The 2022 SSE Airtricity League kicks off tonight and hopes are high that we’ll have the first “normal” season since 2019. Of course, “normal” is a relative term in the wild and wacky world of the LOI so we’re only talking about a season without pandemic interruptions.
Let’s set the narratives for the new season.
1. Shamrock Rovers going for three in a row
Their fans still sing songs about winning 4-in-a-row in the 1980s and bookies and pundits are united in their belief that a third successive title is on the way to Tallaght this year. It’s hard to argue otherwise. An aging Joey O’Brien is the only noticeable loss from the 2021 champions, and they’ve added Jack Byrne and Andy Lyons to bolster their squad. Challengers will hope that Alan Mannus finally shows his age, and their defence performs as poorly as it did in the season opening President’s Cup. In the summer, Rovers will expect to progress in Europe and that might play a part in their league campaign too.
2. Derry City emerge as most likely challengers
IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!
Matchday 1: Dundalk Away
Live on https://t.co/zY6DYHUz6K
City 'til I die 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/nH2cgGC66A— Derry City FC (@derrycityfc) February 18, 2022
Before the 2021 season was over, we knew that local boys Michael Duffy and Patrick McEleney were coming home after their hugely successful spells with Dundalk. Others followed from Dundalk and Derry added more highly rated players from around the league. They’re the unquestioned pre-season winners but how will that transition into actual real football? They’ve certainly sparked a buzz in the Maiden City and if they can get early momentum, they may again make the Brandywell the intimating venue it once was.
3. Bohemians look to bounce back
Aside from their European adventures, 2021 was a disappointing season for Bohs as they finished 5th and missed out on Euro qualification. They were literally inches away from winning the FAI Cup though and the narrative around their 2022 prospects would be different if Jak Hickman hadn’t cleared off the Pats line late in extra time. They’ve lost top scorer Georgie Kelly, captain Keith Buckley, kit-modeller Rob Cornwall and star boy Ross Tierney but Bohs have added plenty of exciting players with the returning Kris Twardek being the stand-out. If they can keep Stephen Mallon fit, Bohs will have as many attacking threats as any team.
4. Stephen O’Donnell returns to Dundalk
25 January 2022; Dundalk head coach Stephen O'Donnell during the pre-season friendly match between Dundalk and Bohemians at Oriel Park in Dundalk, Louth. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
His departure from Pats may have been controversial, but Dundalk fans won’t care about that. After a horrendous 2021, they’re looking to get back to basics with a local owner and a popular figure leading from the dug-out. Dundalk finished the season quite well last year as the off-field chaos came to an end but there’s been a big turnover in playing staff. They’ll rely on veterans Andy Boyle, Brian Gartland, Pat Hoban and the returning Robbie Benson to guide the new signings. They mightn’t challenge for the league yet, but Dundalk will be better than last year.
5. Another re-start for Pats
Tim Clancy is a highly rated young manager, but he has a big job trying to improve on 2021 for his new club St Pats. Cup winners and league runners up, they were rocked early by the departure of Stephen O’Donnell and influential players like Robbie Benson, Alfie Lewis, Mattie Smith and Vitezslav Jaros. Clancy has clearly been given a competitive budget and the marquee capture of Eoin Doyle from Bolton should ensure they have goals in the team. The question marks are elsewhere on the pitch with another on loan keeper, Joseph Ananga from West Ham, having big gloves to fill after Jaros’s season. Pats will hope to bring through quality players from the academy as they did with Ben McCormack, Darragh Burns and the Serie A-bound James Abankwah and they might need another young star to fill gaps in midfield and defence.
6. Damien Duff’s star power
The Damien Duff era is about to start at Shels - @Corktod reports from Tolka Park where resolve, on and off the pitch, has been strengthened #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/l41whxpsKJ
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) February 17, 2022
One of the best players the country has ever produced takes charge of Shelbourne in his first managerial appointment. You can compare the interest in Duff to his predecessor Ian Morris to see his star power hasn’t waned. He joins the senior ranks with a growing reputation as a coach and a fiery personality. Historically, those two traits haven’t always been successful in this league or elsewhere. Shelbourne don’t have the budget of many of their rivals and his priority will be avoiding relegation for the first premier season since 2012. However, if Shels get early momentum behind them, expectations will quickly rise.
