Bradley's Hoops on the verge of history

Macdara Ferris reports from Tallaght Stadium

Stephen Bradley’s Shamrock Rovers side are on the verge of history. On Monday in Tolka Park, in their final game of their title winning campaign, they have a chance to go through the league season undefeated.

Only twice before has a team gone through a league season without losing and on both occasions it was a Shamrock Rovers side who managed that feat - in the 1924/25 and 1926/27 seasons. Rovers also have a shot on Monday at conceding the least number of goals in a League of Ireland campaign.

On Saturday afternoon, Rovers ran out 2-0 winners over Derry City to give them a shot at an unbeaten league campaign and that bit of history is something that Bradley’s side is well aware.

“We had a chat about it before the game,” said Bradley speaking to extratime.com after Rovers’ win over Derry. “It is something we really want to do. I know we are champions but the chance of going through a season unbeaten doesn’t come around too often.

“We have a chance of doing that on Monday and, trust me, the players know and we know as a group what it would mean for everyone involved. It will be history and it can’t be taken away from you. We will be ready on Monday to go and achieve that.” 

On both occasions teams have gone through a league season unbeaten, they have done it in 18 game seasons. This year COVID-19 has meant the league has been cut in half to 18 matches - the last time there was such a short season was 1962/63 when Dundalk emerged champions.

This season is the 17th time the league has been run over that number of matches, with six additional seasons when there were only 14 games.

When an unbeaten season was last managed, the Hoops were playing in green and white stripes and it was the season when Glenmalure Park was officially opened with a friendly against Belfast Celtic. The final game of that season, like this year,  was a Dublin derby but back then it took a Rovers come from behind win over Bohemians to secure the title without losing a match.

This year the Hoops have dropped just six points all season - two scoreless draws against St. Patrick’s Athletic and a 0-0 in Tallaght against Shelbourne.



Having won the title with four games to spare, Rovers come into the game 11 points clear of runners-up Bohemians, with the chance of securing the biggest winning margin in the league since 2008.

It was another clean sheet for the Hoops over the weekend. They have conceded just the one goal in their last ten league games. If they can get another clean sheet in Tolka Park on Monday, they will have gone through the season conceding just seven goals.

That will break the record of least number of goals conceded in a League of Ireland season - currently held by St. James’ Gate who let eight goals in a 14 match season in the very first season of the League of Ireland back in 1921/22.

“It is a testament to the whole team as we defend and attack as a team,” said Bradley. “I just think it is something that we always talk about ‘make sure we don’t concede’. When know we will create chances and score goals with the players that we have.”

    About Macdara Ferris

    Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile