End of Season Report Card - Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers with the league trophy

Shamrock Rovers with the league trophy Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)

Team: Shamrock Rovers

Head Coach: Stephen Bradley

Top Scorer: Graham Burke (10 all comps) and Jack Byrne (9 in league)

Stadium:  Tallaght Stadium

Highest Attendance: 7,522 (3-2 win v Dundalk, 28 February)

Lowest Attendance: 0

Star Player:                 Jack Byrne

Like last season, Byrne’s play lit up the League of Ireland with his superb close control, range of passing, set piece delivery and goals. He scored nine league goals (one more than last season), finishing just a goal behind Dundalk striker Pat Hoban who finished top of the scoring charts in the Premier Division.

Highlights for the season include his goals home and away against Dundalk. In Tallaght in front of the largest ever league attendance in the ground, he got the winner in the 3-2 win over Dundalk.

In Oriel Park, he rounded off Rovers’ comprehensive 4-0 victory over the Lilywhites with a sublime goal from an acute angle. There was the free kick against Finn Harps and his assist to Graham Burke after a  29 pass Rovers move.



Away from Tallaght, when Byrne played against Wales he became the first League of Ireland player to make a competitive appearance for the Republic of Ireland since former Rovers skipper Pat Byrne lined out for Ireland in 1985. 

Best Young Player:     Dean Williams

Having returned from a couple of loans spells with First Division clubs last year, Williams lined out for Shamrock Rovers in both the Premier and First Divisions this season. For Aidan Price’s team in the second tier, he started six matches but was a lot more involved with Stephen Bradley’s team making three starts in the league along with ten substitute appearances.

He scored a goal in the 6-1 win over Waterford and helped with the 2-1 win over Derry City - his header hitting the crossbar and going in for the equaliser off the unfortunate Candystripes defender Colm Horgan.

Best New Signing:      Liam Scales



To their settled squad, Rovers added Rhys Marshall and Liam Scales this season. Marshall made 13 appearances (including five starts) with Scales making 16 including 11 starts (plus one appearance and goal in the First Division). Scales contribution was very impressive making him the best signing.

He slotted into back three whenever required and proved ample replacement for any of Joey O’Brien, Lee Grace and Pico Lopes (who ran Jack Byrne close for player of the year with his superb defensive performances and crucial set piece goal contributions).

What we expected they would do:

Ahead of the start of the season, the extratime.com team predicted that the Hoops would be champions (see here). 

What they actually did:

SSE Airtricity League 

In last season’s report card, we wrote about the fact that Rovers rued “the points dropped against Bohemians (9) and crucially in the head-to-head games against Dundalk (10) and that really is where they need to improve on next year if they are to close the 11 point gap on the Lilywhites.”

Well they did just that turning that 11 point deficit into an 11 point league winning margin over Bohs and double that over third placed Dundalk. In 2020, Rovers’ got maixmium points in the games against the Gypsies and the Lilywhites – beating both teams home and away.

The Hoops beat Bohs without playing particularly well but grabbed a 1-0 win with a last minute goal in their opening game played in awful weather, before a 1-0 home win in August that if Bohs had won would have sent them top of the table. They Hoops never looked back after that.

Worries about not having an out-and-out goalscorer proved unfounded as the Hoops simply scored goals all around them and defensively they kept an incredible 13 cleans sheets from the 18 games in the shortened season and conceded just seven goals – the fewest number conceded in the history of the League of Ireland.

In the last 11 games of the league campaign, they conceded only on goal.

They dropped points in just three matches – a scoreless draw at home to Shels and a similar scoreline home and away to St. Patrick’s Athletic. They won the title with four games to spare – which is impressive in any season but to do that in a campaign that was only 18 games makes it even more impressive.

FAI Cup

The Hoops began their defence of their FAI Cup crown with a 2-1 First Round win over Cork City at the end of August thanks to two goals from Daniel Lafferty. They looked dead and buried in Finn Park in the quarter-final as they trailed 2-0 at half-time on a quagmire of a pitch only for them to win three penalties in a five minute period.

Aaron McEneff missed one and scored two before Graham Burke got the winner.

In the semi-final in Tallaght, McEneff got two more goals against Sligo Rovers to set up an FAI Cup Final against Dundalk.

The Hoops led through Aaron Greene but failed to convert a number of second half chances that followed and were punished by David McMillan’s ruthless finishing. Rovers will feel that it was a double that got away from them.

They had gone 21 games in the league and cup in 2020 without a loss only to come undone in their final game of the season.

Europa League

They might have only played two games in Europe this season but what matches they were. With COVID-19 forcing the games behind-closed-doors and to be one legged ties, Rovers overcame Ilves Tampere in dramatic fashion.

They twice came from behind against the Finns to take the game to extra-time before winning a penalty shootout that went for 26 spotkicks.

On eight occasions a Hoops player took a penalty knowing if they missed, they would go out but having missed their first kick scored the next dozen in a row with Alan Mannus’ save setting up Joey O’Brien to win the shootout with his second spot kick.

Italian heavyweights AC Milan came to Tallaght in the next round and they needed Gianluigi Donnarumma to pull off a hat-trick of fine saves to keep Rovers at bay. The Hoops were not overawed by their opponents or indeed didn’t deviate from the passing game plan.

Ultimately the quality of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Hakan Calhanoglu were the difference on the day as the Rossoneri won 2-0 – that still stand as Rovers’ only home defeat in over 500 days.

What they need to improve on for next year:

Will be hard to improve in the league next season as this year they went unbeaten. A return to the cup final and going one better than this year would be an improvement.

Europe will be critical focus next season as Rovers enter the Champions League qualifiers and will have the benefit of the champions route through the Europa League if they end up there, with the group stages a realistic target.

    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