Shamrock Rovers' detailed report card for 2024

Top Scorer: Johnny Kenny (13 league goals and 20 in all competitions)

Highest Attendance: 10,094 (3-1 win over Bohs on Friday 29 March - the largest League of Ireland attendance this century)

Lowest Attendance: 3,017 (1-1 v Galway United on Sunday 25 August)

Average Attendance: 6,071

Star Player:                 Dylan Watts

Dylan Watts was superb all year but sublime in the latter part of the season. His role was even more important with the absence of Jack Byrne for Rovers for much of the year. 

As early as April, his manager Stephen Bradley was singing his praises saying “Dylan has been brilliant. I don’t think some of the stuff he’s doing is getting the plaudits and respect it should. He’s shown real maturity this year. He’s been so consistent in his performance. Some of his play, some of his passing has been a joy to watch.”

In a year when Watts passed the 200 appearance mark for the Hoops, he scored seven goals, with six of them coming in a crucial ten game run in a seven week spell starting in late September.

Those goals included four match winners - 1-0 away victories against Drogheda United and Dundalk, home wins against Waterford (1-0) and the 2-1 victory over TNS in Europe - and an injury time equaliser against APOEL in the league phase of the Conference League – a goal that earned the club €133,000.

Looking at the Wyscout stats for the Premier Division, Watts was third in the league with assists (six) and only Chris Forrester (1,612) had more passes than Watts (1,604) of a non-defensive player. He was top for through passes, second in key passes, third for passes into the final third and fourth for deep completions.

☘️ Dylan Watts in the 92nd minute 😱#UECL | @ShamrockRoverspic.twitter.com/CqzhIC36KC

— UEFA Conference League (@Conf_League) October 9, 2024

Best Young Player:      Johnny Kenny

Kenny was excellent domestically but a sensation in Europe. The striker, on loan from Celtic, scored 13 in the league, just one off the league’s joint top goalscorers Pat Hoban and Padraig Amond.

However, Kenny’s goals per minutes ratio was higher (0.63 per 90 minutes compared with Hoban’s 0.49 and Amond’s 0.36) and he didn’t take a penalty (Hoban scored three spot kicks and Amond two). 

In Europe he scored seven times with two goals in the Champions League qualifiers and five in the league phase of the Conference League (where he finished second top scorer). 

Those goals moved him in one single campaign to the position of joint fifth highest goalscorer in League of Ireland history in Europe. 

He scored 20 goals in all competitions becoming the first Rovers player to hit that landmark since Gary Twigg scored 24 in 2012.

Best New Signing:      Josh Honohan

Honohan was a super signing by Stephen Bradley, one that surprised most Shamrock Rovers fans having come from a relegated Cork City side but he proved a vital addition at the back for Rovers. 

His versatility enabled him to play all across the back five but he excelled at wing back. He played in all bar one of Rovers’ league matches and started all the games for the Hoops in Europe (bar in Tallaght against PAOK due to suspension).

They were standout performances in his debut season in Europe which have caught the eye of clubs outside of Ireland but Rovers have him signed to a long term deal.

What we expected they would do in the league:

The extratime.com team predicted that Rovers would remain champions (see here) but they came up two points short of Damien Duff’s Shelbourne.

What they actually did:

SSE Airtricity League Premier Division

Rovers really couldn’t have come much closer to winning the league as they were top of the table with six minutes of their final match of the season remaining, only for Shels to get a late winner in Derry to secure the Reds the title.

The league campaign for the Hoops wasn’t as slow a start as the previous season when it took them six games to win their first match. However Rovers went winless in their opening four league games.

They started with a 1-1 draw against a Dundalk side who would end up being relegated. It was a match the Hoops would lose Neil Farrugia to a dislocated shoulder with the player not returning to the pitch from his operation until the start of May. 

Next the Hoops played Shelbourne in Tolka Park - going down to a 2-1 defeat – their first league loss against any team since June 2023. It was also the first league defeat for Rovers’ first team to a Shels side since 2005.

The standout performance and result for Rovers of the season was probably the 3-1 win over Derry City in the Ryan McBride Brandywell in mid-April with Dylan Watts central to the Hoops’ best play on the evening.

Watts said: “I thought it was a brilliant win. It is probably one of if not the toughest away games of the year. It is a tough pitch and they are a good team. To come away with the result that we did is very convincing and we were fully justified in taking the three points.” 

The game in Derry saw Gary O’Neill pick up an injury that would rule him out for three and a half months as the injuries began to mount for the Hoops. Those missing players would be a main reason for Rovers earning just the one win in the next seven matches. 

In the 1-1 home draw against Galway United team at the end of April, the Hoops had nine outfield players missing due to injury (Jack Byrne, Aaron McEneff, Neil Farrugia, Sean Hoare, Lee Grace, Graham Burke, Markus Poom, Gary O’Neill and Richie Towell) and one due to suspension (Dan Cleary). 

In the first week of May, Rovers lost their first league match at home in nearly 12 months when Keith Long’s Waterford won 3-1 (their first ever win in Tallaght over Rovers’ first team).

The following Friday night things didn’t go to plan in Dundalk in terms of the result as they conceded a 91st minute goal to lose to the Lilywhites but also the travelling from Tallaght to Oriel Park.

