Tickets for our Europa Conference League Round 1 Qualifying Second-Leg tie at home to Bala Town on Thursday July 14th are on sale from this morning (Thursday) online and at The Showgrounds.

Adult tickets are €20, OAP/Under 18/Student tickets are €15 (ID Strictly required) and Under 12 tickets are €10. All Under 12’s must be accompnaied by a paying adult or else will be refused entry on the night, as with all home matches.

Buy online: https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets

Details will be confirmed for Bala Town fans wishing to attend this fixture over the next couple of days as we discuss with our opponents.

All online tickets concession or kids tickets will be checked for ID on the gate on the night.

For Sligo Rovers fans wishing to attend the game in Owestry (First Leg) we will issue details as soon as we can on the ticketing process for these games.

As of now, there is no guaranteed allocation as we await confirmation from our opponents and UEFA.

We expect to have a clearer picture by Friday afternoon.

Please do not contact either club in relation to away leg tickets as this is outside of our control at the moment.

The Bit O’ Red have been drawn to face Bala Town of Wales in our Europa Conference League Qualifying Round one tie in July.

Rovers are away first, a game that is expected to take place on Thursday July 7th at Park Hall Stadium, Owestry. This is subject to change so we ask supporters to refrain from committing themselves to any bookings for the moment. There will be no charter plan organised for this fixture.

The home tie is expected to take place at The Showgrounds on Thursday July 14th at 7pm. Again this is to be confirmed.

For supporters wishing to travel to the away leg, we ask you to await confirmation before booking as there is no guarantee what the away support allocation is at the moment.

The club will notify supporters of any further updates as soon as possible.

Tickets for the home leg will be on sale as follows from the front office at The Showgrounds. (Front Window beside Turnstiles)

• Tomorrow, Wednesday June 15th: Season Ticket Holders Only 10.30am – 4pm

• Thursday and Friday June 16th and 17th: General Sale 10.30am – 4pm

• Saturday June 18th: Finn Harps home game from 6.30pm at club merchandise shop.

It will be the first ever meeting of the clubs in what promises to be a great occasion at both legs with plenty of interest around the tie all day.

Bala are currently out of season, after finishing their league campaign in in 2nd place in the 2021/22 season.

Clinical and efficient would best describe Peamount Utd as they made a worthwhile visit to the Showgrounds today where they picked up three valuable Women’s National League points with a 5-0 win against Sligo Rovers.

Stephanie Roche (two) and Alannah McEvoy in the first-half, an own goal from Amy Roddy and a Roche penalty in the second-half accounted for the tally in what was an impressive display by the Dublin side.

Orna O’Dowd and Gemma McGuinness were absent for the Bit O’Red through injury on a day when Steve Feeney’s side needed their strongest starting 11.

Stephanie Roche headed Peamount into a seventh minute lead as the Dublin side dictated the early exchanges and she added a second in the 12th minute.

It was all Peamount at that stage and it could have been worse for the hosts as Aine O’Gorman shaved the woodwork soon after on two occasions.

On the half-hour mark Peamount made it 3-0 when Alannah McEvoy headed home after a series of corners, but to their credit Sligo Rovers countered and went close when Fiona Doherty’s speculative effort from the right hit the crossbar.

Aine O’Gorman was narrowly off target again in the 40th minute while at the other end a surging Kerri O’Hara run had the Peamount defence scrambling, but they cleared the danger at the expense of a corner.

The second-half was only two minutes old when Peamount pressure produced a fourth goal when the ball deflected off Sligo’s Amy Roddy and into her own net.

Despite that setback and despite constant Peamount pressure, Sligo kept a positive attitude and createda number of chances on the break without making any impact on the scoreboard.

Stephanie Roche completed her hat-trick when she converted a 72nd minute penalty and Peamount were never in any danger as they continued to create chances right up until the 90th minute.

Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Ruth Monaghan, Amy Hundman, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty, Amy Roddy, Katie Melly, Kerri O’Hara, Fiona Doherty, Lauren McLellan. 

Subs – Jessica Casey for McLellan 58 mins, Emma Hansberry for Melly 65 mins, Ciara Henry for O’Hara and Helen Monaghan for E Doherty both 75 mins

Peamount Utd – Niamh Reid-Burke; Lauryn O’Callaghan, Tiegan Ruddy, Dora Gorman, Sadhbh Doyle, Alannah McEvoy, Stephanie Roche, Aine O’Gorman, Keran Duggan, Tara O’Hanlon, Erin McLaughlin.
Subs – Michelle Doonan for Doyle 70 mins, Dearbhaile Beirne for Roche and Rebecca Carroll for Ruddy both 75 mins, Rebecca McMahon for McEvoy 85 mins

Referee – Mark Houlihan.
Asistant Referees – Chris Campbell, Martin Cuddihy.

Fourth Official – Damien McGrath  

Almost four months after Steve Feeney donned the manager’s bib and watched his Sligo Rovers side concede six goals against Peamount Utd in the Women’s National League, the Bit O’Red boss now has an opportunity to address that opening day reversal when the Dublin side visit the Showgrounds this Saturday.

Peamount subsequently lost the points after they were deemed to have fielded an ineligible player and that deduction could yet prove very costly as they bid to close the gap on runaway leaders Shelbourne.

The Bit O’Red take a three-game unbeaten run and three successive clean sheets into the game and manager Steve Feeney will be looking for another big performance from his side ahead of the mid-season break.

A cautious approach is now likely from Peamount after Sligo Rovers caused a major shock last weekend when they recorded a sensational 1-0 victory over high-flying Wexford Youths.

“Amy (Mahon) produced that brilliant penalty save against Wexford in added time, but the girls deserved that win for the effort they put into the game,” suggested the Sligo Rovers boss.

“It wasn’t just the penalty save, Amy made a number of top class saves throughout the game and she has been excellent since she come in for Kristen (Sample) who broke her arm in the game against Galway.

“The whole team was excellent, they were going as strong in the 90^th minute as in the first, Wexford put us under a lot of early pressure, but we stood up to them and we stayed in the game, when you do that, you always have a chance,” he added.

Peamount manager James O’Callaghan has a link with the Showgrounds as he featured for Sligo Rovers during the final part of the Dermot Keeley-era back in the 1992 /’93 season.

“I went on loan to Sligo Rovers from Shelbourne, when Dermot (Keeley) was in charge, but then Willie McStay came in, I suppose I just missed the team that went on to win the FAI Cup the following season,” he commented about his link with the club.

However, he will have only one target on Saturday, to get three points and Peamount will have plenty of reasons for optimism on that front.

They hit Cork City for seven last weekend which was a real statement of intent as they bounced back after a few tough weeks.

Peamount controlled that game from the start and were in front from the 14th minute through Stephanie Roche while Áine O’Gorman got the second and Sadhbh Doyle grabbed a brace to make it 4-0 at the interval. O’Gorman added two more after the break and substitute Michelle Doonan made it 7-0 in the 79th minute.

That result will have hosts Sligo Rovers on high alert and they will aim to absorb the early Peamount pressure and stay in the game as long as possible according to manager Feeney.

“We didn’t manage to keep a clean sheet in the first series of games, now we have three and the obvious target is to try for four, but it will be a serious test against Peamount,” he commented.

“They hit seven last weekend, they hit six against us in what was our first game in the WNL, we want to give a better account of ourselves this time around.

“Peamount have very good players, but we have improved from that opening game last March, we will find out how much improvement after 90 minutes, hopefully we can get something out of the game,” he added.

With no men’s fixture this week, we encourage all Bit O’ Red supporters to attend the game and support the team.

Gates open at 1pm with adult admission at just €5.

The draw for The Europa Conference League Round 1 Qualifiers takes place next Tuesday, June 14th in Nyon, Switzerland.

