Bohemians appoint Pat Fenlon as Director of Football: 'It is a really exciting time to be getting back involved with Bohs'

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Bohs made a non-player announcement today but it did not relate to a new jersey or a community project but instead was the welcome announcement of the return to the club of Pat Fenlon in a new capacity as the club’s Director of Football.

Fenlon is both a former player and manager at Dalymount Park and in both spells he was involved with teams that won trophies. He played in the FAI Cup winning team of 1992 and then managed the club to back to back titles in 2008 and 2009.

He left the club in 2011 to take up the manager’s position at Hibernian in Scotland at a time when Bohs were in financial difficulty. He subsequently managed Shamrock Rovers and acted as Director of Football at Waterford before becoming general manager at Linfield.

Now he has made the decision to return to much more sustainable club then the one he departed over a decade ago.

He expressed his ambitions for this new spell with Bohs when he spoke to the club’s media team on Monday.

“I am absolutely delighted to be returning to the club and I am really looking forward to the challenge ahead,” said Fenlon. “I have some really special memories from my previous spells at the club and I want to help make new ones.

“It is a really exciting time to be getting back involved with Bohs. There has been a lot of good work done rebuilding the club over the last decade and you can see how much the club has grown in several areas in recent years.

“I feel the foundations are strong, there is a great atmosphere and affiliation around the club, and I believe that we have an opportunity to build on all of that, be stronger again, and bring further success to the club.

“It will be my job to oversee the football operations of the club alongside the board of directors to help get Bohs where we all want to be. I am looking forward to working closely with the board, Declan Devine and the men’s team, Seán Byrne and all involved with the women’s set-up, with Craig Sexton and the academy and youth sections.

"Everyone is pulling together to try to push the club on as much as we can and as sustainably as we can, and I can’t wait to be a part of that.”



Bohs president manager Matt Devaney thinks that the appointment is another sign of the clubs progress and professionalism.

"With the move to full-time training for the men's first team, the growth of the academy and continued investment in our women’s team, it makes sense to have a football person overseeing those operations”, said Devaney.

“In Pat, we believe we have the ideal candidate with a wealth of experience for the role and we are delighted he has agreed to come on board.”

About Paul Walsh

Paul Walsh is a contributor to Bohemians' matchday programme and first wrote for Extratime.ie in 2011 View Full Profile