by 5 goals. We have to win, but we play Sligo who just toppled Dundalk. We have a nervy 1-0 lead into added time, but Henry Woods takes down Tunde Owolabi in the 93rd minute. He converts then penalty and it looks like heartbreak. Even worse, we played on Thursday, with Dundalk and everyone else in the league inexplicably playing on Friday. We have to wait to see their result..

 

UNBELIEVABLE! Dundalk draw with Derry, and we're Premier Division Champions! What an absolutely outrageous achievement. We've risen quicker than I could have imagined. We bookend a great campaign by beating Linfield 5-1 over two legs in the Irish Champions Cup. What an amazing season, what an amazing club. I cannot wait for Champions League Football next season!

[theBlackPrince]

Winning the League like that and having to wait for someone else the next day to not get a result, turns that late penalty frustration to joy and celebration! Glad it didn't cost you in the end and got the title and more importantly, Champions League Football""

[Kirwan24]

1 hour ago, theBlackPrince said:

Winning the League like that and having to wait for someone else the next day to not get a result, turns that late penalty frustration to joy and celebration! Glad it didn't cost you in the end and got the title and more importantly, Champions League Football""

  I couldn't believe it, I didn't realise it was the case until after I had kicked off. Not sure if it's a bug or a quirk of the fixture list, but it made for good drama!

[Kirwan24]

2025

Another year in the books for the Shannonsiders as we looked to defend our maiden Premier Division Crown. There was some money to be made as Keith Buckley went to Cheltenham for 40k, Krystin Pawelec went to Pats for 22k and Callum Thompson went north to Dundalk for a whopping 170k. Brian Maher also departed to Preston for 61k. But the biggest fee was saved for the summer, when Hibernian would trigger Graem McGinty's 425k release clause. He was immediately loaned back, making it a sort of double win for us. In terms of incomings, Kofi Balmer (CB), Ross Tierney (CM), Zan Luk Leban (GK), Hassan Ayari (RW), Ibrahima Sy (CM), Promise Omochere (LW), Ollie Younger (CB), Kevin O'Connor (LB) and Colm Horgan (RB) all joined for free. Depth was the name of the game, and we're now pretty well stocked in all departments.

We got off to a flier in our league defense, losing just 1 in our opening 15. It took Adrian Hayes 3 games to score his first of the season, but once he did he didn't stop, scoring 11 in these 15 games.

The good times kept rolling through the summer, despite a very poor 4-0 defeat to Rovers, we comfortably walking through the league, but the real story was unfolding in Europe.

A nice draw to start the Champions League campaign against Flora Talinn. We were never out of control across both legs, securing a 4-0 win on aggregate and a nice chunk of money to boot. We were met in the next round by Young Boys, a big step up in quality. We found ourselves 2-0 up on the hour thanks to Campton and Hayes, with Christian Fassnacht pulling one back for the Swiss champions. Despite a brilliant first leg result, it was ultimately too much too soon as Young Boys showed their class to sweep us aside 5-3 over two legs. A good showing, and on to the Europa.

It's straight into the fire with a tie against FCSB, or so we thought anyway, as we sweep the Romanians aside 5-0. Just two legs stand between us and the group stage honey pot, and Astana with all their Champions League daliances guard the door. DJ Campton gives us the lead, only to be pegged back on 53 mins. Just 1 min later though, we're back in front again courtesy of DJ once more, and Ross Tierney caps off another fine display with a crucial 3rd. Despite Rowan McDonald seeing red after an hour of the second leg, we hold on to a 0-0 and our 9 away fans watch us advance to the group stage! 

We wrap up a brilliant second title with 4 games to spare, hammering Rovers for a spot of revenge to make it all the sweeter. Its been a superb league campaign with some truly excellent performances and results. We've really deserved this league title and its great to see it all coming together. 

As you can see, it was never in doubt, pure domination! To go along with our League crown, we took home the President's Cup at the start of the season, and also added a 2nd League Cup to the cabinet. We came undone in the FAI Cup Semi Final, but managed to win a second consecutive All Ireland Champions Cup, beating Glentoran 5-4 over two tense legs.

The Europa League draw was not too kind to us, pitting us against Ludogorets, Bayer Leverkuson and AS Monaco, three times with astounding pedigrees. 

