Month: April 2024

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Shelbourne FC face a third game in seven days as a hectic week is rounded off by the visit of St Patrick’s Athletic to Tolka Park in the League of Ireland Premier Division (7:45pm, kick-off).

The Reds will be looking to return to winning ways having bounced back from successive defeats to take a hard fought and well-earned point on Monday night against Shamrock Rovers.

After modified training week to account for the match Monday, Reds boss Damien Duff spoke to ShelbourneFC.ie and began by giving an injury update:

“Shane Griffin is our only injury concern at the moment. Mark Coyle has trained fully today, which is a big boost for us. It’s his first game back, so naturally, we’re hoping he gets through it without any issues. He’s fit and well, ready to go. 

“Griff has been close, he was back in the squad for a game then he had a minor setback, calf injuries can be frustrating and if you don’t deal with them properly they can be a disaster. It’s just a little nick, but we need to be really careful not to push him too hard and risk a breakdown.

“Matty Smith is doing fine, he’s pain-free and moving well. He put in a good performance on Monday. He’s still getting back to his best, considering he effectively missed a year of football. But he’s looking well and progressing all the time.”

Much of the discourse has been dominated in the buildup to this game by the sending off of Shane Farrell last Monday night. The 23-year-old will miss tomorrow’s game through suspension. Duff is determined to help the attacker reach his full potential said:

“Shane is one of our own. This is his club. He needs us and we need him. I spoke to Shane, he apologised for getting sent off. That’s it done, we move on.

“Everything will be given to him on and off the pitch as always. I will continue to wait for Shane to get fit and show his wonderful ability.

“I will also continue to dedicate my life to Shane and the rest of the players. They are my family.”

A point against the Hoops sees the Reds remain top of the table ahead of the visit of the Saints. Duff feels as important as the result was a much-improved performance from the Reds.

“First and foremost, before you look for points, it’s always about performance. More often than not, when we get that performance, we get a win. It’s about playing with a real energy and edge. We had that on Monday. There will be dips, highs, and lows across a long season. When you get knocked down, experience a low, we acknowledge it and we get on with it. We still dropped 2 points, so it’s important we get back to our best and winning ways now tomorrow.”

St Pats won the FAI Cup in comprehensive fashion last season, sweeping Bohs aside in the showpiece decider at the Aviva Stadium. Duff knows they are a formidable side and believes nothing short of Shels best will do tomorrow night:

“St Pats have a lot of quality, they may not be happy with all their results, some of them have been mixed, but they’re a very dangerous team. They have brilliant players in every position and some of the biggest names in the league, whom we have the utmost respect for. I’m glad it’s a Dublin Derby; there’s nothing like these games, they really are big occasions and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Close to 5,000 people are expected at Tolka Park on Friday night, Duff reserved praise on Shels fan who persevered through the dark days, and commended them for the warm welcome shown to new fans:

“The big positive about this club since I’ve been here is everyone pulling in the same direction. That unity is important and it can’t change, whether it’s on the terraces, on the pitch, in the office. It was eye-catching to see people spilling out onto the new terrace on the Riverside; I thought it was amazing.

“For much of the last 20 years seats have been taken out of Tolka, it’s been made smaller. Now we’re doing the opposite, if you’d have told people two, three years ago, we’d be putting in standing room for an extra 1,000 people in the Riverside to cope with demand, would they believe you? I don’t think so. That was an incredible sight on Monday. The dream has to be to fill that whole stand, both Riverside 1 and 2, and then in the centre. Because when that’s done, there won’t be anything like it in Irish football.”

“Tomorrow night I know they’ll be behind us, but it works both ways; we need to give the fans something to lift them off their seats. A moment of skill ,a big tackle, after Farreller got sent off,  in the last 15 minutes, or so when Sean comes on and throws his body around, that’s what gets the fans enthused. Whatever it takes, as good as they’ve been, it’s a two-way street. We need to get them going, and we’ll feed off their energy.

Tickets

Tickets for the Reds upcoming clash are available here: https://shelbournefc.ie/tickets-2/

TV

Watch all the action on LOITV, coverage begins from 7:30pm with kick off at 7:45pm with commentary from Declan Drake and former Shels defender Dave Rogers.

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Shelbourne FC can confirm following the conclusion of a disciplinary process that the individual responsible for throwing an object at the official during the recent match at Weavers Park in Drogheda has been identified and issued with a lifetime ban from Tolka Park.

As a club, we uphold a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that endangers the safety of players, officials, and fellow supporters. 

In line with this commitment, and with increasingly severe sanctions for infractions being issued by the FAI’s Disciplinary Control Unit including away supporter bans, and the increasing likelihood of home stand closures at Tolka Park, full ground closures and possible points deductions if there are any further issues at our games.

