2016 Dundalk F.C. season explained

Club:Dundalk
Season:2016
Manager:Stephen Kenny
Stadium:Oriel Park, Dundalk
Tallaght Stadium, Dublin (UEFA matches)
Aviva Stadium, Dublin (v. Legia Warsaw)
League:Premier Division
League Result:1st (champions)
Cup1:FAI Cup
Cup1 Result:Runners-up
Cup2:League of Ireland Cup
Cup2 Result:Second round
Cup3:President's Cup
Cup3 Result:Runners-up
Cup4:Leinster Senior Cup
Cup4 Result:Quarter-final
Cup5:UEFA Champions League
Cup5 Result:Play-off round
Cup6:UEFA Europa League
Cup6 Result:Group stage
League Topscorer:David McMillan (16)
Season Topscorer:David McMillan (21)
Highest Attendance:30,417 vs. Warsaw
Lowest Attendance:TBD
Average Attendance:2,717 (league games)[1]
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Prevseason:2015
Nextseason:2017

Dundalk entered the 2016 season as the reigning League Champions and FAI Cup holders from 2014, having won the 'Double' for the first time since 1987–88. 2016 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

After dominating domestically throughout the season, a third league title in a row was sealed with two games to spare in 2016,[2] A chance at a 'Double Double' was spurned, however, when they lost in the FAI Cup Final to a goal scored in the last minute of extra time by Cork City F.C.[3]

The 2016–17 Champions League saw the club qualify for the Champions League play-off round, after they first defeated FH of Iceland,[4] then came from a goal down in the tie to defeat BATE 3–0 in Tallaght Stadium,[5] winning through 3–1 on aggregate. Dundalk drew Legia Warsaw, with the first leg played in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in front of a crowd of 30,417.[6] They suffered a 2–0 defeat in the home leg, but shocked Legia in the return leg by taking a 1–0 lead through Robbie Benson's volley. With Dundalk pushing for the equaliser that would have taken the tie to extra-time, Legia scored on the break, and won the tie 3–1 on aggregate.[7]

Defeat in the play-off round meant that the club qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, only the second Irish team to have done so. A draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands,[8] followed by a victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght Stadium,[9] were the first points earned by an Irish club at this stage of a European competition – both the equaliser in Alkmaar and the winning goal in Tallaght being scored by Ciarán Kilduff. In the third match they took the lead in Tallaght against Zenit St Petersburg, and were 20 minutes from topping the table, before eventually losing 2–1.[10] In a campaign that would run from 13 July to 8 December, five weeks beyond the end of the domestic season, Dundalk failed to pick up any more points in the remaining matches. But they had attracted considerable attention.[11] [12]

Non-competitive

Preseason friendlies

Competitive

League of Ireland

See main article: 2016 League of Ireland Premier Division.

FAI Cup

See main article: 2016 FAI Cup.

League of Ireland Cup

See main article: 2016 League of Ireland Cup.

Leinster Senior Cup

See main article: 2015–16 Leinster Senior Cup.

President's Cup

See main article: 2016 President of Ireland's Cup.

UEFA Champions League

See main article: 2016–17 UEFA Champions League.

Play-off round

UEFA Europa League

See main article: 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

Group stage

Statistics

Appearances and goals

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: EFS Attendances. www.european-football-statistics.co.uk.
  2. News: Dundalk are crowned the Airtricity League Premier Division champions for the third time in a row. 23 October 2016. 23 June 2019. Irish Independent.
  3. Web site: Watch: Drama as Sean Maguire pounces at the death to win FAI Cup for Cork City. 7 November 2016. Irish Independent. 8 November 2016.
  4. News: Superb McMillan the difference as Dundalk sparkle in Iceland. Darren. Crawley. 20 July 2016. The Irish Times. www.irishtimes.com.
  5. Web site: Dundalk down BATE to progress in Champions League. Gavin. McLaughlin. 2 August 2016. RTÉ. www.rte.ie.
  6. Web site: Full Time Summary Play-offs 1st leg – Wednesday 17 August 2016 . UEFA.org . Union of European Football Associations . 17 August 2016 . 17 August 2016.
  7. Web site: Brave Dundalk exit Champions League in Poland. Gavin. McLaughlin. 23 August 2016. RTÉ. www.rte.ie.
  8. Web site: Kilduff snatches historic point for 10-man Dundalk. Gavin. McLaughlin. 15 September 2016. RTÉ. www.rte.ie.
  9. Web site: Dundalk claim historic Euro win against Maccabi. Gavin. McLaughlin. 29 September 2016. RTÉ. www.rte.ie.
  10. Web site: Dundalk defeated as Zenit battle back in Tallaght. Gavin. McLaughlin. 21 October 2016. RTÉ. www.rte.ie.
  11. News: Dundalk's Stephen Kenny winning friends and trophies with Irish trailblazers. Paul. Doyle. 10 October 2016. The Guardian. www.theguardian.com.
  12. Web site: Remembering the greatest European run in the history of Irish football. 10 July 2019. The 42. 10 July 2019.