We start at home to Ludogorets, falling behind after 8 mins, but DJ Campton levels it up. We succombed to a late goal, and I feel a bit hard done by. We matched Ludogorets all game and there was at least a point there for us. That doesn't matter too much though because the greatest night in our history is coming. We travel to the BayArena with just 95 fans and we shock the world. Campton puts us ahead after just 2 mins, he's loving Europe, but Adam Ounas levels just 5 mins later. Tierney is hauled down in the box after 39 mins, and Darragh Leahy cooly converts. We take a 2-1 lead in at the break, and come out for the 2nd half with our backs to the wall. Bayer batter us with 21 shots to our 4, but we somehow hold them off and snatch a famous win in Europe. What a result, what a night!

The Monaco game is the same story as the Ludogorets one. There was something there for us. We were 2-0 down, pulling one back with 25 mins to play through Ayari and were the better team in the 3nd half, but we just couldn't eek out a 2nd goal.  The same can be said the return, Tchouameni scored after 24 mins, but despite having more shots and an xG of 1.53 to Monaco's 0.88 we fall again. At this point we're out but still determined, but the Ludogorest defeat flattens us. Its a carbon copy of the opening game, one we controlled but just couldn't make use of our dominance. Leverkusen were out for revenge in the final game. We embarrassed them in their back yard, and that in combination with our league season being long over, meant they took us to the cleaners, hitting us for 5 and it could have been more. Bizarrely, we actually took the lead on 44 minutes, Louis Annesley grabbing a nice headed goal. We faltered in the second half, though.

 Overall, I'm thrilled with the campaign. We, dominated the league, won another cup, won 2 'super cups' of sorts, and mixed it with some top European sides and didn't give them an inch. The win in Germany will live long in the memory, and the money earned is going toward an upgrade of youth and training facilities, which we desperately need. With a bit of luck we'll be back here again next year, bring it on!

[Kirwan24]

2026

Life is good from the top. We're two times champions of Ireland an it feels good. We're Europa League Group Stage rich and it feels good. We're almost, almost everything I've wanted us to be. With that in mind, lets review another season. In transfer news, we said Goodbye to Noam Emeram, ho left on a free to FCSM in France. Disappointing to see him go but he had no interest in a new contract, so we had no choice. Joining him in leaving was Gabriel Ramadam to St Pats. He just never got going for us so this is best for everyone. Ollie Younger and Kian le Fondre departed on loan to Aldershot and Concord respectively. But the real moves we made in the buys.

With some real money to spend, we aimed high. Andy Pearse (CM) was the first to join on a free, followed swiftly by Nilson (CM) Signed on a pre contract from Cork City. We paid 75k to Hearts for Italian CB Zeno Ibsen Rossi, and we secured an ill-fated loan of Euan Dunlop from Dundee United. We also reupped our loans of Adrian Hayes and Graeme McGinty, which was crucial. Probably the biggest signing was Festy Ebosele (RB) who joined from Derby for 125k. We're running a new formation of 4-1-2-3 with inverted wing backs that he will be crucial too. I'm incredibly excited about these signings!

After another JP McManus cup triumph, we started the season with a President's cup defeat to Sligo Rovers. We are really poor and deserve nothing from the game. We quickly turn things around to start the season proper with 2 wins, before we get our annual freak result out of the way early with a 3-0 defeat to Derry. Ebosele is immense as an IWB, almost playing like a centre forward at times. It's a joy to watch. We stumble just twice in the first half f the league, blowing away teams with a style of play probably never seen on the island before! (Hyperbolic, sure, but history is written by the winners after all.)

Despite our good form, we find ourselves in a title battle! Cork have come out of nowhere to take a stab at dethroning us. I'm weirdly looking forward to the fight. Bohs and Rovers both recover from poor starts to sit 3rd and 4th, but they will need a big tunraround to join the title fight. 

Our stellar league form continues, with Hassan Ayari and Adrian Hayes providing the bulk of the goals. Ebosele conitnues to dazzle, while Rossi and Kofi Balmer are proving to be the best CB partnership in the league, playing more passes with more success than most midfielders. Its all come together so well for so many players this season. We unfortunately bow put of the League Cup to Rovers on penalties. Even though we're defending the crown, I took the opportunity to rest players throughout the tournament, with bench players like Zan Luk Leban and Colm Horgan getting minutes. its not the end of the world to go out of this competition. July is a funny month as tkae a ding-dong 6-4 win over Shelbourne, but also lose 2-0 to bottom of the table Longford, but there are no adverse affects as Cork start to fade away, and a third title is looking likely. 

