Success in 2022 - Silverware, stability or succession?

As we enter a new year and a new League of Ireland season ahead, it’s a time for looking to the future full of hopes and dreams for the 2022 campaign.

What does success look like for your club? For supporters of Shamrock Rovers it’s likely that some wins in Europe are on the wishlist as well as the league trophy, Derry City supporters will be looking for their side to mount a strong league challenge and give a good account of themselves in European competition, a view shared by fans of St Patrick’s Athletic too, no doubt.

Shelbourne have made some astute signings with the arrivals of experienced combative midfielders Mark Coyle and Aodh Dervin and the goals of Sean Boyd and Dan Hawkins should mean midtable security is a successful season for Damien Duff’s  maiden senior managerial campaign.

Followers of UCD and Finn Harps will be seeking to push clear of the relegation zone while both Dundalk and Bohemians supporters may be hoping that the losses of key players won’t scupper a season scrapping for European spots.

Some of Drogheda United’s success may be measured in whether or not they can keep prized trio David Odumosu, James Brown and Killian Philips and if not, whether their possible replacements can steer Kevin Doherty and Daire Doyle's Drogs clear of relegation.

In the First Division, the Galway United faithful will be expecting nothing less than promotion, while Wexford fans, buoyed by seasoned arrivals, will be looking for a play off place to replace this year’s basement finish.

Longford Town, Cobh Ramblers and Bray/Cabinteely have seen plenty of movement over the transfer window so it’s only when the final squads are announced that fan expectations can be accurately formed.

Town have signed a number of ex Seagulls with the recruitment of Darren Craven, Daniel Jones, Ryan Graydon and Dylan Barnett while the Seagulls signed ex Longford striker Rob Manley and a large number of former Cabinteely players including the return of goalkeeper Stephen McGuinness from Bohemians to replace the departed Brian Maher.

For their part, Cobh's 2022 recruits have so far focused on the re-signings of 2021 squad members with the exception of the capture of Beineon O'Brien Whitmarsh from Cork City and the promotion of Fionn Duggan, Justin Eguiabor and Alex Hill to senior contracts.

However, it is likely that all three sides still have a number of signings left to announce at this time and, as such, a play off place can be considered a relatively successful campaign. Similarly, given the fact that Waterford and Athlone have also yet to reveal the vast majority of their squads, hopes and dreams for Blues and Town fans are skeletal at best for the moment.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed an absence of a number of teams from the above predictions and there is a deliberate reason for this. Expectations at some of these clubs are a little different- three clubs without a benefactor and with a rich tradition of promoting underage players to their senior ranks, what does success look like there?

While other clubs, such as St Patrick's Athletic, Bray Wanderers, Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers can rightly claim to have an academy which is producing players for the first team, recently many of those players have departed the club before getting a chance to fully establish themselves over a number of seasons in the first team- Nzingo, Moran, Furlong, Bazunu, Armtrong, Tierney, Zefi, Ferguson etc chose to develop their careers abroad.

For their part, St Patrick's Athletic with the likes of James Abankwah, Jamie Lennon, Ben McCormack and Darragh Burns playing key roles in the Inchicore side's success in 2021, will be looking to kick on further in 2022 with future promotions to the senior side, Bray Wanderers will be looking to the goals of Darragh Lynch, Bohemians the creativity of Dawson Devoy while Aidomo Emakhu will seek to claim a regular starting place with Stephen Bradley's Shamrock Rovers.

Sligo Rovers, Treaty United and Cork City all completed the 2021 campaign with a number of former or current Academy players in their ranks and we’ll now take a look at what success may look like for their supporters in 2022. 

We’ll start in the Premier Division with Sligo Rovers, no doubt there was bitter disappointment at their tame exit from Europe last season and how their form faltered at times, leaving them in 3rd place at the end of a campaign in which they only suffered one defeat in their opening 14 league games.

However, taking a broader look at what is going on at the Showgrounds and the 2021 season was full of positives,one of which being that their Academy continues to be one of the most productive in the league.

Last season saw the Bit O’Red backboned by four graduates from their underage ranks, in the form of Republic of Ireland Under 21 team mates Ed McGinty and Niall Morahan as well as Under 19 prodigy Johnny Kenny and centre half colossus John Mahon.

