2015 Dundalk F.C. season explained

Club:Dundalk
Season:2015
Manager:Stephen Kenny
League:Premier Division
League Result:1st (champions)
Cup1:FAI Cup
Cup1 Result:Winners
Cup2:League Cup
Cup2 Result:Semi-final
Cup3:President's Cup
Cup3 Result:Winners
Cup5:Leinster Senior Cup
Cup5 Result:Winners
Cup7:Champions League
Cup7 Result:2Q
League Topscorer:
Richie Towell (25)
Season Topscorer:
Richie Towell (26)
Highest Attendance:3,957 (vs. Shamrock Rovers, 1 September 2015)[1]
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Prevseason:2014
Nextseason:2016

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.

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.NameDate of BirthPositionDebut seasonLeague appearancesGoals
125 September 1981GK2015 310
211 July 1991DF2014321
34 November 1986DF2013 276
47 March 19912013331
527 December 1990MF2012 300
615 January 1986 MF2013242
710 August 1992MF2014339
822 February 1993MF2012333
914 December 1988FW20143312
1021 December 1987MF2015 335
119 April 1990FW2013140
12 Shane Grimes9 March 1987DF200540
1417 April 1988DF2013 324
1522 July 1993DF2015110
1629 September 1988FW2015124
1717 July 1991 MF20133225
191 May 1994FW201560
21 Darren Meenan1 October 1991MF2013283
2215 September 1986GK201430
288 September 1997MF201320

Competitions

President's Cup

Source:[8]

FAI Cup

Source:

Second Round
  • Third Round
  • Quarter Final
  • Semi Final
    Final

    See main article: 2015 FAI Cup Final.

    League Cup

    Source:

    Second Round
    Quarter Final
    Semi Final

    Leinster Senior Cup

    Source:

    Fourth Round
    Quarter Final
    Semi Final
    Final

    Europe

    Champions League

    Source:

    Second qualifying roundBATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.

    Awards

    Player of the Month

    MonthNationalityPlayerReference
    March IrelandDavid McMillan[9]
    April IrelandRichie Towell[10]
    May IrelandDaryl Horgan[11]
    September IrelandRichie Towell[12]
    November IrelandRichie Towell[13]

    RTÉ Sports Team of the Year

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Newberry . Niall . League Report: Dundalk 2 - 0 Shamrock Rovers . www.extratime.ie . 23 October 2019 . 2 September 2015.
    2. Web site: Dundalk 2 - 1 St. Patrick's Athletic . www.extratime.ie . 6 November 2019.
    3. Web site: Donnelly . Dave . League Report: Shamrock Rovers 1 - 1 Dundalk . www.extratime.ie . 6 November 2019.
    4. Web site: Dolan . Josh . FAI Cup Final Report: Cork City 0-1 Dundalk A.E.T. . www.extratime.ie . 6 November 2019.
    5. Web site: Fisher . Ciaran . Leinster Senior Cup Final Report: Dundalk 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers . www.extratime.ie . 6 November 2019.
    6. Web site: Fisher . Ciaran . Champions League Report: Dundalk 0-0 BATE Borisov . www.extratime.ie . 6 November 2019.
    7. Web site: Dundalk FC Squad 2015. 23 June 2019. www.worldfootball.net.
    8. Web site: DUNDALK 2015 . 6 November 2019. extratime.ie.
    9. Web site: DAVID MCMILLAN NAMED SSE AIRTRICITY PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH . www.sseireland.com . 24 October 2019 . 9 April 2015 . 6 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191106185645/https://ireland.sse.com/news-and-views/all-articles/2015/04/david-mcmillan-named-sse-airtricity-player-of-the-month-for-march/ . dead .
    10. Web site: No prizes for guessing the Airtricity League Player of the Month for April . www.the42.ie . 24 October 2019 . 14 May 2015.
    11. Web site: Daryl Horgan player of the month for May . www.rte.ie . 24 October 2019 . 23 June 2015.
    12. Web site: Richie Towell named Player of Month for September . www.rte.ie . 24 October 2019 . 8 October 2015.
    13. Web site: TOWELL NAMED SWAI PLAYER OF THE MONTH . www.dundalkfc.com . 24 October 2019 . 25 November 2015.
    14. Web site: Towell named PFAI Player of the Year . www.the42.ie . 24 October 2019 . 21 November 2015.
    15. Web site: Newberry . Niall . Richie Towell delighted to secure 2015 SSE Airtricity League Player of the Year . www.extratime.ie . 23 October 2019 . 24 March 2016.
    16. Web site: Richie Towell is the Irish Soccer Writers’ Personality of the Year for 2015 . www.the42.ie . 23 October 2019 . 9 January 2016.
    17. Web site: DUNDALK SECURE RTÉ SPORT TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD . www.dundalkfc.com . 23 October 2019 . 20 December 2015.