7. Finn Harps and their foreign legion
Harps have brought in players from around Europe a fair bit in recent seasons, but Ollie Horgan has taken it to another level this year. He’s added players from Croatia, Spain, Turkey, France and Madagascar. Only Bastien Hery of Madagascar is a known quantity there and he struggled last year with Bohs and Derry. We’ll have to wait and see how the lads who played across Europe adapt to Ballybofey and the League of Ireland. As long as they understand “work, work, WORK!” in a western accent, they’ll be OK for Horgan anyway.
8. Sligo Rovers looking for more of the same
Like Harps, Sligo have invested in overseas talents with internationally capped players joining from New Zealand and Canada in recent weeks having lost their two brightest stars with Johnny Kenny and John Mahon moving to Scotland. They finished 3rd last year and that achievement might have gone slightly under the radar with Dundalk’s implosion and Bohs’ underperformance. They’ll have a job to repeat though with other clubs re-tooling but Liam Buckley is one of only 2 managers in the division to have won the title and his experience might be vital. If they qualify for Europe again, they’ll see the season as a success
9. Drogheda looking to avoid relegation
Drogheda United had a terrific two years under Tim Clancy, winning the 2020 First Division and finishing 7th in the Premier Division last year but their off season has seen them lose a lot of talent. Along with Clancy, they’ve lost 6 of the 8 players who played most minutes last season with Killian Phillips, James Brown and Daniel O’Reilly all moving to Britain. The 2 who remain are 33 and 34 year olds Dane Massey and Gary Deegan. If Drogheda are to avoid a struggle, they’ll need strong leadership from that pair to help new manager Kevin Doherty.
10. UCD are UCD and will always be UCD
Since reverting to a student-only policy, every UCD squad has had the same make up. A smattering of top-quality young talents that the professional clubs are waiting to vulture in on surrounded by players who are too good for the first division but not really good enough for the top tier. The returning Colm Whelan and Liam Kerrigan starred last year but may leave in the summer when they graduate. They’ve added players from the LOI under-19 teams of other clubs and some of them may turn out to be stars. They’ll need a bumper crop of freshmen if they’re to avoid relegation.
11. The First Division is wide open
Last year everyone expected Shels to walk it, and we were all proved right. This year is different with Cork City and Galway United likely to be the strongest contenders but neither likely to be dominant. Relegated Waterford have Ian Morris in charge, and they’ll hope a more stable 2022 provides the base for a quick rebound. Longford Town don’t look to be in as good a position to do the same. Bray Wanderers might do well with Pat Devlin knowing more about the division than anyone else. Treaty United had an exceptional first year and may build on that. Cobh Ramblers, Wexford and Athlone Town aren’t expected to challenge for promotion, but we’ve seen bigger shocks happen. As ever, just surviving in professional football here is an achievement.
12. Crowds and media
The off-season noise has been louder than usual with all 4 major Dublin clubs reporting record season ticket sales being particularly noteworthy. Momentum might be key to clubs building on this noise but it’s been a while since so many clubs have been optimistic (on and off the field) going into a season and it seems like fans are raring to get back into stadiums without any crowd restrictions. All of this is even more impressive with the paltry TV package offered. RTÉ will show some early games and come back when the GAA season finishes. There’s no highlights package and now even hardcore LOI fans won’t have access to all games on LOITV streams with no season pass available. Of course, the selling point of football in Ireland isn’t TV-based, it’s about being part of a community of grumpy-cynics, just-have-to-get-out-of-the-housers, flare-popping-flag-waving-ultras, life's-eternal-dreamers and all sorts of other folks hoping their local team can give them a bit of enjoyment or even relief.
Let’s see how 2022 treats us.
SEE ALSO: Festy Ebosele's Rise At Derby County May Seem Sudden, But It's Been A Long Time Coming