Effective immediately, Shelbourne FC will enforce lifetime bans for individuals found:

  • Attempting to bring pyrotechnics into the ground.
  • Using pyrotechnics within Tolka Park or at away grounds.
  • Entering the pitch at any time.
  • Throwing any object onto the pitch.

The safety and security of everyone at Tolka Park is our primary concern. The club is committed to ensuring that everyone who attends our games has a safe, positive and enjoyable experience.

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The leaders Shelbourne make the trip west to face Galway United this Friday night in the League of Ireland Premier Division. 

Damien Duff has a fully fit squad to choose from as the Reds look to get back to winning ways after suffering a first defeat of the season last Friday night.

Goalkeeper Conor Kearns spoke to ShelbourneFC.ie after training on Thursday and he says the spirits in the squad are high:

“Spirits are still high despite last week’s disappointing result and performance. It’s a mark of a good team to address issues and move forward. 

“In a weird way I think this setback has given us extra motivation to set things right. This team as long as I’ve been here we have thrived on being hungry and having a point to prove. The last game has certainly shown that we have something to prove.”

Leaving Tolka last Friday night the parting words ringing in the player’s ears from the manager was to park the defeat over the weekend and bounce into training on Monday morning with energy and enthusiasm, something Kearns feels the players did:

“Yeah, when the manager lays down things as honestly as that, you have to take it on board. In the 24-36 hours after, you can let the results sting. Joey made a good point that some people may tell you not to let defeats bother you, but it should bother you. Let it for a day or two and then use it. It’s all about the reaction. We’ve had a great week of training and bounced into Monday, good days training then on Tuesday and today and we’re ready to go for Friday.”

John Caulfield’s Galway United begin the night in 8th place having taken 11 points from 9 games. Kearns feels his old side should have more points on the board and have been unlucky to come out on the wrong side of some tight results:

“They should have more points; even looking back at our game, 1-0 last month, they probably felt they could’ve come away with something. They’ve adapted to the Premier Division as well as any newly promoted team I’ve ever seen. Everyone knows the way they play— incredibly hard-working, they don’t give anything easily. We’re going to have to work hard. You need to be at your best to get a win there, we know that. We’ve shown we can win, but we’ve also learned that it’s not going to come easy.”

Reflecting on Shels first defeat of the season, Kearns said: “There were certain aspects that were good; we did dominate the ball for a long time. 

“With the progression of this team, we’ve moved past patting ourselves on the back if we play well but don’t pick up three points. Harsh lessons are learned in this league; that was true last Friday night, we handed the team in the lead and gave up a soft goal from our perspective. The important thing is that we learn from these lessons. We can’t afford soft moments; we have to be ruthless and relentless. While we showed quality at times, we need to bring it in greater abundance than last week.”

Shels will face into the game without any travelling support, having been sanctioned by the FAI for the actions of a single individual who threw an object onto the pitch, striking one of the match officials. Kearns says the lack of support will in no way diminish the duty they feel while representing the Reds:

“The supporter-player relationship has been vital; we feed off each other. They don’t cheer if they don’t have something to shout about. The people who put their hands in their pockets are still relying on us to make their Fridays enjoyable. 

“The fact that they can’t be there doesn’t change that, yeah the atmosphere will suffer, but the responsibility we feel remains. They’re still watching us, they’ll be at the bar in Tolka cheering us on, so it’s just as crucial to bring home three points now more than ever, as a debt of gratitude.

“We can’t be too fearful of not playing in front of our supporters. We hope that nothing like what we saw in Drogheda ever happens again in this league, but it’s not just Shels, it’s a league-wide issue. Unfortunately the last few weeks have shown us, anything can happen, closures, fan bans, it’s something we sadly have to deal with.”

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 In light of the current circumstances prohibiting our supporters from attending this Friday’s match against Galway United, Shelbourne FC is this evening launching a fundraiser where all proceeds will go directly to Galway United. 

Collective punishment for the conduct of the few impacts unfairly on the vast majority of Shelbourne FC supporters who abide by the rules and represent the club with pride in Tolka Park and all around Ireland.

It also disproportionately impacts Galway United and the local economy, who will be without the business of what would’ve been a packed away end at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night, with many supporters staying overnight too.

We invite all Shelbourne FC supporters and football fans across the League of Ireland to join us if they can and buy a €10 ticket for Friday. 100% of proceeds will go to Galway United.

Virtual Ticket Fundraiser:

Starting tonight, Shelbourne FC will be offering virtual tickets priced at €10 each. All proceeds from the sale of these virtual tickets will be donated to Galway United, these can be purchased here: https://shelbournefc.ie/tickets-2/ 

Raffle Prizes:

As a token of our appreciation for your support, each virtual ticket purchased will automatically enter you into a raffle with exciting prizes up for grabs, multiple ticket purchases will mean multiple entries to the raffle draw.

