Stephen Bradley: ‘I think a lot of credit is owed to people in the FAI’

Stephen Bradley after Rovers' FAI Cup win in 2019

Stephen Bradley Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)

Shamrock Rovers Head Coach Stephen Bradley says that the FAI and the League of Ireland have led the way with working through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Hoops boss was speaking after the announcement that Bank of Ireland has signed on as Associate Sponsor of the League of Ireland and he made his thoughts known on the handling of the pandemic in Irish football. 

“I think a lot of credit is owed to people in the FAI for working really hard for coming up with a positive plan to play games,” he said, “A massive well done is also owed to the clubs for how they handled the situation last year.

Turning to the upcoming season, Bradley said the his players “had their time off after the final as planned” and the timing of the return of football is correct. 

“I think the league being delayed was the right decision. Honestly, I think it would have been crazy to start early. That was a really good decision. It gave people time to get ready and get squads together.

“The FAI and the League of Ireland have led the way in having a plan. They have taken this very seriously. They said what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. That is a real positive.”

The 2020 Premier Division champions will kick off the season in the curtain-raising President’s Cup Final in Tallaght Stadium against Dundalk on March 7th – Rovers’ first appearance in that match after last year’s final in Oriel Park was cancelled due to the weather.

The Hoops will enter this season without talismanic midfield duo Jack Byrne and Aaron McEneff. The pair have moved on to new ventures in Cyrus and Scotland respectively. Rovers had already brought players a number of high profile players into their squad.  

Irish U-21 international Danny Mandroiu has signed from Bohemians. Chris McCann, who has played in the Premier League and the MLS, has also been recruited. Sean Gannon and Sean Hoare have swapped Dundalk for Rovers. 

“Out of the main squad that played every week last season, we lost five and brought in four. If we can add one more, the right one, we will look to do so. We’re not in any rush. I’m pretty happy with the group.



“Integration within the squad is going quite well. Sean Gannon and Sean Hoare would know a lot of players already in the squad over playing in the league for so long. Danny has been excellent. He knew some of the lads from the U-21s.

"Chris has only come in recently. When he came over from the UK he had to do fourteen days of self-isolation. He’s only been with us the last week. But again, everyone has been fine”

“We’re back training out-doors with social distancing. It’s been going well and we got tested last week. Everyone was negative. We got tested again yesterday and everyone was again negative. So far so good now.”

    About Dylan O'Connell

    Dylan is a freelance journalist based in Cork. He joined Extratime in 2016 and he covers games all across Ireland. His bylines include The Echo, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, The 42, RTÉ Sport, and Irish … View Full Profile