The Bit O’ Red have qualified for the second year in a row having secured a third place finish last season in The SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

Rovers are unseeded in the draw along with Derry City who qualified by finishing in fourth place last season.

There are 30 possible opponents in the draw which should be narrowed down to a smaller group around 24 hours prior to the draw itself.

At the moment our possible list of opponents are:

• Flora Tallinn (Estonia)
• Shkendija (North Macedonia)
• Riga FC (Latvia)
• Alaszkert (Armenia)
• Olimpija Ljubljana & NC Mura (Slovenia)
• Fola Esch (Luxembourg)
• Budnucost Podgorica (Montenegro)
• Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia)
• Dunajska Streda (Slovakia)
• Kukesi (Albania)
• Drita (Kosovo)
• Dinamo Minsk (Belarus)
• B36 and HB (Faroe Islands)
• Petrocub & Milsami (Moldova)
• Breidablik (Iceland)
• Gzira (Malta)
• Zaligiris Kowno (Lithuania)
• Bala Town (Wales)
• Tre Penne (San Marino)
• Saint Joseph’s & Europa FC (Gibraltar)
• Crusaders (Northern Ireland)
• Pogon & Lechia (Poland)

Ties are expected to be played on July 7th and 14th with these dates to be confirmed following the draw.

The home leg will be an all ticket game at The Showgrounds with a kick-off time of around 7pm expected. Season Tickets and Associate Sponsor tickets are not valid and both will be given a priority window where they can purchase tickets before general sale. We expect our home leg not to change from a Thursday evening kick off.

The away leg kick off date and time will be confirmed shortly after the draw following discussions with our opponents so we urge supporters not to book your travel until the date and time is confirmed officially as the Thursday’s are provisional only.

The club will also be assessing all travel options which would include a shared charter with supporters if viable. Details if this is or is not happening will follow shortly after the draw.

Sligo Rovers caused a major shock at The Showgrounds today when they recorded a sensational 1-0 victory over high-flying Wexford Youths in the Women’s National League with Amy Mahon saving a 93rd minute penalty from Kylie Murphy, writes Conall Collier.

Second-placed Wexford made the journey to Sligo on Friday night for the crucial game against Sligo Rovers at a sun-drenched Showgrounds.

However, that was as good as it got for Wexford as they were undone in the 67th minute when Emma Doherty gave the Bit O’Red the lead in the 67th minute.

Wexford had a 93rd minute Kylie Murphy penalty saved by Sligo keeper Amy Mahon to keep the lead intact.

The opening exchanges were fast with chances at each end as Amy Mahon saved from Wexford’s Kylie Murphy and her opposite number, Maeve Williams denied Gemma McGuinness.

Wexford looked the more likely to score and continued to press.

Orlaith Conlon had a good chance in the 15th minute, but Mahon was well-placed to make the save while Sligo’s McGuinness threatened on the counter-attack.

Midway through the half some enterprising play from Lauren Boles earned a corner that the Wexford rearguard cleared and as the pace picked up again Wexford had a great chance when Ciara Rossiter broke through.

However, Rossiter’s  effort was capably dealt with by Amy Mahon as the hosts displayed tremendous determination to stay in the game.

Then, close to the interval, the Bit O’Red squandered an excellent chance when Lauren Boles blazed over from inside the six-yard box and that meant the teams went in scoreless at the interval.

Wexford dominated the early second-half exchanges and Edel Kennedy had a 51st minute header narrowly off target, a feat that was repeated by Emma Doherty at the other end when she directed a Paul McGrory cross the wrong side of the post.

Wexford continued to ask questions of the Sligo rearguard, but Orna O’Dowd and Amy Roddy stood strong and the hosts hit the front in the 67th minute.

Sligo substitute Kerri O’Hara chased a long clearance, but Wexford ‘keeper Mave Williams raced out of the area to clear. Emma Doherty pounced on the loose ball and from about 30 metres floated the ball into the Wexford net.

