Meath flavour for opening night League of Ireland action

For fans of the League of Ireland this weekend is what they have been waiting for since the action officially finished over three months ago on Friday 26th October 2018.

The new Premier League season will kick-off next Friday night with all the teams in action and there is a good sprinkling of Meath involvement at four of the 10 clubs.

This weekend the Premier League will see action at venues in Dublin (Dalymount Park and Richmond Park) and also at the RSC in Waterford, the Brandywell in Derry and the one that has most Meath interest will see double winners Dundalk begin the post-Stephen Kenny era at Oriel Park.

Dundalk will be bidding to retain the Premier League title and the FAI Cup after they completed a superb double last season at the expense of great rivals Cork City who took the runner-up position in both competitions.

Dundalk defeated Cork City (2-1) in the traditional start-of-season President's Cup final on Saturday evening at Turner's Cross despite losing some of last season's panel, most notably manager Stephen Kenny.

Also departed are Karolis Chvedukas who joined Waterford last week while Georgie Poynton has moved to St Pat's, Dylan Connolly (AFC Wimbledon) and Ronan Murray (Sligo Rovers).

Dundalk have signed some new players also including Sean Murray from Velje BK (Denmark) and Jordan Flores from Wigan Ath.
This Friday night offers the large number of soccer enthusiasts in Meath an opportunity to take in a live game at Dalymount (Bohemians v Finn Harps), Richmond Park (St Patrick's Ath v Cork City) or Oriel Park (Dundalk v Sligo Rovers) - there will be Meath players in action at each venue.

Current double champions Dundalk have set the standard after a couple of years in the doldrums when they actually slumped to the depths of the First Division.

Former manager Kenny presided over the most recent spell of success at Oriel Park and will be the next Republic of Ireland manager after he was recruited by the FAI last November starting with the u-21 international team.

Then there is the man from Bohermeen - Gary Rogers - who has had a lengthy career in the League of Ireland and is now about to start his fifth season with the Co Louth club and his 19th in the League of Ireland.

Last season he clocked up his 500th League of Ireland appearance in March against Waterford - can he get to 600 by 2020?

That tally of 500 involved a number of clubs - St Francis, Shelbourne, Bray Wanderers, Dublin City, Drogheda Utd, Galway Utd, St Patrick's Ath, Sligo Rovers and now Dundalk.

A fine achievement by any standard and along the way he was on the fringe of a senior international appearance with Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland in 2018.

Graduates from the League of Ireland to the senior international team include Seamus Coleman (Everton / Sligo Rovers), James McClean (Stoke City / Derry City), Shane Long (Southampton / Cork City) .

Then there is the recent sensation, Newport County's Padraig Amond, a former Carlow hurler, who will be facing the might of Man City in the FA Cup.

Amond started in the League of Ireland with three seasons at Shamrock Rovers and a loan spell at Kildare County before joining Sligo Rovers. He then moved to Portugal to join Paços de Ferreira, but returned to England and had spells with Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, Grimsby Town, Hartlepool and now Newport County. 

Don't say you won't be rooting for him to find the net again this weekend when the City slickers arrive in south Wales - you just might not have known he is a former League of Ireland player?

And yet there is a scepticism about venturing inside the gates of a League of Ireland ground.

It's a scepticism that's totally unjustified because what you will get at the majority of League of Ireland games is honest endeavour from the players on the pitch and plenty of entertainment that only live football game can provide.

You could go to a stadium this Friday night and watch young players like James Finnerty from Skryne who has returned to these shores after a spell at Aston Villa. He could make an appearance for Bohs at Dalymount against Donegal side Finn Harps.

Up the road in Inchicore you can watch Kevin Toner from Ashbourne who arrived at Richmond Park last season via Aston Villa and loan spells at Kidderminster Harriers, Walsall, Bradford City and Stevenage.

 

Another Meath man - Georgie Poynton from Bettystown is an exciting young player and he will be aiming to get on the scoresheet for St Pat's against Cork City.

And if you want to make a slightly longer journey you could opt for the action at Oriel Park where there is a big Meath contingent.
Apart from Rogers there is Jamie McGrath and Dylan Hand from Athboy, Cian Lee and Dominic Peppard from Trim and Ross Treacy from Navan. 

Rogers and McGrath are likely to start against Sligo Rovers, a team that Dundalk thrashed 5-0 in their last home game in October 
2018 on a night when they were presented with the trophy. 

If you want to see goals that might be the place to go as new manager Vinny Perth begins his tenure in charge of a team that has serious ambitions of making the knock-out phase of the 2019 / 2020 Champions League.

Another Meath man will make his debut for Derry City on Friday night when they host his former club UCD. 

Greg Sloggett from Gormanston was part of the UCD team that won the First Division title last season and he will be hoping to make an immediate impact when his former team visit the Bradywell.

One anomaly remains in the Premier fixture list due to the insistence by the legislators in scheduling Monday night games which make it almost impossible, outside of the Dublin clubs, for away supporters to travel. There are four rounds of Monday night fixtures in 2019.

TELEVISION
Champions Dundalk will entertain Liam Buckley's new-look Sligo Rovers live on RTE2. 
RTE's coverage of the league will be significantly enhanced in the 2019 season thanks to their new match-night highlights from every Premier Division match 

AIRTRICITY
Aine Plunkett, SSE Airtricity Lead Marketing Manager, said: 
"We’re proud to be Supporting Irish Football by sponsoring the League for the 10th year. Our brand new creative campaign ‘Light Up Your Nights’ celebrates all that is brilliant and outstanding about the league – the players, the fans, the clubs and the local communities.And as sponsors of the SSE Airtricity League, we are proud to be a part of it."

Nights of colour, passion and excitement. Where pre-match nerves are matched only by hotly debated post-match post-mortems. This is what the clubs in the SSE Airtricity League deliver for their fans, week in, week out.

FIXTURE FOCUS 
FRIDAY 15th FEBRUARY

SSE Airtricity League Premier Division (all 7.45pm)
Oriel Park - Dundalk v Sligo Rovers, Oriel Park Live on RTE2)
Dalymount Park - Bohemians v Finn Harps, Dalymount Park
Brandywell - Derry City v UCD, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium

Richmond Park - St. Patrick’s Athletic v Cork City, Richmond Park
RSC - Waterford v Shamrock Rovers, RSC

FIRST DIVISION

The First Division will kick-off a week later due to a three-round series of fixtures and again there is Meath involvement with three of the 10 clubs on both the playing and managerial front. 

There will be a focus on the First Division in next week's Meath Chronicle.