2015 Dundalk F.C. season

Dundalk entered the 2015 season as the reigning League Champions from 2014, having won the title for the first time since 1995, and were also the League Cup holders. 2015 was Stephen Kenny's third season at the club as manager. It was Dundalk's seventh consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 80th in all, and their 89th in the League of Ireland.

Dundalk
2015 season
President’s Cup, FAI Cup, Leinster Senior Cup & League of Ireland Champions trophy on display in Oriel Park in 2015
ManagerStephen Kenny
Premier Division1st (Champions)
FAI CupWinners
League CupSemi-final
President's CupWinners
Leinster Senior CupWinners
Champions League2Q
Top goalscorerLeague:
Richie Towell (25)
All:
Richie Towell (26)
Highest home attendance3,957 (vs. Shamrock Rovers, 1 September 2015)[1]

Season summary

The new season's curtain raiser - the President's Cup - was played on 28 February in Oriel Park between Dundalk and St Patrick's Athletic - the winners of the FAI Cup the previous year. Dundalk won on a 2-1 scoreline - their first success in the competition.[2] The 33 round League programme commenced on 6 March 2015, and was completed on 30 October 2015. Dundalk retained the title for the first time in their history, sealing it with three games to spare.[3] They subsequently won the 2015 FAI Cup Final with a 1-0 victory over Cork City after extra time. An opportunity to win the club's first domestic Treble was passed up when a largely reserve side lost the League Cup semi-final in a penalty shoot-out.[4] However they also won the Leinster Senior Cup, defeating Shamrock Rovers 3-1 in the final. The trophy haul for the year made the 2015 season the most successful in their history.[5]

In Europe they were knocked out at the first hurdle, losing to BATE Borisov in the Champions League second qualifying round when, after scoring an away goal in a 2-1 defeat, they were unable to score the goal in Oriel Park that would have sent them through to the next round.[6]

First-Team Squad (2015)

Sources:[7]

Squad No. Name Date of Birth Position Debut season League appearances Goals
1 Gary Rogers 25 September 1981 GK 2015 31 0
2 Sean Gannon 11 July 1991 DF 2014 32 1
3 Brian Gartland 4 November 1986 DF 2013 27 6
4 Andy Boyle 7 March 1991 DF 2013 33 1
5 Chris Shields 27 December 1990 MF 2012 30 0
6 Stephen O'Donnell 15 January 1986 MF 2013 24 2
7 Daryl Horgan 10 August 1992 MF 2014 33 9
8 John Mountney 22 February 1993 MF 2012 33 3
9 David McMillan 14 December 1988 FW 2014 33 12
10 Ronan Finn 21 December 1987 MF 2015 33 5
11 Kurtis Byrne 9 April 1990 FW 2013 14 0
12 Shane Grimes 9 March 1987 DF 2005 4 0
14 Dane Massey 17 April 1988 DF 2013 32 4
15 Paddy Barrett 22 July 1993 DF 2015 11 0
16 Ciarán Kilduff 29 September 1988 FW 2015 12 4
17 Richie Towell 17 July 1991 MF 2013 32 25
19 Sean Maguire 1 May 1994 FW 2015 6 0
21 Darren Meenan 1 October 1991 MF 2013 28 3
22 Gabriel Sava 15 September 1986 GK 2014 3 0
28 Georgie Poynton 8 September 1997 MF 2013 2 0

Competitions

President's Cup

Source:[8]

28 February 2015 Dundalk 2–1St Patrick's AthleticOriel Park
TBC GMT Horgan  36' Towell  38' Report Forrester  35' Attendance: 1,800 (estimate)
Referee: Tomas Connolly

Premier Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dundalk (C) 33 23 9 1 78 23 +55 78 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
2 Cork City 33 19 10 4 57 25 +32 67 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3 Shamrock Rovers 33 18 11 4 56 27 +29 65
4 St Patrick's Athletic 33 18 4 11 52 34 +18 58
5 Bohemians 33 15 8 10 49 42 +7 53
6 Longford Town 33 10 9 14 41 53 −12 39
7 Derry City 33 9 8 16 32 42 −10 35
8 Bray Wanderers 33 9 6 18 27 51 −24 33
9 Sligo Rovers 33 7 10 16 39 55 −16 31
10 Galway United 33 9 4 20 39 61 −22 31
11 Limerick (R) 33 7 8 18 46 73 −27 29 Qualification to Relegation play-offs
12 Drogheda United (R) 33 7 7 19 32 62 −30 28 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
Source: League of Ireland, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[9]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Dundalk qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015 FAI Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

FAI Cup

Source:[8]

Second Round
29 May Dundalk 5–0ShelbourneOriel Park
Report
Third Round
21 August Galway United1–4 Dundalk Eamonn Deacy Park
Report Attendance: 761
Referee: Robert Rogers
Quarter Final
Dundalk 4–0Sligo RoversOriel Park
Report
Semi Final
2 October Dundalk 2–0Longford TownOriel Park
Report
Final
Main article: 2015 FAI Cup Final
8 November 2015 Dundalk 1–0 (a.e.t.)Cork CityAviva Stadium
15:30 Richie Towell  107' Report Attendance: 25,103
Referee: David McKeon