We end up wrapping up a third league title early, as Cork fade away totally, almost dropping out of the top 4 before a late surge sees them leapfrog Pats to 2nd place. Its another dominant display in the league (Three-ty United anyone? Poor seasons for Rovers, Bohs and Dundalk make for an interesting table, Dundalk's FAI Cup win snatches European Football from Rovers. Speaking of European Football...

We draw Astana in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.  I think its going to be a tough draw, but we blow them away at home to all but seal a place in the next round. Sepsi strangely enough are a tougher tie, but again a solid first leg helps us through. Once again, I think our CL journey will end as we draw Belgian side Club Brugge in the third round. Despite taking the lead after 8 minutes, a Harvey Neville red card leaves us in the lurch and Brugge hit us for 2. A brilliant second leg performance and goals from Hayes and McGinty send us to a playoff and I can hardly breath. Shakhtar Donetsk are in the way, a great side featuring players like Timo Werner and Leandro Paredes. But its Kofi Balmer who wins the day, a towering header on 22 mins giving us a slender first leg lead. The second leg is nervy, but on the hour mark, Adrian Hayes send us to the group stage. Its delirium. I've been trying for years to guide an Irish side to the Champions League, and its finally happening! What a team.

Its a very atmospheric draw for our first group stage outing, Feyenoord, Celtic and Borussia Dortmund. It certainly could be a lot tougher and I'll be looking to Celtic and Feyenoord to grab a point or 2. 

Or 3! What a start we make. After being 1-0 down at half time and leveling with 20 mins to go, Ross Tierney sends us into raptures with an 87th minute winner. Firs Champions League Game, first champions League win! Rowan McDonald has the honour of being the first player to score for an Irish club in the group stage. What a moment. We  give it a fair go in Dortmund, Hayes puts us 1 up and Omochere makes it 2-2 with 25 mins to play, but they're too strong for us and score twice in the last stretch. Very proud of the team, not so proud of them after Celtic.

Its a frustrating game, one where we're probably the better side, we just can't find the net. On 70 mins at 0-0, Ebosele loses the head and gets sent off. Just 5 mins later, Celtic score. Just 4 mins after that, Omochere loses the head, and gets sent off. The two red cards completely killed our chance to take something, and we have to settle for a defeat. I scold the two culprits and drop them for the next league game. Hopefully they learn  lesson, and thankfully, they do. Its Celtic who get the red card this time, as Nislon fires us to another win. In between this and Feyenoord, we beat Linfield on penalties to win another All Ireland Champions Cup, and I think we run out of steam a bit. Feyenoord sweep us aside pretty easily. At this point, we're third in the group, with Dortmund and Feyenoord safely through. If Celtic beat Feyenoord in the last round of matches, they'll leapfrog us, so third is looking unlikely.

With that in mind, I decide to savour our final group outing. We welcome Dortmund to Thomond Park, and just go for it. Hoping to give our fans some nice viewing as we try to take it to the German Champions, we are very quickly put in our place. Dortmund are 4-0 at the break and hammer us 6-0. I have no regrets though, it was good fun. It 4th place and 6 points from our first ever group stage campaing. Its a really good return, and worth an absolute fortune to us. We immediately invest in upgrading our training and youth facilities as we look to grow the club in every way possible. Our youth intake was a disaster this season so anything will help at this point. 

Its been another amazing campaign. I keep meaning to do a squad review and forgetting before starting the next season, so I'm gonna aim to do a big overview this season. We're aiming for the Champions League again this term, but I want to put in a decent cup performance too. Lots to chew on over the winter!

(I don't know why this screenshot keeps popping in, but we'll roll with it)

Edited May 17, 2022 by Kirwan24

[Kirwan24]

2027

Its another year in Paradise. After wrapping up a third league title on the bounce coupled with a very respectable Champions League campaign, we are in a very good place. Not a good enough place, as we are sorely lacking in one thing - Youth. We haven't had one decent youth product come through yet. It's hugely frustrating but all i can do is upgrade facilities and wait, so thats what I do, and while I wait, we take on another season.

