Yes, readers, it’s that time of year where the Bohs’ Fontaines DC jerseys become more than just a piece of cultural capital to be worn by the finest mustache rocking, oat flat white drinking studs among us. As of Friday, February 6th, national football resumes, with three separate fixtures kicking off at 19:45 and a further two to be played across the weekend. If you enjoy the finest of D-list former footballers offering banal commentary on RTÉ, the most dubious of microwaved hot dogs at half-time and a nasty pint of Harp being spilled all over you during goal celebrations, then have we got one hell of treat in store for you. Oh yeah, the League of Ireland is back, baby.
All jokes aside, the competition this year promises to offer yet another exciting season. The opening round of fixtures will see four games slated for this coming Friday, with another on Sunday. Your Deputy Sport Editor’s pick of the bunch takes us to the sunny northeast, as champions Shamrock Rovers team take on Dundalk on the opening day. The match should offer an exciting prospect even for neutrals: the side whose ventures in Europe under Stephen Kenny did so much to raise the profile of the league taking on a dominant Rovers side, who boasts five of the last six titles. Viewers should not be discouraged by Dundalk’s time outside of the top flight: Ciarán Kilduff’s men will be eager to make a strong start on their return to the division after doing good business in the transfer window. On a personal note, my earliest memories of the League were making the trip up the road to watch Kenny’s Dundalk, so for me there seems to be enough elements at play here to make the contest a compelling first watch of the year. Hopefully the football will be up to suit; a trip to Dundalk on a Friday night in February to watch your team lose is a fate I would not wish on anyone other than the Shamrock Rovers fans.
Elsewhere, Derry City will be hopeful of a strong campaign after their victory over the champions in last weekend’s President’s Cup. The Candystripes will be bolstered by several new signings, one of which is of course national team stalwart James McClean. McClean, speaking to Tony O’Donoghue after the match, spoke of the side’s “bigger aspirations” for this season, aspirations that he hopes to see reflected in Derry’s league performance. Their opponents, Sligo Rovers, will also be hoping for a strong campaign, after adding a number of their own new recruits. Further west, the Drogheda United fans are set to terrify Galway City, if at least their team can’t terrify Galway United. Galway will be looking to start the season with a win as they seek to leave themselves with more breathing room from the relegation places than was seen last year, but could meet a tough challenge as the Drogs will be determined to avoid last season’s fate of missing out on a spot in Europe.
The final game on Friday will see Shelbourne make the journey to Waterford. Shels will be hoping to build on last season’s efforts which, despite the dramatic departure of manager Damien Duff in the middle of the campaign, still saw them grab a top four finish. While the Drumcondra natives will hold hopes of a title push, their opponents may well find themselves down the opposite end of the table. After overcoming Bray in last season’s relegation playoff, Waterford will be looking to avoid a similarly nail-biting campaign this time around. Viewers will have to wait until Sunday for their next taste of action, with a match that sees two potential title contenders facing off in Stephen Kenny’s St. Pats, who are making the trip to Dalymount to take on Bohs. Having already secured the title as perhaps the most morally upstanding team in football, Alan Reynolds’ side will look to follow up by securing a spot in Europe once again this season. Kenny’s side will have similar ambitions: while his appointment would seemingly have had a push for the title in mind given his previous success at Dundalk, it is not yet clear whether his side boasts the experience or quality required for this campaign, yet they are expected to feature at the top end of the table nonetheless.
This scan across the teams reveals a competitive landscape for the upcoming season, one that will see the Rovers face plenty of challengers for their crime. This should encourage even casual fans of the league to take notice of the upcoming fixtures. Much of the growth seen in the last few years owes as much to contributions off the pitch, with attendance steadily growing by 11% last year alone. The incentive among sports fans should be to continue to push these figures forward, with the competition offering a unique window for younger viewers in particular. Ticket prices for games are far below those usually found for sporting events, tending to range from between 20 and 30 euro. While pockets can often be tight for students, there are worse rates for live sport, especially for football. Clichés run rampant when discussing community and local sport, but in the case of the League of Ireland, the evidence is readily available: beyond the smaller stadiums and proximity of the players to the audience, several of these clubs are fan-owned, a feature all-too-rare across the landscape of modern football. On and off the field, there’s plenty to be excited about, as friend of the sports section Pablo Bosque generously contributed, “The Greatest League in the world has been growing steadily in popularity, and hopefully the 2026 season pushes it even further”.