Wexford upped the tempo in an effort to find an equaliser and while they created lots of chances they were frustrated as efforts from Ellen Molloy and Ciara Rossiter were cleared.

Then, Wxford got that break in the 93rd minute, but Mahon denied Murphy with an excellent save.

Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Orna O’Dowd, Amy Hyndman, Gemma McGuinness, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty, Amy Roddy, Fiona Doherty, Paula McGrory, Jessica Casey. Subs – Kerri O’Hara for Casey 59 mins; Ruth Monaghan for O’Dowd and Katie Melly for F Doherty both 74 mins, Lauren McLellan for McGuinness and Aoife Brennan for McGrory both 85 mins.

Wexford Youths – Maeve Williams; Orlaith Conlon, Della Doherty, Lauren Dwyer, Kylie Murphy, Edel Kennedy, Ellen Molloy, Ciara Rossiter, Maebh Russell, Nicola Sinnott, Siun Murdiff. Subs – Emma Donohoe for Dwyer 25 mins, Teegan Lynch for Murdiff 88 mins

Referee – Michael Connolly.
Assistant Referees – Richard Storey, Keenan Deering.
Fourth Official – Marc Lynch.

The first of two home games in a week will give the Sligo Rovers players a big incentive to make a statement in the Women’s National League as they host second-placed Wexford for a high-noon showdown on Saturday and then it’s Peamount the following week before a mid-season break.

Wexford visit the Showgrounds for a must-win tussle against a Rovers side that they defeated 2-0 in late April.

However, that was a hard-earned home win for the Wexford women who grabbed the lead in the 38th minute through Becky Watkins, but they had to wait until the 81st minute for a second goal when Ciara Rossiter finished after Kylie Murphy’s initial shot was blocked by Kristen Sample, who remains on the injured list.

Last weekend Wexford negotiated Athlone Town and that 2-1 victory pleased manager Stephen Quinn.

“Orlaith Conlon had a good game and scored a great goal against Athlone, we knew it was going to be a serious battle and they came back at us after we went 2-0 up,” he commented.

“We have two games now until the break, starting with Sligo Rovers this weekend and then Shelbourne the following week, we need good performances and hopefully we will get the results,” he added.

Ellen Molloy got the crucial second Wexford goal last weekend soon after the break, her 11th of the season, and that helped extend an unbeaten run to five games, they will be aiming to make it six at the Showgrounds on Saturday.

While Sligo Rovers will face a serious test, Steve Feeney’s side go into the game bidding to make it three unbeaten after last Saturday’s scoreless draw with Treaty that saw impressive young goalkeeper Amy Mahon keep a clean sheet for a second successive week.

Feeney was able to take the positives out of last Saturday’s scoreless draw against bottom-of-the-table Treaty Utd at the Market’s Field.

“We didn’t show our best form against Treaty and that was a bit frustrating, but despite that we still got something out of the game and we kept a second clean sheet,” stated Feeney.

“I couldn’t fault the commitment or effort of the players against Treaty, but it was one of those games.

“We brought Jessica (Casey) in a right back as Pixie (Kerri O’Hara) missed out through injury, I thought Jessica was excellent, Sarah (Kiernan) came in at left back for Amy (Hyndman) and she also did well.

“Both Jessica and Sarah have come up through the under-age teams with the club and it was great to see the performances they put in against Treaty,” he added.

Looking to the game against Wexford, the manager is well aware of the challenge that his team will face this time.

“Wexford are a good side, one of the big three, but when we went to Ferrycarrig Park we probably stood off them a bit too much in the first-half and were more in the game in the second-half,” he stated.

“We will be aiming to make it difficult for Wexford and we will be aiming to get something out of the game, it’s a great challenge for us and a chance to show what progress we have made,” he added.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce the appointment of John Russell as the new Senior Men’s Team Manager on a contract until the end of 2023.