Transfers

Lets look at the outs first. Hassan Ayari leaves us on a free to Sunderland, as does Promise Omochere to Heartland FC in in Nigeria. They're two guys i would have liked to keep, but Ayari wants out and as much as I like Omochere there are better options out there. Barry Coughlin follows them out to Derry City, and Ciara Hunt also departs to Longford.  The ins are much more exciting, headlines byt George Quinn from Shamrock Rovers for a hefty 350k. He's probably the best striker in the country, a real coup for us to replace Adrian Hayes who we're unable to loan in again. Kevin Zefi (RW) arrives on a free from Longford. He's a solid option to bolster our depth, an undervalued player for sure. We bring in Callum Clark (LB) for 250k, Javi (CDM) from Kilmarnock  for 300k. Alex Segers (CB) comes in for free from NAC Breda for free. We spend 220k on Luke Cundle (CM) so we're well endowed in the middle, We also get Gabi Masters (RW) in on loan again from Sheffield United. In the summer two more join us, Daniel Noble from West Ham on a free and Willie McGowan (CM) for 80k from Ballymena. Big changes but we've strengthen an already strong squad.

The League

Its another dominating season in Limerick, as we wrap up a fourth league title in a row! this team has really hit its stride now, and can pretty comfortably beat anyone in this league on their day. Our only real blot is an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Longford, far and away the worst side in the league, but it came in the middle of a jam packed European run. George Quinn hit 30 goals in all comps last season, instantly repaying the big fee. He's going to tear up the league for the next few years, and its surely only a matter of time before we have our first full international.

The Cups

We get off to a great start in the League Cup, with big wns over Cork, Waterford and Shelbourne to make the semi final. We come undone against Derry unfortunately. Its a shame to not make it all the way again, but the League Cup is not really a priority so we won't dwell for too long. We have a very easy run all the way to the final of the FAI Cup, not facing anyone of any real calibre. Our first final ever is a tense affair, as we need 112 minutes before George Quinn puts us ahead. We hold out against a resilient Sligo to claim our first ever FAI Cup! We've won the lot now and its a really great feeling. We wrap up the cup year with a big win over Linfield in the Iris Champions Cup, taking home that crown for the fourth time.

Europe

Again we set off on a Champions League adventure. After a brilliant group stage last season we're looking to do the same again, and get off to a great start beating Djurgardens 5-1 over two legs. We meet Astana for a second year in a row, and hammer them for a second year in a row. 5-0 over two legs. Its a tricky tie with Rangers next, and we're pretty poor away from home, losing 3-1. but the second leg, my god. Quinn makes it 1-0 after 20 mins, then 2-0 after 25. We pepper the goal for the rest of the game, before he pops up again in the 93rd minute to send us through. Its Euphoria in Thomond Park. We've sent Rangers packing and are one game away from second group stage appearance. We make it a little more complicated than we should against Qarabag, but we come through the qualifiers again.

We get the mother of all group of deaths. Real Madrid, Man City and Roma. I know from the beginning its gonna be a no win group, so lets just enjoy the outing against some big teams. We welcome City first, and its clear they're taking it easy. They sweep us aside easily putting 4 past us. Roma would be our best chance at  some points in this group, and we take the lead after 9 minutes though Luke Cundle, but Roma hit us for 2 in the second half and again in added time, but its a spirited performance from us. Madrid bring the same vibe as City, clearly a class above as they whip the ball around with ease. This has been Tadgh Ryan's group so far, despite conceding 10 in the first three, he has been stellar between the sticks. We actually play really well against City in the return, and are unlucky to not get something. It took a 92nd minute goal to confimr their 3 points, with Ryan again brilliant, but the next game is by fair the best. Despite Madrid taking an early lead, we are in the game, with a few counter attacks that could and probably should have led to a goal. It's Ryan's magnum opus in the sticks, a man of the match performance to keep Madrid's 36 shots out of the goal. I'm hoping to carry some momentum into the Roma game to finish the campaign, but we've run our course, and an exhausted team are kicked home by the Romans. 

The numbers don't look pretty, and we're sure to go down as the worst group stage side ever, but its been a hell of a run, a weird kind of reward for our incredible rise over the last few years.

Fun Stuff

Some fun things to note after this season. Our coefficient has risen, so we know have 3 teams enter the second qualifying round of the Conference League rather than the first. Hopefully this will give someone a push to actually make a group stage so I don't have to keep doing it all myself. 

We're also the most imporvoed side in Europe after thi season, rising a whopping 211 places, we are the 160th best side on the continent, and the best club in Ireland, overtaking Dundalk who are 164th.

 

And finally, a minor miracle, as Ireland Under 20s march all the way to the World Cup final. It takes a late Brazilian goal to put them down after an amazing run. Hopefully those points to some growth in Irish football than can implant itself in the senior team in the coming years.