2024 saw the League of Ireland reach unprecedented levels of interest. The Greatest League in the World moniker has been lost to the mainstream. There are dozens of reasons why, but the 2024 title race caught the attention of the Irish sporting public in a way that hadn’t happened before. Record TV audiences were matched by record crowds in the stadiums. The FAI Cup final is established as one of the great Irish sporting occasions. We have a team flying in the knockout stages in European football and there’s players being sold for close to two million euro. The leading managers in the league are genuine household names. It’s a good time to be a fan of Irish football. If you’re new to this, welcome!
Let’s set the 2025 season up for you (and the hardcore who pine for the old days of games in front of hundreds will hopefully enjoy it too).
Can Shelbourne repeat?
2 November 2024; Shelbourne players and staff celebrate with the trophy in front of the Riverside stand at Tolka Park in Dublin after they won the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division title. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
There wasn’t one pundit who predicated Shelbourne winning the 2024 League of Ireland title, and it appears to be similar in 2025. For reference, bookmakers have made Shamrock Rovers 2/1 to win the league title, and Shelbourne are the same price to beat Derry City at home on the opening night. This disrespect will help fuel Damien Duff’s charges for another run at the league and it doesn’t really make sense. While they had a rough patch late last year, they did win the final 3 games to clinch the title and it appears they have significantly improved their squad. Mipo Odubeko might be the most eye-catching of their new signings, but Ellis Chapman was one of the best players in the league last season with Sligo Rovers and every club would have him as a starter. It should not be a surprise if they can retain the league title, even with several challengers emerging.
Will Shamrock Rovers regain the title?
The drive for five fell short last year with Shamrock Rovers leaving themselves too much to do after a slow start to 2024. Their European heroics might have made up for that in the eyes of some fans, but they’ll be eager to return to the top of the league quickly this year. They lost 4 regular starters from last season, with their replacements ranging from the exciting Michael Noonan to the experienced (twice Noonan’s age) Adam Matthews. Ed McGinty should be an upgrade at goalkeeper. The biggest question for Rovers is who will play up front? Johnny Kenny has returned to Celtic leaving only Aaron Greene as an experienced centre forward at the club. Rovers may gamble on Noonan (his European debut was sensational), but manager Stephen Bradley has spoken about keeping striking options open. If they fix that area of the pitch they will surely be the team to beat again? If they don’t, they could struggle to match the firepower elsewhere.
Can Stephen Kenny continue his revolution at St Patrick’s Athletic?
St Patrick’s Athletic finished 2024 with 9 consecutive league wins, and they’re the team that most commentators have predicted to be the 2025 league winners. In each of the past 2 seasons, the Saints early season form had led to the dismissal of their manager. While there’s no suggestion Stephen Kenny would see similar, they can’t afford to be playing catch up with the likes of Shelbourne or Shamrock Rovers if they have serious designs on winning anything this season. The squad that finished the season remains intact with the additions of Sean Hoare, Barry Baggley and Simon Power sure to strengthen the overall squad. The biggest challenge for Kenny’s men will be dealing with expectation for the first time. They may have snuck up on people at the end of 2024, but they’re on everyone’s watchlist for 2025.
Will Derry City’s new recruitment strategy work out?
After Derry City’s collapse in 2024, they pressed the re-set button with Tiarnan Lynch leaving Larne to take the managerial reigns following the departure of Ruadhri Higgins. For most clubs a re-set involves building the squad with young players who they hope will grow into title contenders. Derry have decided to go a different way. They have focused on bringing in experienced professionals with their 6 most prominent signings being a combined 186 years old. Experience counts in this league though and if the new signings can gel, there’s every reason to think the new Derry City squad will be even more of a threat than last year’s. Gavin Whyte has the potential to be the most exciting player in the league.
Dodge's 2025 LOI predictions
Shamrock Rovers to win the league.
Drogheda to be relegated
Young player to watch - Cathal O’Sullivan (Cork)
Top scorer - Aidan Keena (Pats)
Dundalk to be promoted
Can Cork City stop the yo-yoing?
Cork City, as their social media feed reminds us regularly, are one of the biggest clubs in the country. 2018-19 is the last time they spent two consecutive years in the Premier Division and, frankly, that hasn’t been good enough. Will their 2025 squad be good enough to avoid relegation? Beware of anybody who can confidently predict how their (almost completely new) squad will perform though. They should be strong up front with Seani Maguire and Ruairi Keating, but may start life in the top tier without a defender who’s played at this level before. A lot is expected of 17-year-old Cathal O’Sullivan but he too is stepping up in class from last year, where he excelled in the First Division. The city of Dublin has been driving the LOI’s surge in popularity but if Cork City can start well, the Leesiders might outstrip their rivals in the capital for crowds.
Can Bohemians get out of their mid-table funk?