The 37 year-old had taken the team on an interim basis for our previous two fixtures with a win over Derry City and a draw with UCD last Friday night in Dublin and will take the team in an official capacity as Manager this afternoon at training as the team begin preparations for the remainder of the season.

Russell’s first competitive game in charge will take place against Finn Harps on June 18^th at The Showgrounds at 7.45pm.

The Galway native enjoyed an 18 year-long playing career in which he made over 130 appearances for the Bit O’ Red in three spells starting in 2010, signing for Paul Cook from Galway United. The signing proved to be a major part in the club’s success in his first two seasons at the club, with Russell winning The FAI Cup & EA Sports Cup in 2010 and another FAI Cup in 2011.

Russell then departed for St Patrick’s Athletic at the end of the 2011 season, going on to win a league title in 2013 before returning to Rovers in the 2014 season under then manager Ian Baraclough. John played for four seasons, winning The Setanta Sports Cup in 2014 and being part of the team which won away to Rosenborg on a famous night in Trondheim in The Europa League later that summer. He departed at the end of 2017 to take up a full-time coaching and development role with the FAI as Regional Development officer for Sligo/Leitrim.

Russell became First Team Assistant Manager before the start of the 2019 SSE Airtricity League season, a position he has held until today.

Russell said:

‘’I am privileged and honoured to be appointed as first team manager of Sligo Rovers.

Sligo Rovers is the heartbeat of the community and I want all the supporters to know that I am determined to improve this team. I have a clear vision and strategy for the club going forward.

I know first-hand the quality of players we have in our dressing room. This group has a real willingness to learn and improve. It’s an exciting time to be following Sligo Rovers with the league games resuming, European Football next month, and the FAI Cup around the corner.  We are all looking forward to the challenges ahead’’.

Club Chairman Tommy Higgins:

‘’We are thrilled to make this announcement this afternoon. After a rigorous recruitment process, we are fully satisfied that John is the right man to take us forward and lead us on our journey over the coming season and a half at least.

John knows the club inside out and has a great work ethic and passion for the club which stands out and his in-depth knowledge of our Academy, the local community and club as a whole, which will help him over the coming weeks and months.

John is a very driven individual and has shown great leadership in just a short time as interim manager. We are excited and looking forward to our future with John at the helm’’.

John will be holding a press conference on Friday at The Showgrounds where he will be introduced to local and national media.

Despite being only 21, New Zealand striker Max Mata has already racked up his fair share of air miles having played in his native country, Switzerland, Estonia and America. It was after finishing his season with Real Monarchs in the States that he got the call about playing in Ireland and he had no hesitation in signing:

“My agent called me to say that there was interest from a club in Ireland which turned out to be Rovers. I didn’t really have to think twice about it as I wanted to get back to Europe as I felt it was better for my career in general and that there were more opportunities for me there. So I made the decision straightaway to sign. I didn’t know much about Ireland to be honest, I had met a few Irish people before but I guess I didn’t really know what it would be like. I didn’t know it was going to be as cold as it is!”

New Zealand are well represented with Mata joining up with his compatriot Nando Pijnaker but didn’t get a chance to speak with Ryan DeVries who had left the club just before he signed:

“Yeah I had heard that Ryan played in the League of Ireland but didn’t actually speak to him about the club before I joined. It was awkward timing as he had left just before I signed so I never spoke with him but do know that he played here for two seasons and did some damage which was good. The situation with Nando was that his club were sending him out on loan for the second time. He was obviously looking to go somewhere he would get game time and where he would be given a good opportunity. And he has gotten that here and is playing well and proving that he is a good player. So far it has been going perfectly for us; we are both settling in and get the chance to do things off the pitch together. We actually both played together briefly at Grasshopper in Switzerland. We were there together for half a season but the season was cut short by COVID.”

