Season Preview 2024: Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers will play in an expanded Tallaght Stadium in 2024 with a capacity over 10,000

Shamrock Rovers will play in an expanded Tallaght Stadium in 2024 with a capacity over 10,000 Credit: Conor Ryan (ETPhotos)

Head Coach: Stephen Bradley   

Stadium: Tallaght Stadium

Players in: Darragh Burns (MK Dons - loan), Trevor Clarke (Bristol Rovers), Josh Honohan (Cork City), Johnny Kenny (Celtic – loan extension), Aaron McEneff (Perth Glory - loan and then permanently at end of 2024), Markus Poom (Flora Tallinn – loan extension), Lee Steacy (Cobh Ramblers).

Players out: Liam Burt (Shelbourne – loan), Kieran Cruise (Bray Wanderers), Ronan Finn (UCD), Sean Gannon (Shelbourne), Carl Lennox (Wexford - loan), Alan Mannus (Retired), Simon Power (Sligo Rovers), Naj Razi (Como), Freddie Turley (Bray Wanderers - loan).

extratime.com key player: Rory Gaffney

Stephen Bradley’s side have never been reliant on a number nine to score them the goals to win the title. Looking back across their four-in-a-row success, the Hoops top scorers have been Graham Burke (2020 – 8), Danny Mandroiu (2021 – 15), Rory Gaffney (2022 – 10) and Graham Burke (2023 – 12).

The goals in league winning seasons have been spread across the wealth of attacking talent in Tallaght and with Aaron McEneff returning to Rovers, Jack Byrne re-signing, Darragh Burns coming in on loan and the Hoops starting the campaign with both wingbacks Trevor Clarke and Neil Farrugia fit, Rovers are well placed for goals to come across all their multitude of offensive players.

Having said all that Rory Gaffney is a crucial player for Rovers. The talk with Galway United back in the top flight was that the Comer brothers would push out the boat and bring Gaffney to Eamon Deacy Park – an easier commute than to Tallaght from his base in Tuam.

However, the challenge of helping the Hoops to five-in-a-row has seen him extend his time with the Rovers.



He provides a focal point for that Hoops attack.

His physicality allows him to hold the ball up. He has the pace to run onto passes over the top and his goals have been crucial over the last three league campaigns with 28 goals in total (after a first campaign in 2020 when fitness meant he made just one start).

The player turns 35 in the final few weeks of the season and so he is not a striker who can start three games across a Friday – Monday – Friday game week. In the league last year he did make 25 starts and eight appearances off the bench.

Johnny Kenny has extended his loan at Rovers this year and is the man that Rovers will rely on when Gaffney is unavailable or rested.

extratime.com one to watch: Darragh Burns

Last season Stephen Bradley had three players in his squad signed on season long loans and that trio will return again this year – Markus Poom and Johnny Kenny have extended their loan deals, while Trevor Clarke’s loan has turned into a permanent one.



This year Bradley has brought Darragh Burns in as his only new season long loan signing - Aaron McEneff's loan from Perth Glory becomes permanent at the end of the year.

The 21-year-old is a player Bradley had looked to bring to Tallaght permanently prior to his move to MK Dons. Burns will burnish Rovers with additional penetrating attacking options, providing chances no doubt for Rory Gaffney in particular.

In his last year in the League of Ireland back in 2022, Wyscout noted Burns as the player topping the dribbles charts (9.1 per 90 mins) with the second highest dribble completion rate in the Premier Division.

As a St. Patrick’s Athletic player then, he had the third most crosses per 90 mins, again with the second highest percentage complete. He also had the third highest progressive runs (3.12 per 90) behind Neil Farrugia who topped that chart two years ago with 4.7.

How they did last season:

League: Champions

They had a terrible start to the season, with five points from their opening six games their worst for two decades.

It meant when Rovers finally won their first game of the season – a 4-0 away victory in their seventh game – their supporters were singing somewhat tongue in cheek that “we are staying up” rather than about any fortcoming four-in-a-row.

