2021 Season Preview: Shamrock Rovers

Rovers will be looking to retain their title but will have to do so without Aaron McEneff and Jack Byrne (shown here holding the league trophy)

Rovers will be looking to retain their title but will have to do so without Aaron McEneff and Jack Byrne (shown here holding the league trophy) Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)

Head Coach: Stephen Bradley    

Stadium: Tallaght Stadium

Players in: Danny Mandroiu (Bohemians), Chris McCann (Oldham Athletic), Sean Hoare and Sean Gannon (both Dundalk), Darragh Nugent and Max Murphy (Shamrock Rovers II)     

Players out: Greg Bolger (Sligo Rovers), Jack Byrne (APOEL), Aaron McEneff (Hearts), Sean Callan (Bray Wanderers), Danny Lafferty (Derry City), Rhys Marshall (Glentoran), Thomas Oluwa (Bohemians), Brandon Kavanagh (Bray Wanderers - on loan)

Extratime.ie Key Man: Danny Mandroiu 

While Shamrock Rovers had expected to lose Jack Byrne for the new season, the additional transfer of Aaron McEneff to Hearts was more unexpected. The loss of such attacking creativity in midfield – the pair scored 16 goals between them in the 24 game 2020 season - will inevitably put more pressure on new signing Danny Mandroiu who was Rovers’ marque close-season signing.

The Ireland under-21 international won the PFAI Young Player of the Year Award in 2019 scoring 11 goals in 28 appearances. 

However last season he had limited game time starting just five league games with the Gypsies as he fell out of favour with Keith Long. If the player, who will wear squad number 14 this season, can show the form that he showed in 2019 for his new club, he will quickly become a fan favourite.

Extratime.ie One to Watch: Gary O’Neill



The Hoops have a wealth of talent in midfield but O’Neill plays a pivotal position in the middle of the park. Soon after signing from UCD in the 2019 summer window, he scored the winner in Rovers’ Europa League victory over SK Brann and he rounded off the season striking the winning spotkick in the 2019 FAI Cup Final.

With Greg Bolger injured for most of last season, O’Neill played the crucial defensive midfield role in front of Rovers’ back three but missed the final seven matches of the season due to injury including, crucially, the FAI Cup final defeat to Dundalk. Hoops fans will be happy to see a fit again O’Neill back in Stephen Bradley’s starting XI this month.

How they did last season:

League: Champions

The Hoops dominated the COVID-19 shortened 18 game season from start to finish. They went through the league campaign unbeaten winning the title with four matches to spare. They won 15 matches with the remaining three results all scoreless draws.

They conceded just seven goals in the Premier Division (the lowest in the history of the League of Ireland), keeping a remarkable 13 clean sheets. In the final 11 games of the league campaign, they let in one solitary goal.



Having finished runners up to Dundalk by 11 points in 2019, the Hoops turned that deficit into an 11 point league winning margin over second placed Bohs (with Dundalk a further 11 points behind the Gypsies).

Utterly dominant in the last campaign, the challenge this year will be to retain their title over a full 36 game season.

FAI Cup: Runners Up

Having taken 32 years to win the FAI Cup, while Rovers reached the final for the second successive year, they couldn’t retain the cup in 2020. They began their defence last year by beating Cork City 2-1 in Tallaght Stadium in the second round thanks to two Danny Lafferty goals.

Next they won a remarkable quarter-final in Finn Park. The Hoops trailed 2-0 to Finn Harps at half-time but were awarded three penalties in four minutes. Aaron McEneff missed the first one but scored the next two before Graham Burke scored the winner.

At home in the semi-final, the Hoops beat Sligo Rovers 2-0 to set up a final against Dundalk.

Rovers looked the better side in a highly entertaining match with Aaron Greene scoring the opener in the Aviva on 49 minutes with the game coming alive mid-way through the second half with Dundalk getting on top and keeping that momentum through into extra-time.

David McMillan equalised on 69 minutes and put them 2-1 up three minutes later before Roberto Lopes equalised on 74 minutes. Sean Hoare put Dundalk 3-2 up in extra-time before McMillan completed his hat-trick and inflict on Rovers their only domestic defeat of 2020.

Europe: Progressed to second round

COVID-19 impacted on Rovers’ European campaign with the Europa League qualifiers taking place as one-legged ties. The Hoops got a favourable home draw in the first qualifying round and overcame Finnish side Ilves Tampere in a record-breaking penalty shoot-out.

In 90 minutes, they twice came from behind 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. Alan Mannus’ save set 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.

What to expect this season:

The Hoops go into the new season favourites to win the league title. Having won the shortened league season with ease, the expectation in Tallaght is that they will retain that title.

Rovers edged Bohs out 1-0 in both of the derbies last year and are confident that over a full campaign Rovers they will have the stronger squad compared with last year’s runners up.

However, the defeat in the FAI Cup final shows the dangers that Dundalk can bring but that loss is likely to act as an extra incentive to Stephen Bradley’s side. This Friday’s President’s Cup between the sides will no doubt be used as a marker by the winners.

Rovers will play in their first Champions League campaign for nine seasons and so Europe will be a huge part of their season.

Entering via the Champions route, it widens the possibility for an extended European campaign and while the Champions League group stage would be a step to far, the Hoops will be targeting getting to the group stages in either the Europa League or the newly formed Europa Conference League. 

First game: The Hoops begin their title defence at home to St. Patrick’s Athletic on 19 March.

 

 

    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