Mata started off his career in New Zealand playing with his local youth side before signed by A League team Wellington Phoenix. He was also playing under-age with his country and his performances for them brought him to the attention of a number of sides in Europe including Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Zurich:

“Yeah I started off with Wellington Phoenix. I didn’t come up through the ranks with them but was asked to sign for them when I was 15. Then I moved to Eastern Suburbs who are a professional club in New Zealand to get more game time. I played under-age with New Zealand as well and it was playing for the U-17’s at the World Cup that I got spotted by Grasshopper. They basically offered me a trial and brought me over for a month and told me that they wanted to sign me. I missed the transfer window deadline for the end of July so went home and came back over in November and stayed there for a month and then signed in January. It was definitely difficult to settle into life in Switzerland as there was the language barrier which made things difficult in terms of getting around. Anytime I went to do anything there were always problems unless the person spoke English which wasn’t that uncommon but it isn’t their first preference as they are not as comfortable speaking it. It was a big culture shock and a different type of football for me which made it worth it.”

Mata found his first team chances limited with Grasshopper but found his feet when he was loaned out to Estonian side Nomme Kalju as he scored 12 goals in 20 games for them and also played for them against Celtic in an Europa League qualifier:

“I got the chance to go on loan with Nomme Kalju in Estonia and this was something I wanted as I was hoping to get more game time. I had been in preseason with Grasshopper to get ready for the new Swiss season and joined Kalju halfway through their season as theirs was a Summer one. I came in at a good time as they were playing Champions League qualifiers and then Europa League ones as well as their League matched so it was back to back games. It took a little while to adapt to their culture but when it clicked then I started scoring goals and was hungry for more. At the end of my loan move Kalju were interested in signing me but Grasshopper weren’t interested in letting it happen. It got to a point then where it was made pretty clear to me that I have no shot of making the first team squad. I wanted to play in a professional league and the chance to play in America popped up and it was everything I was looking for. Unfortunately things didn’t go as well as I would have hoped although there were some positives for me to take from my time with them.”

Now starting to settle into life in Sligo, Mata had impressed in his opening weeks of the season with a brace against UCD and a goal against Dundalk to add to some other all around good performances. Since then a calf injury sustained against Finn Harps has hampered his receent weeks but he is keen to get back on the pitch to help Rovers and also to earn his way back into the international side for whom he has one cap:

“I’ve scored three goals and we had a decent start to the season and have a good bunch of players here and a good staff and there are a lot of good people working for the club as well. I enjoy the whole community in Sligo because everyone knows everyone and that’s quite cool. I know I have to keep working hard and give 100% effort and hopefully take my chance when it comes and help the team to win matches. Those who watch football don’t watch training and only get to see you and what you can do when you play. Being out on the pitch is the most fun thing in life, nothing beats playing football. It’s all I want to do. I want to play more international football but getting picked for the squad is predominantly based on form so that means I have to find my feet here and start scoring lots of goals which will give me the best chance to back into the squad which is definitely something that I want to do.”

Mata will once again be available for selection in our next game with Finn Harps at The Showgrounds on June 18th.

Another busy weekend for our academy teams has just concluded with each of our six teams all in action.

It started on Saturday with our Under 17 Men’s team at home to Dundalk at The Sean Fallon Centre. A goal from Kyle McDonagh was only a consolation in a game that ended 3-1 to the visitors.

Our Under 14 team lost 2-1 to Derry City away from home with Jamie O’ Malley scoring for Alan Farry’s side.

Our Under 17 Women’s team were beaten 2-1 at home to Peamount with our only goal scored by Ella Vahey.

Conor Langan’s goal for our Under 15’s wasn’t enough as they lost out 3-1 at home to Shelbourne on a Sunny Sunday afternoon at Sean Fallon Centre.

Our Under 19 men’s side faced a long journey south to Blarney to play Cork City at 3pm. Kailin Barlow scored twice to add to an own goal from the hosts to secure a 3-1 win.

In Tallaght our Under 19 Women’s team were defeated 5-0 by an impressive Shamrock Rovers team.