Sligo Rovers take on Wigan Athletic tomorrow (Monday) at 12 Noon at St. George’s Park in England where the Senior Men’s squad have spent the last three days at a pre-season training camp with thanks to Petstop Discount Warehouse.

The game will be Rovers’ second pre-season game after Friday’s 5-1 win over Fleetwood Town.

John Russell used 21 players in Friday’s game and will be expected to do the same again tomorrow with all of the squad getting some match fitness with the new SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division season just under four weeks away.

The squad return to Sligo tomorrow evening and have two further friendlies this coming weekend as we take on Athlone Town away from home on Friday night and travel to Westport to take on Galway United on Saturday at 2pm

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce the re-signing of youngster Alice Lillie to our Senior Women’s squad for the 2023 SSE Airtricity Womens Premier Division season.

Lillie, from Ballinafad, came through our Under 17 and 19 teams in the last two seasons and made her Senior debut at The Showgrounds under Manager Steve Feeney. The talented defender arrived at The Showgrounds following spells at local clubs Strand Celtic and Arrow Harps.

The Ursuline College student is a current Irish international and has been involved with The Republic of Ireland regularly over the last couple of seasons.

Manager Steve Feeney is happy to have Lillie back on board again:

‘’Alice is a great prospect. She done really well anytime she trained with us and, she deserved her chances to play some minutes last season.

‘’She is still young and we will look to increase those minutes this season but for her, she’s still developing and will be a key player for us in the coming years’’.

The Bit O’ Red team are now back in pre-season training as the squad prepare for the start of the season on March 4^th against Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds.

Alice says she is thrilled to be back for the new season:

‘’I am delighted to sign with Sligo Rovers for the upcoming season.

‘’I have been here for two seasons with the Academy and I am very grateful to everyone at the club who have helped me and given me this opportunity to be with the senior squad.

‘’I am really looking forward to the new season working with Steve, his staff and the rest of the squad where we will be all challenged to achieve our potential.’’

Rovers have a pre-season friendly at The Sean Fallon Centre next Saturday afternoon at 5pm against Athlone Town. The game will be free to attend.

Season tickets are now on sale for just €50 for the new season. You can buy your season ticket online via the link below:

https://srfcdirect.com/season-tickets-2023/?ftredirect=1

Men’s team Season Ticket holders can avail of a Women’s Premier Division Season Ticket for half-price by presenting their season ticket to The Showgrounds office anytime before March 4^th.

Sligo Rovers host Shamrock Rovers on Saturday February 18^th at 7.45pm at The Showgrounds in the opening game of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division season.

This is an all-ticket game and a sold-out crowd is expected, with demand for tickets already at an all-time high for our opening fixture of the season.

With Season Tickets now nearing our highest ever tally, meaning over a thousand seats will already be allocated as well as an allocation of 500 tickets to Shamrock Rovers in the Jinks’ Avenue Stand, we advise supporters to get tickets early. Shamrock Rovers tickets will be organised through our opponents.

This means there are just over 2000 tickets remaining for Bit O’ Red supporters and these tickets go on sale from Saturday morning, January 28^th at The Showgrounds from 10am to 4pm.

We will also have tickets on sale on Sunday, January 29^th from 10am to 4pm.

Season Tickets will also be on sale on the day, and we encourage supporters to buy your season tickets for 2023 and join us on our journey as a Community-owned club, as we start our 2023 season in front of a bumper Showgrounds crowd.

Children Under 12 can avail of a Super Red Season Ticket which allows them access to every game, a Sligo Rovers training top, a signed birthday card and entry to our 2023 Super Red Open Day on February 11^th at The Showgrounds, where they will meet the Bit O’ Red team.

This is a Category One fixture and tickets are priced as follows:

• Adults: €20
• Senior Citizen/Student/Under 16’s: €15
• Children Under 12: €5

The Rovers team began their pre-season schedule yesterday evening with a 5-1 win over Fleetwood Town in England which begins a weekend training camp at St. George’s Park, home of the English FA.

John Russell and his staff will put the squad through their paces over the weekend with training a number of times on Saturday and Sunday before the trip ends with a friendly against Wigan Athletic Under 21’s at 12 Noon on Monday.

Our first domestic friendlies take place on Friday and Saturday next when we take on Athlone Town at 7.30pm and Galway United at 2pm in Westport respectively.

Car parking is available at The Showgrounds on Saturday and Sunday for supporters who are purchasing their Shamrock Rovers tickets.

At the moment, there are no online sales available for the fixture. This will be reviewed after next weekend however, it is unlikely there will be availability after that.

Our 2023 Women’s Premier Division is now six weeks away and we are delighted to launch our Women’s Season Tickets ahead of the new campaign.

Tickets are priced at €50 for the full season, with access to every Bit O’ Red home fixture at The Showgrounds.

Under 18’s remain free of charge in 2023 so these tickets are for Over 18’s.

Sligo Rovers Women’s home games will take place at 5pm on Saturdays this season.

You can buy your Season Tickets here via the link below:

https://srfcdirect.com/season-tickets-2023/?ftredirect=1

Those supporters who have purchased a Men’s team Season Ticket for 2023 can take their ticket to The Showgrounds offices anytime before the season opener against Shamrock Rovers on March 4th and get their Women’s Senior Season Ticket for half price at €25

Sligo Rovers began pre-season with a win over Fleetwood Town on Friday evening in England, with John Russell’s side running out 5-1 winners thanks to goals from Cillian Heaney, Max Mata, Daniel Lafferty, Johan Brannefalk and Fabrice Hartmann.