Last season too saw Cillian Heaney, Scott Lynch, Darren Collins and Mark Byrne also involved with the first team squad with promising goalkeeper Conor Walsh named in the European squad and, according to reports, has been scouted by cross channel clubs in advance of a possible move. In an opposite move, ex Academy product Seamas Keogh returned to the Showgrounds following a spell at Southampton.

Throughout the league too, there are former Sligo Rovers Academy products lighting up grounds around the country.

International Under 21 winger Liam Kerrigan was one of UCD’s brightest players in last season’s promotion push and has been hotly tipped for a move in the coming months - the Tubercurry native was with Rovers until his scholarship move to UCD- while Westport’s Paul Doyle was with Sligo Rovers Under 19s in 2014 before also moving to Belfield.

He has subsequently transferred to Dundalk ahead of the 2022 campaign. Donegal native Jack Keaney was another former Bit O’Red to achieve promotion with Andy Myler’s Students in 2021.

For Sligo Rovers fans, this season they can hope to see the senior team challenging for honours once more, while also looking forward to seeing another couple of underage stars shine in the first team. 

At the opposite end of the spectrum lies Treaty United- last season it is fair to say that they wildly exceeded any expectations of a team formed very shortly before the league kicked off. As an amateur outfit they needed to recruit local players and the vast majority of their squad came from the Limerick and Clare areas with a number of Munstermen thrown in.

In terms of their 2021 Academy, as a new entity they had very little to play with to support the senior side.

However, under the tutelage of Declan Farmer- a man involved in the development of Limerickmen Ronan Coughlan and Tadhg Ryan amongst others- Treaty Under 19s reached the semi finals of the prestigious Enda McGuill Cup Final. They were defeated 1-0 with the final kick of the game in the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium by eventual winners Derry City.

From that squad Josh Quinlivan and Sean Oyibo were involved in Tommy Barrett’s senior squad throughout the season with Callum McNamara playing a regular role, involved in 24 matchday squads.

With  current Treaty players such as Sean McSweeney, William Armshaw and club skipper Jack Lynch all part of underage teams with Limerick FC, similar to Shamrock Rovers’ Barry Cotter and recent Sligo Rovers signings Will Fitzgerald and Karl O’Sullivan, the area has a proven tradition of producing players for the League of Ireland and the hope for Treaty United supporters in 2022 is that Barrett and Farmer can unearth a few more and possibly reach the play offs once again.

Finally, we come to Cork City for whom supporters on Leeside may not be sure what to expect and hope for the season ahead. Unlike the team under John Caulfield- now at promotion chasing Galway United- for Colin Healy success this year will not be measured in silverware.

The league winning side of 2017 have dispersed and with the retirement of stalwart Gearoid Morrissey, Mark McNulty and the returning Kevin O’Connor remain the only players from that squad actively involved in the first team shakeup for 2022. 

Much like the 2021 campaign, Healy will be relying on Academy graduates for the 2022 season with the likes of Josh Honohan, Cian Murphy, Alec Byrne, Cian Bargary and Darragh Crowley benefitting from the experience they gained last season.

Big things too are expected from Cathal Heffernan, however much like Kenny at Sligo Rovers he may be at pastures new before becoming established as a fan favourite at Turners’ Cross. This is a path trodden previously by former Under 19 stars Chiedoze Ogbene and Aaron Drinan who both starred in the UEFA Youth League for City in 2016 before ending up playing professionally in England.

While some Leeside supporters may be wistful at the prospect of having such a youthful squad in comparison to the experience of the 2017 edition, it is worth remembering that Academy products Conor McCarthy and Sean McLoughlin are both operating in the professional ranks at St Mirren and Hull City respectively, following their breakthroughs during the title winning season.

While the First Division trophy may be a somewhat aspirational measure of success in 2022, for Cork City supporters the further development of Academy products and a play off place may be considered a relatively successful campaign. 

Success- is it measured in silverware, succession or stability? Depending on who you support, the answer could be one, two or all three!

Craig Sexton: ‘Ultimately I am here to develop everyone at the football club wherever I can; structures, coach development and player development.’ https://t.co/vs4bb9suhQpic.twitter.com/RnXWRKPrlD

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) December 30, 2021