5 February 2025; Bohemians new signing Lys Mousset poses for a portrait during his unveiling at Dalymount Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Since finishing 2nd in the shortened 2020 season, Bohemians have finished 5th, 6th, 6th and then 8thlast year. They’ve given their fans flashes of excitement with cup finals, European wins and even time spent at the top of the table, but ultimately, it’s been a disappointing run after the promise of 2019 & 2020. This is the first full season under Alan Reynolds and his recruitment includes the most headline grabbing signing to hit the league in some time. Former £10 million Premier League player Lys Mousset is hoping to get his career back on track and aged only 29, he still should have a lot to offer in this league. If he can reach near the levels he performed at early in his career, Bohs will have unearthed a gem. He surely won’t lack supply from the likes of Devoy, Tierney and new-boy Connor Parsons?
Will Galway United push on?
They surprised everyone with their consistency last year, and Galway United ended the season in the top half of the table in 5th. They’ve added 5 players to the squad, with all five coming from outside the league. John Caulfield remains one of the best managers in the country and he will have his charges well prepared for the season. As the league gets more and more competitive, it would be a shock to see Galway break into the top 4 and a potential European qualifying spot but they weren’t far off last season. If the new recruits can add strength in depth, they’ll once again put it up to the big boys.
SEE ALSO: Dodge's League of Ireland Team of the Year For The 2024 Season
Will Waterford rebound from their late 2024 form?
It might sound like an arbitrary timeframe but from mid-July onwards, Waterford won only 2 of their last 13 league games last season. The lost a remarkable nine of them. The first objective for the newly promoted side was survival, but manager Keith Long can’t have enjoyed the second half of the season. Waterford have had better luck with imported players than most clubs in recent seasons and this year they’ve turned to the Netherlands for their two most interesting signings in the shape of 6’7 striker Maarten Pouwels and Suriname international Navajo Bakboord. Waterford were never threatened with relegation last year, but if they start 2025 as they ended 2024 then the Fleetwood-owned club might be in trouble.
Can Sligo Rovers hang on for their new stadium?
Of all the proposed ground improvements in the League of Ireland, none seem closer to be realised than Sligo Rovers and the new Showgrounds. When it’s finished, it has the potential to be a game-changing revenue maker for the club – and the fan-owned club desperately need finances to compete in this league to the levels they have in the recent past. John Russell has lost his goalkeeper (McGinty to Shamrock), his captain (Morahan to Bohs), his top scorer (Chapman to Shels) and the player that got everyone excited at the end of the season (Henry-Francis back to Arsenal). Rebuilding every year on a shoestring budget is a tough gig, but if John Russell and the team can continue to unearth gems they can be challenging again really quickly in this league.
What now for Drogheda United?
The last two domestic games of the season saw Drogheda United win the FAI Cup, followed by the promotion/relegation play off. All of this a couple of weeks after arch-rivals Dundalk suffered relegation. If football fandom is about magical moments, no club had more than Drogheda in the last month of the season. They also finished 8 points behind the club in 8th and they’ll attack 2025 with one of the smallest budgets and smallest stadiums in the league. They’re favourites to be relegated again. None of this will phase Kev Doherty and the entire club. They were told they’d be relegated the last two years. They’ll hope their loans from parent club Walsall and elsewhere have as much impact as they did from mid-season on last year.
Can Dundalk bounce straight back?
A giant of Irish football, Dundalk’s slide into the lower tier, thanks in no small part to a financial meltdown brought on by successive owners, has been well documented. New owner John Temple has got the Oriel Park faithful onside though and there’s an expectation that Ciaran Kilduff will manage them to promotion in his first season in the men’s game. There are very few holdovers from the squad who were relegated so they’ll need to gel quickly and every other club will be aiming to earn their scalp. There’s no sense of the club consolidating in the First Division. They want promotion asap.
Who will challenge Dundalk?
UCD are UCD and will always be UCD. They’ll have some talented young players and that might be enough for promotion some years. Bray Wanderers lost the play off final last year but have a whole new squad. Athlone Town could be anything based on their continued intake of players from all over the world. Cobh Ramblers have brought in most of the team that easily won promotion for Cork City last year and with new investors in town, a First Division title wouldn’t be a surprise there. It would be a surprise if any of Treaty United, Longford Town, Wexford, Finn Harps or Kerry FC won promotion. The LOI First Division does love surprises though.
Will the bubble burst?
The league is basking in the glow of a successful 2024 and Shamrock Rovers Conference League heroics. 2025 sees the first genuine season-long TV deal with Virgin Media showing a game every week. The weekend kick off will see the largest ever LOI crowd when Bohemians host Shamrock Rovers in the Aviva Stadium. Every club in the Premier Division will play in front of a sold out home stadium this year. Will the bubble burst? Who cares? Just enjoy football in Ireland at the highest level it’s ever been while we can. It’s definitely a league that’s better experienced in person than on TV, but that’s part of the attraction for the thousands who do every week. Hopefully it continues to rise and rise. If it doesn’t, we can go back to feeling superior to those who don’t get it. Let 2025 begin…