The Bit O’ Red were due to face Stoke City at Clayton Wood in Stoke before the game was unfortunately cancelled due to heavy snowfall in the area.

There were first starts for James Finnerty, Daniel Lafferty and Bogdan Vastsuk with John Mahon also starting after his signing from St. Johnstone last weekend. Karl O’ Sullivan started at right back. Luke McNicholas returned in goal following his ankle injury at the end of 2022 and Sean McAteer was given his first start at senior level partnering Greg Bolger and Vastsuk in midfield. Academy graduate Cillian Heaney started on the left with Frank Liivak on the right and Aidan Keena in attack.

Rovers made a bright start with Aidan Keena latching onto a through ball down the left and breaking into the penalty area, seeing his shot stopped by the Fleetwood goalkeeper.

Moments later Rovers did score. Keena played Frank Liivak in down the right hand side and the Estonian’s cross was met by Cillian Heaney at the back post and the man from Westport made no mistake, steadying himself before placing the ball in the top corner from 12 yards.

Rovers kept good possession and created a couple more half chances as the half went on but it was 1-0 at the break.

John Russell made nine changes at half time with all bar Lafferty and McAteer making way for Conor Walsh in goal, Johan Brannefalk, Eanna Clancy, Nando Pijnaker at the back, Lukas Browning and Kailin Barlow in the middle and Will Fitzgerald, Max Mata and Fabrice Hartmann up front. David Cawley was brough on sixty minutes as he continues his recovery from a hip operation in October. Niall Morahan wasn’t risked on the all-weather facility as he also continues his recovery from a recent ankle injury however he could feature on Monday.

The second half started well for Rovers with Max Mata converting a penalty in the 47^th minute.

Daniel Lafferty scored his first goal for the club minutes later before Johan Brannefalk and Fabrice Hartmann got in on the act before 65 minutes to make it 5-0 to Rovers.

The hosts pulled a goal back from a corner with twenty minutes remaining but, the fixture proved to be an important workout for the squad and, we thank Fleetwood for giving us the opportunity to play the game at short notice.

A 22-man squad made the journey to The UK with the friendly being the start of a four-day camp overall, with training on Saturday and Sunday at The FA’s base at St. George’s Park in Burton-On-Trent.

The camp will end with a fixture against Wigan Athletic Under 21’s after our fixture with Nottingham Forrest was cancelled due to Forrest’s Under 21 side having a last-minute fixture change, meaning they now have a competitive fixture Monday evening after it was postponed on Friday.

Sligo Rovers will depart for a pre-season camp in St. George’s Park in England tomorrow, Friday which will last a total of four days, with the squad returning to Sligo on Monday.

Manager John Russell and his squad were scheduled to face Stoke City Under 21’s at their Clayton Wood training ground however, this fixture has been cancelled due to a frozen pitch at the venue after a heavy snowfall in the area overnight.

Instead, Rovers will travel to take on Fleetwood Town at 2.30pm on Friday afternoon in a behind closed doors friendly. The game will take place at Town’s Poolfoot Farm training ground.

The Bit O’ Red then travel South to Burton-on-Trent where they will spend three days on site at St. George’s Park, home of the English FA.

There will be a number of training sessions over the weekend with a game against Nottingham Forrest Under 21’s scheduled for 11am on Monday morning at the same venue before the squad fly home.

The trip has been kindly sponsored by our friends at Pet Stop Discount Warehouse

Sligo Rovers can confirm that the 2023 Super Red Open Day will take place in The Showgrounds on Saturday February 11th, from 3pm until 4.30pm.

This event is for 2023 Super Red members only.

On the day, our members will meet the first team squad, train with them, while also getting the opportunity to avail of pictures and autographs.

That day, all Super Reds will receive their 2023 season ticket and training tops.

We hope all of our Super Reds can join us on the day, in what will be a special occasion for our younger supporters.

If you would like to become a Super Red member for 2023, click here.

Your business can become an Associate Sponsor of the club for just €300 for a Season Ticket booklet that can be used to treat staff or customers to Sligo Rovers match tickets in 2023.

Each book contains 18 Match Tickets which can be used at any game this season.

Sponsors also receive a space in our Match programme and wesbite as well as a window sticker for your business to show you support the club in 2023.

BUY: https://srfcdirect.com/2023-associate-sponsor-book/?showHidden=true

Sligo Rovers will take on Galway United at United Park in Westport, home of Westport United on Saturday, January 28th in a pre-season friendly.

The game takes place at 2pm and all proceeds will be going towards Galway based charity, ACT for Meningitis.

Westport United will also hold a ceremony before the game, in memory of former player Adam Mulchrone, who sadly passed away from Meningitis four years ago, with the Mayo club’s pitch to become the Adam Mulchrone Memorial pitch.

Supporters in attendance will be asked to make a donation of their choice rather than paying a set entry fee.

It will see a return to Westport for their former players Cillian Heaney and Conor Walsh who are now part of The Bit O’ Red squad having signed for the our Under 15’s from the Mayo club.

Sligo Rovers can confirm that defender Gary Boylan has sustained an ACL injury in training this week which is expected keep him out of action for the majority of the 2023 season.

We will now support Gary in his recovery over the coming months and our thoughts are with him.