2017 Season Report Card - Bray Wanderers

Team: Bray Wanderers

Manager: Harry Kenny was in charge during 2017 but after a tumultuous season he won’t be working at the Seaside in Bray next year. He did an excellent job under the most difficult of circumstances.

Top Scorer: Gary McCabe scored 15 goals in the SSE Airtricity League to finish top scorer for the Seagulls – and joint third overall in the race for Capocannoniere in the League of Ireland. That is the fourth time in the last five seasons, he has been top scorer in the league for his team in club action.

Highest Attendance: 2,225 saw Bray beat Shamrock Rovers 4-2, the first time they had beaten the Hoops in league action for six seasons. That win back in April cemented Bray’s brilliant start to the league campaign – four wins from the first five home league matches – but they would lose six of their next seven home matches in the league.

Lowest Attendance: 477 paid in to watch the Seagulls beat Galway United 1-0 at the start of April.

Star Player: Goalkeeper Peter Cherrie was the club’s player of the year. The 34-year-old Scotsman showed his experience throughout the season and he started all but one league game.

Best Young Player: Midfielder Darragh Noone made it back-to-back young player of the year awards at the Carlisle Grounds. He scored three goals in league action, with the former St. Joseph Boys player making 11 starts and seven appearances off the bench in the league.

Best New Signing: Having joined from Limerick, Aaron Greene scored 12 goals in the league for Bray during the year. He is sure to be a target for other clubs as their best new signing for the 2018 season. Greene has played for seven different League of Ireland club’s including two spells at Sligo Rovers.

What we expected they would do: Seventh place was the collective view of the extratime.ie team at the start of the season (see here).

What they actually did… would fill a book.

·         They released what was generally perceived as the most bizarre press statement ever issued by a League of Ireland club:

“Like all suppressed people, they eventually revolt, a revolution of Football is going to start and Bray Wanderers will be the leaders not just for Wicklow but for Ireland in this revolt.”

·         Then the very next day they went one further with their next statement which invoked the 1916 “brave Irish Men and Women (who) stood up for the cause of Irish Freedom”

·         At one stage it looked like they wouldn’t have the finances to see out the season but they did get additional funding in to stop the fire sale or free agent departure of virtually all of their expensively assembled sqaud.

·         They did sell their star player Dylan Connolly to rivals Dundalk.

·         Chairman Denis O’Connor resigned.

·         They were dumped out of the Irn Bru Cup by Scottish League Two side Elgin City.

·         Bray lost in the first round of the FAI Cup to eventual winners Cork City.

·         As if all that wasn’t enough, An Garda Siochána descended on the club’s training ground to interview the players in relation to allegations of match fixing surrounding Bray’s friendly game against Waterford.

·         In the end the Seagulls finished sixth in the league - the same position and with 46 points the same tally as they managed in 2016.

What they need to improve on for next year: Concentrate on not embarrasing the league

#GreatestLeagueInTheWorld moment of season: The clear winner was the whacky statement from the club criticising Wicklow County Council where they likened them to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea led by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un:

“Wicklow County has unfortunately now attained the accolade of being the North Korea of Ireland for business.”