The prizes include:

  • A signed 2024 Shelbourne FC jersey.
  • A 2025 season ticket for Tolka Park, ensuring you don’t miss a moment of the action.
  • A one-night stay at the Clayton Dublin Airport hotel, with complimentary dinner and breakfast for two.
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The sold out signs have been up for days at Tolka Park ahead of the visit of Bohemian FC for the Dublin Derby this Friday. (7:45pm // RTÉ2)

Damien Duff has a fully fit squad to choose from as the Reds look to get back to winning ways after successive draws with Derry City and Drogheda United.

They go into this one off the back of a 2-2 draw in Weavers Park last Friday night.

Damien Duff delivered a positive squad update when he spoke to ShelbourneFC.ie this week: “Coyler is grand, just cramp not a bother on him. He’s getting a bit of stick this week for that. Sean Gannon has been on the pitch, fingers crossed, touch wood he’ll come through and be fit for Friday.”

With three home Dublin derbies to come at Tolka Park over the next few weeks, the Reds boss is relishing the return of a fixture that takes on added significance for the players:

“It’s back to the Dublin Derbies, I guess no matter how much I and staff try to create that edge and emotion for when we play Dundalk or UCD, Galway or Derry to the day I die I’ll never be able to recreate it, I’m glad it’s come around I can’t wait to see a full and pumping Tolka, bring it on.”

The earlier meeting in the season took place at Dalymount, where Duff’s side recorded their first win at the venue under his tenure, a 2-0 victory. The message to his players this time around is simple:

“It’s always a fine line, Dublin Derby playing with the real edge and fire in your belly and a real calm as well, it sounds contradictory but trust me that’s what you need the fire and the ice, it’s up to the guys and us as a staff to feel the room, and know weather to prod them emotionally or try laugh and joke to try and take the sting out of it. We need to bring the fire but be calm footballers as well.”

“I take great pride in the togetherness we’ve created, the feel good factor, everyone loves seeing each other, players and staff. There’s a feel good vibe and emotion around the club,  how do we keep it here? By winning games. How do we win games? By working hard and having high bloody standards on and off the pitch.”

Duff also paid tribute to Will Jarvis who won the Player of the Month award and Liam Burt who won the Goal of the Month: “Wonderful players, game changers, x factor… brutal trainers. The individual awards are brilliant, hats off to them, brilliant guys, brilliant players in their own right.”

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Following the conclusion of a disciplinary process, Shelbourne FC has been informed of the decision by the independent disciplinary control unit of the FAI to prevent Shelbourne supporters from attending the upcoming game with Galway United. 

Shelbourne FC accepts the decision of the independent disciplinary control Unit . We understand the disappointment this will cause to our supporters. Collective punishment for the conduct of the few impacts innocent supporters who abide by the rules and represent the club with passion and pride.

The club is committed to working with the FAI and all stakeholders to ensure what happened last Friday night never happens again. We are asking all of our supporters not to purchase tickets for the home section for this game in Galway and to respect and abide by the decision made by the independent disciplinary control unit. 

Shelbourne FC wishes to be unequivocally clear: any further incidents involving pyrotechnics or missiles being thrown onto the pitch home or away this season may result in the most severe consequences, which to date are without prior precedent in Irish football. 

Any further incident at games involving Shelbourne FC may result in full ground closures and possible points deductions.

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Dear Supporter,

As many of you may know, work to expand our capacity is in the final stages. We are pleased to confirm that we have been able to secure clearance for certain elements of the expansion works at Tolka Park ahead of schedule.

The full works will expand the Tolka Park capacity by 1,000, taking it up to 5,750 through the installation of safe standing in the Riverside, expansion of the Ballybough end and replacement of damaged seats in the Riverside stand.

Upgrades are nearing completion and awaiting safety and insurance certification, we are delighted to inform you that some of them have been completed ahead of schedule, this development allows us to release a limited number of additional home adult tickets for Friday’s game against Bohemian FC.

These additional tickets will go on sale this afternoon at 12:00 PM.  We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to enhance the match day experience and accommodate more fans at Tolka Park. 

We expect these additional seated tickets to quickly sell-out and would encourage anyone interested in attending to buy theirs now.

Tickets can be purchased here.

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Shelbourne FC wishes to offer a full and unequivocal apology to Dermot Broughton, one of the officials in this evening’s game against Drogheda United.

We completely condemn the actions of the individual responsible, which has brought embarrassment to our club and fellow supporters.

We will fully cooperate with Gardaí and officials to identify this individual and ensure they are held accountable for this abhorrent behavior.