A serious accident shut the M50 motorway down on Friday morning, with knock-on effects lasting into the early evening with events meaning the match kick-off time was changed twice - first to 8pm and then a further 15 minutes to 8.15pm.

Graham Burke: “People were still stuck in Drimnagh and Crumlin at half five. We moved on up to Oriel Park and then we found out that our kitman was still stuck in Crumlin and there was no kit. It arrived about 7.40pm. So we changed, got out and had a quick warm up and then straight in to play.”

When Rovers lost to St. Patrick’s Athletic and Sligo Rovers in back-to-back matches, it meant they went into July looking too far off the pace to mount a title challenge. With 15 league games left to play, the Hoops were a dozen points behind league leaders Shelbourne and ten behind Derry City – with a game in hand on the Reds and two on the Candystripes.

In mid-August, Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw by then bottom side Drogheda United leaving the Hoops eight points off second placed Derry City (with two games in hand) and ten points behind Shels (with one game in hand).

That month more points were dropped with two 1-1 draws in Tallaght against Drogheda United and Galway United.

The Coldplay early Sunday morning kick-off in Dalymount Park at the start of September saw the Hoops lose 2-1 and at that stage most had written off Rovers’ title chances 14 points behind the league leaders, albeit with two games in hand.

They sat in sixth place four points off third spot. However, they wouldn’t lose another league game away from home from this point on (taking ten points from the dozen on offer in Tallaght). They won their next two games – 4-0 at home to Sligo Rovers and 2-1 away to Galway United (who hadn’t lost at home since April).

A crucial refereeing call would cost Rovers next in Derry. It looked like the Hoops would win 1-0 in the Brandywell only for Michael Duffy to earn a controversial penalty to salvage a point for the Candystripes. 

Graham Burke grabbed the only goal of the game when Bohs came to Tallaght to make it five seasons since the Gypsies won a game in Tallaght. Rovers' derby record at home against Bohs is now nine wins and a draw in an unbeaten run of ten matches.

At the end of September, Rovers lost 3-0 at home to Pat’s but still remained in the title race. Significantly they beat Shels next as the Hoops won their last four matches to pile pressure on the Reds. Rovers did what the did on the final night winning 2-1 in Tallaght against Waterford. 

However, Shels won their final three games of the season, including crucially late on in Derry on the final night of the campaign to secure their first league title since 2006 by two points to prevent Rovers from winning five in a row.

FAI Cup

The 2019 FAI Cup win was the springboard for this Rovers side’s league success but the Hoops haven’t added to the club’s record breaking 25 cups in the last five years.

For the second season running they were eliminated 1-0 away from home at the very first hurdle. In 2023, they were defeated by Dundalk and it was a painful 1-0 loss this time around to Bohemians. 

Europe

Having had a complete failure in Europe in 2023, losing all four matches, the Hoops had their best ever European campaign making the league phase of the Conference League and beyond with a knockout phase playoff to come in February. Their exploits will earn them over €7m in prize money.

The campaign began in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, when there was the dramatic conclusion to the second leg in Tallaght. Icelandic champions Vikingur were awarded a penalty in injury time with the chance to take the game into extra-time against ten man Rovers.

A hush fell over the stadium as Nikola Hansen ran up to take the penalty and that was followed by an incredible noise from the crowd after the ball pinged back off the post to safety with what was the last kick of the game to allow Rovers to progress.

The whistles. The silence. The roar. 💚 pic.twitter.com/9ciAiB95SM

— Conor (@srfconor) July 19, 2024

Memorably when qualification for league phase football was secured with the 3-1 home win over Celje, Stephen Bradley led his playing squad into the South Stand to celebrate amongst the supporters. 

Rovers went unbeaten in the first five games in the league phase of the Conference League which began with a 1-1 draw with APOEL in Tallaght, followed by the Hoops blasting by Larne 4-1 in Belfast – the first ever away win for a League of Ireland side in a group / league stage game.

That victory over the Irish League champions was only Rovers’ tenth ever win away from home in Europe (but the fourth such victory under Hoops Head Coach Stephen Bradley).

The Hoops had a 2-1 home win over TNS before an excellent 1-1 draw against Rapid in Vienna secured them qualification for the next phase with two games to spare. They beat Borac Banja Luka 3-0  at home before their trip to Stamford Bridge where they lost 5-1 to Chelsea.

They play Norwegian side Molde in February’s two-legged knockout phase play-off.

Our 2024 Pictures of the Year have arrived! 😍

A super picture from @LaszloGeczo taken in the early stages of @ShamrockRovers current European adventure as head coach Stephen Bradley celebrated with fans after the victory over Celje in August! pic.twitter.com/RfFcWSILwq

— Inpho Photography (@Inphosports) December 18, 2024

What they need to improve on for next year:

Rovers have had slow starts in recent seasons and won’t want to do so again in 2025 especially as their first game of the season is the Conference League knockout phase play-off away to Molde before their first league match away to Bohemians in the Aviva Stadium three days later.

It was only at the end of 2024 that they managed to put a decent run of results in the league – they won seven, drew one and lost just one of their last nine Premier Division matches.

If they are to win their fifth title in six seasons, they will want to show that sort of form more consistently next season.

Picking up more points in the Dublin derbies will also be a target as they only took four points of Shels and just the one off Pats – although against Bohs they did earn seven points from the dozen on offer.