But Bradley’s boys got their act together and Rovers resurrected their title hopes by going on a run of nine wins and a draw to pull them clear of the pack.  

Their only other sticky patch in the season came in July – when they failed to win a game but they only had only league match that month - drawing 0-0 in Drogheda.

They always had a margin over their chasers who at different times were Derry City and St. Patrick’s Athletic but their rivals were never able to exploit the few opportunities that did arise when Rovers dropped points.

When the Hoops could only draw with UCD late in the season, Derry lost in Sligo that same night and Pat’s, when six points back, lost their game in hand to Drogheda United failing to put pressure on the Bradley’s boys.

In the end the Hoops secured their record equalling fourth league title in a row with a 2-0 win in Inchicore in their third last game of the season.

Their title winning margin of seven points was the fewest in the four-in-row (2020 - 9, 2021 - 16 and 2022 - 13) not that any Hoops fans were complaining about that or their tally of 72 points being the fewest for the champions for a full 30+ game campaign in a decade.

The table doesn’t lie as they finished top while also scoring the most goals and keeping 20 clean sheets (three more than 2022) across the 36 league games.

FAI Cup: First Round

The previous Shamrock Rovers side to win four-in-a-row also secured three doubles in the 1980s and so there is a disappointment that Rovers missed out once again on cup success last year.

In 2019 the FAI Cup win over Dundalk was a crucial stepping stone in the development of this historic Hoops side winning four consecutive league titles but that cup win burnished league success but not any cup dominance.

With Rovers drawn away to Dundalk in the first round of the cup last summer right between their European ties, it wasn’t the best time to travel up the M1 to take on the Lilywhites on their plastic pitch.

Dundalk took the lead in the 23rd minute but were reduced to ten men less than ten minutes later. The Hoops couldn’t exploit their man advantage as they fell at the very first hurdle of the FAI Cup.

Europe: Champions League First Qualifying Round and Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round

There is no dressing it up but it was a deeply disappointing European campaign, particularly after a very successful run the previous year (when they made the group stages of the Europa Conference League and drew two group games).

They went in 2022 from 14 matches in Europe, earning €4m and playing at home in front of 45,118 spectators, in 2023 to playing and losing all four European matches, earning the minimum €0.81m and having less than 11,000 come through the gates for their two home games in Tallaght.

They were dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers by the part-time Icelandic champions – although Breidablik did go on to make the Europa Conference League group stages.

The Hoops were unlucky in the next round that they were drawn out of the hat against Ferencvaros after the Hungarian champions had been sensationally dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers by Faroe Island side KI Klaksvik.

Rovers were taken apart 4-0 in Budapest for the second year running and lost 2-0 in Tallaght in the second leg.

What to expect this season:

Can any of Rovers’ opponents press them at the top of the table right till the end of the season? St. Patrick’s Athletic and Derry City have been active in the transfer market but are arguably not any stronger than last season.

The Hoops have had a good transfer window and their squad has the quality to make it five-in-a-row. You have to expect the Hoops won’t have to wait till their seventh league game to win their first match of the season like in 2023.

While they have lost their influential captain Ronan Finn to UCD, he was a player who only started 13 league games last season.

The best ever goalkeeper the club has ever had has retired but Leon Pohls was impressive when he was called into action in 2023 when Alan Mannus missed the middle of the season due to a nasty hand injury.

The German goalkeeper kept nine clean sheets in 14 league games.

There was an expectation that Naj Razi would get a lot more game time in 2024 than his six appearances in all competitions last year (with five off the bench) but the €450,000 transfer of the 17-year-old to Serie B side Como (with add ons that would double that amount) does represent good business.

The Hoops will be looking to go much deeper in Europe – crucial to that is their seeding in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. Win that first tie and it guarantees another three rounds, bringing the minimum prize money over the one million euro mark.

First game: The Hoops host St. Patrick’s Athletic in the President’s Cup this Friday in the season curtain raiser before beginning their title defence in Tallaght Stadium against Dundalk the following week.

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