As investigations commence, the club will make no further comment.

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The Reds make the trip to Weavers Park to face Drogheda United in the League of Ireland Premier Division on Friday night. (7:45pm KO)

Damien Duff’s side finish off the first round of games hoping to extend their unbeaten run this season. From their opening 8 games, the Reds have taken 20 points. Leaving them top of the table, ahead of Sligo Rovers, Derry City and Shamrock Rovers.

Having had their weekend disrupted by a bug, Duff revealed its effect is still lingering ahead of tomorrow’s match:

“The bug is still floating around, some boys had it on their days off, and came through ok, we had a few players miss training today, it’s a 24 hour thing, so we’ll know closer to kick off what shape we’re in. Aside from illness, which has caused some problems we’ve no other injury concerns.”

Having managed to pick up an important point at home in the face of an outbreak of illness, Duff heaped praise on his players and staff, in particular the strength and conditioning coach Mauro Martins:

“Everyone plays their part, first and foremost before they get on the pitch, the job Mauro does is elite, people don’t realise how good he is. Maybe some people here at the club take it for granted, but the players and staff know how important he is to what we’re doing. Mauro is world class. The shape he has the players in is amazing. 

“I have to give the players huge credit as well, the buy-in from them was great, changing shape between Friday and Monday, particularly when it’s the defensive shape it’s never easy to tweak, how you’re going to press, then play with and without the ball. Their taking on knowledge and tactics was incredible and thought that played a big part in the result. Bizarre as it sounds we felt very secure against Derry, still thought we looked more dangerous on the attack and more likely to win the game, in the circumstances though, it’s a huge point.”

The Reds recent visit to Drogheda was a game for the ages, as Shels ended the season with a 4-2 win that secured a fourth place finish in the table, Duff feels its a game that they can take plenty from even months after the fact:

“Games against Drogheda home or away are always bloody tight. We know that, more often than not, it’s at home where they are at their best. Difficult place to come to Weavers Park, they are a well set up team and they have a good manager and a lot of talented players. Nobody will forget the game on November 3rd 2023, if needs be tomorrow night we can dip in to that and gain confidence from it, to go 2-0 down and still have complete and utter belief we would do the job, how calm we were in the chaos, it was a brilliant performance, I always think games are totally different but lads can take confidence from that one 100%, and it ended up being was such a big night in recent Shels history.”

Drogheda have had a string of good results this season and are built on a solid defensive foundation. Duff feels they are a formidable side who deserve more credit then they sometimes get:

“They always are very good and they frustrate you at times but they have the absolute quality to hurt you at the top end, Pierrot and Bawa are technically excellent, Davis off the side got a lot of ability, Markey we know what he can bring, then Foley lads shouldn’t need to be warned about his talent, just look at the two goals in November. It’s an amazingly difficult task. One I can’t wait for.”

The Reds have the joint highest goals scored in the first 8 games and the fewest conceded, Duff is pleased with their fast start to the season but not looking beyond the challenge of tomorrow night:

“You’re in with a good shout to win games if you combine defensive resilience with attacking flair. You can score as many as you want, but keep a clean sheet and it only takes one goal to win a  game. People look at stats. You can look too much into them, I’ve been more than happy with the guys. The exciting bit for us, and it’s been the same since I’ve got here, as the season goes, we are going to get better.”

The away end sold out shortly after going on sale and Duff has urged Shels fans to get behind the side from the first minute and make themselves heard:

“Brilliant it sold out so quickly, speaks volumes about where the club is at, players have given fans something to hope for and to hang on and believe in, we’ll need them tomorrow and as always, there will be tough moments, we’ll need their noise and their support. They’ve been brilliant and I know they will be again tomorrow.”

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Due to an administrative error tickets for the match were made available on Drogheda United’s website before our loyal season ticket holders had the opportunity to access them, contrary to our longstanding policy.

Shelbourne FC will always send the ticket link for away games first to Season Ticket for a priority sale window of 24 hours, with any remaining tickets going on general sale thereafter.

At Shelbourne FC, we value the support of our dedicated season ticket holders, and one of the clear benefits of purchasing a season ticket is priority access, subject to capacity restrictions, to away tickets. Unfortunately, due to this error on the part of Drogheda United, this priority access did not occur as intended.

As was the intention, we will be issuing a ticket link to our season ticket holders tonight (Tuesday April 2) at 7pm via email. Any remaining tickets, if available after the priority window, will then be made available for general sale on Wednesday at 7pm.

All tickets purchased for the away end prior to this evening will be cancelled and refunded. It is imperative to note that these tickets will not be valid for entry to the match, including tickets that may have been purchased by season ticket holders.

We appreciate your understanding and continued support. Up the Reds.