League Cup

Source:[8]

Second Round
7 April 2015 Dundalk 1–0ShelbourneOriel Park
19:45 John Mountney  11' Report Attendance: 697
Referee: Rob Harvey
Quarter Final
18 May 2015 UCC0–5 Dundalk The Mardyke
20:00 Report Ciaran O'Connor  3'
Jake Kelly  13'
Paddy Barrett  36'
Paddy Barrett  55'
Kurtis Byrne  78'		 Attendance: 650 (Est.)
Referee: David Keeler
Semi Final
3 August 2015 Galway United 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 p)		DundalkEamonn Deacy Park
17:00 Alex Byrne  113' Report Ronan Finn  44'
Darren Meenan  78'		 Referee: Ray Matthews
Penalties
Stephen Walsh
David O'Leary
Jake Keegan
Colm Horgan 		Ronan Finn
David McMillan
Daryl Horgan
John Mountney

Leinster Senior Cup

Source:[8]

Fourth Round
10 February 2015 Dundalk 2–1UCDDundalk
19:45 GMT Ronan Finn  74'
David McMillan  83'		 Report Dylan Watts  15' Stadium: Oriel Park
Referee: Robert Harvey
Quarter Final
16 March 2015 Wexford0–3 Dundalk Wexford
19:45 GMT Report Ciaran O'Connor  16'
Shane Grimes  57'
Shane Grimes  88'		 Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park
Semi Final
22 September 2015 St Patrick's Athletic0–1 Dundalk Inchicore
19:45 GMT Report Stephen O'Donnell  51' Stadium: Richmond Park
Final
26 October 2015 Dundalk 3–1Shamrock RoversDundalk
19:45 GMT Kurtis Byrne  53'
Kurtis Byrne  56'
Chris Shields  90+5'		 Report Aaron Dobbs  81' Stadium: Oriel Park
Attendance: 963
Referee: Simon Rogers

Champions League

Source:[8]

Second qualifying round
BATE Borisov 2–1 Dundalk
Karnitsky  11'
Yablonskiy  38'		 Report McMillan  32'
Attendance: 11,421
Dundalk 0–0 BATE Borisov
Report
Attendance: 3,103
Referee: Stavros Tritsonis (Greece)

BATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.

Awards

Player of the Month
Month Nationality Player Reference
March  Ireland David McMillan [10]
April  Ireland Richie Towell [11]
May  Ireland Daryl Horgan [12]
September  Ireland Richie Towell [13]
November  Ireland Richie Towell [14]

PFAI Player of the Year
Player Reference
Richie Towell [15]

FAI League of Ireland Player of the Year
Player Reference
Richie Towell [16]

SWAI Personality of the Year
Person Reference
Richie Towell [17]

RTÉ Sports Team of the Year
Team Reference
Dundalk F.C. [18]

Footnotes

    References
    1. Newberry, Niall (2 September 2015). "League Report: Dundalk 2 - 0 Shamrock Rovers". www.extratime.ie. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
    2. "Dundalk 2 - 1 St. Patrick's Athletic". www.extratime.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    3. Donnelly, Dave. "League Report: Shamrock Rovers 1 - 1 Dundalk". www.extratime.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    4. Dolan, Josh. "FAI Cup Final Report: Cork City 0-1 Dundalk A.E.T." www.extratime.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    5. Fisher, Ciaran. "Leinster Senior Cup Final Report: Dundalk 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers". www.extratime.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    6. Fisher, Ciaran. "Champions League Report: Dundalk 0-0 BATE Borisov". www.extratime.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    7. "Dundalk FC Squad 2015". www.worldfootball.net. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
    8. "DUNDALK 2015". extratime.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
    9. "PREMIER DIVISION 2015 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
    10. "DAVID MCMILLAN NAMED SSE AIRTRICITY PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH". www.sseireland.com. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
    11. "No prizes for guessing the Airtricity League Player of the Month for April". www.the42.ie. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
    12. "Daryl Horgan player of the month for May". www.rte.ie. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
    13. "Richie Towell named Player of Month for September". www.rte.ie. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
    14. "TOWELL NAMED SWAI PLAYER OF THE MONTH". www.dundalkfc.com. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
    15. "Towell named PFAI Player of the Year". www.the42.ie. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
    16. Newberry, Niall (24 March 2016). "Richie Towell delighted to secure 2015 SSE Airtricity League Player of the Year". www.extratime.ie. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
    17. "Richie Towell is the Irish Soccer Writers' Personality of the Year for 2015". www.the42.ie. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
    18. "DUNDALK SECURE RTÉ SPORT TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD". www.dundalkfc.com. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
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