Sligo Rovers are seeking applications for the role as Head Coach of our Men’s Under 17 team for the 2023 season.

The position of Under-17 Men’s Head Coach is key to the ongoing development of our elite Academy players and will play a significant role in their development through this team and onto our Under 19’s and or Men’s Senior team. The role will provide valuable experience for the successful candidate of working with an elite group of players in a professional environment.

Job Description

– Help club achieve its vision to ‘Build a brand that is associated with excellence on and off the pitch for football, to be considered as an example of excellence and best practice, and one of the major developer of players within the country at academy, and eventually senior level’.
– The development and nurturing of a pool of elite players to facilitate their current and future success as individuals and as a team.
– Organise, plan and deliver a suitable player development programme in line with the FAI and Sligo Rovers coaching syllabus.
– Uphold the clubs code of conduct and implement club’s vision on and off the pitch.
– Set high standards for the players both on and off the pitch.
– Create and maintain appropriate communication with players / parents / clubs / leagues and any stakeholders relevant to the team
– To work with the media in any area regarding Sligo Rovers FC.
– Ensure the club adheres to FAI rules and regulations and competition rules. . 
– To ensure that all delivery satisfies the clubs safeguarding and welfare procedures 

Job Specification:
The ideal candidate will have skills and experience in the following areas:

Essential Criteria
– A current valid UEFA A Licence holder as a minimum.
– Successful candidate will be subjected to Garda vetting clearance. 
– Up to date Safeguarding 1 / Child Welfare Certificate.
– An ability to produce verbal and written reports.
– Access to both email and phone.
– Experience and enthusiasm for coaching and mentoring elite young players and coaches.

Desirable Criteria
– Administrative and organisational skills.
– Previous experience of coaching in female game.
– Coach mentoring experience.

Abilities / Skills / Knowledge: 
– Has the leadership ability to inspire a team to play to their maximum potential
– Ability to communicate and implement club’s philosophy as Head Coach.
– Excellent communication skills with the ability to build meaningful, strong strategic relationships with players, staff and officials.
– Understanding of learning, development and high performance with a proven ability to create optimum and challenging learning environments for players.

– Strong existing relationships within football in North-West.
– Must be available for games / training at weekends and evenings.

To apply for this position please email your CV with a cover letter by Monday, November 21^st at 5pm to Conor O’ Grady, Head of Academy, Sligo Rovers FC at ogrady.27@hotmail.com  

Our 500 Club Draw for August, September and October took place recently with thirty members being drawn out to win prizes totaling €4,200

Our 500 Club is one of the club’s most important fundraisers with over 500 members contributing just €20 per month to help towards the running of the club.

Earlier this season, the club began increasing awareness around the 500 Club and has been seeking new members to join. We have signed up over 100 new members since then and we continue to welcome those who wish to join.

To become a member you can visit https://srfcdirect.com/fundraising/500-club/ or contact the club through shane@sligorovers.com

The latest winners were Tony McGee (August), Pat McCormack (September) and Yvonne French (October). Each winner takes away €500.

Draw results:

August:

1^st: €500: Tony McGee, Tonaphubble, Sligo

2^nd: €100: Pat Devaney, Calry, Co. Sligo

3^rd: €100: Thomas Kilfeather, Grange, Co. Sligo

4^th: €100: Brena Kearins, Boyle, Co. Roscommon

5^th: €100: Andrew Dodd, Old Cartron, Sligo

6^th: €100: Joseph Gilmartin, Church Hill, Sligo

7^th: €100: Liam Loftus, Coolera, Co. Sligo

8^th: €100: Michael Leonard, Avoca, Blackrock, Dublin.

9^th: €100: Harry Clarke, Easkey, Co. Sligo

10^th: €100: Seamus Gallagher, Crossmolina, Co. Mayo

September:

1^st: €500: Pat McCormack, St Joseph’s Terrace, Sligo

2^nd: €100: Padraig McKeon, 690 Howth Rd, Dublin

3^rd: €100: Michael McTiernan, 33 Oakfield Crescent, Sligo

4^th: €100: Terence Leydon, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal

5^th: €100: Seamus Gilmartin, Grange, Co. Sligo

6^th: €100: Marian Howard, Tonaphubble Lane, Sligo

7^th: €100: Noel McLoat, Cleveragh Rd, Sligo

8^th: €100: Gary Morahan, Kevinsfort Heath, Sligo

9^th: €100: Danny McHugh, Ballindine, Co. Mayo

10^th: €100: Brian McNally, Westport, Co. Mayo

October:

1^st: €500: Yvonne French, Calry, Co. Sligo

2^nd: €100: Frank Feighan T.D, Strandhill Rd, Sligo

3^rd: €100: Joe Doherty, Maugheraboy, Sligo

4^th: €100: Gerry Monaghan, Riverside, Sligo

5^th: €100: Al Murphy, Pearse Rd, Sligo

6^th: €100: Barbara McLynn, Old Market St, Sligo

7^th: €100: Gary Kelly, Clongriffin, Dublin 13

8^th: €100: Griffin McManus, Malahide, Co. Dublin

9^th: €100: Paul Kilgallon, Stephen St. Co. Sligo

10^th: €100: Anthony Kilfeather, Dromahair, Co. Leitrim

Congratulations to all members who won a prize and we wish to thank all our 500 Club members and 500 Club committee for their continued support.

Be part of it, join The 500 Club

Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce that Darryl Keaney will take over the role of Under 15 Head Coach for the 2023 season.

Darryl is a young coach with a great knowledge of the game and has become an important part of our Academy staff having been Assistant Manager of our Under 14 team in 2022.

Darryl is from Sligo and a keen Bit O’ Red supporter and has been developing his coaching career at the club and has a bright future ahead of him.

Trials for our Under 15 squad for the 2023 season get underway tomorrow at The Showgrounds where Keaney will cast his eye over those in attendance.

Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady:

‘’I am delighted to have Darryl step up to the role of Under 15 Head Coach.

‘He is a really bright, up and coming coach at the club who has all the ingredients to coach at a high level.

‘Darryl built up a great bond with players and staff in 2022 and will continue to develop the players at Under 15 level in what will be a crucial year for them’’.

Speaking on his appointment today, Darryl said:

‘’It is a massive opportunity for me and, I am delighted to be on board as Under 15 Head Coach at Sligo Rovers.

‘’This is a great time to be involved in the Academy, as there is now a clear pathway for players to progress up the ladder and into the first-team.

‘’I am really looking to getting started’’.

Our Under 15 team continue to be sponsored by O’ Connor Cabins who are an important partner to our Academy and club in general.

Trials will now take place tomorrow with further preparations taking place between now and January, when pre-season will start for all Academy teams.

Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce that Colm Jinks will take over the role of Under 14 Head Coach for the 2023 season.

Colm has great experience in the game locally and nationally having played football for many years here at Sligo Rovers and with other League of Ireland clubs Athlone Town and Longford Town before returning to play local football here in Sligo.

Colm is currently the Football Facilitator at ATU Sligo and Head Coach of the Senior A Men’s team at the University, working with the best local and regional players. 

Colm returns to the club in a coaching capacity having previously worked at Assistant Manager for our Under 17 Men’s team and developing many of the players who have since broken into the first-team squad at the club and indeed further afield.

Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady:

‘’I am delighted Colm has joined as Under 14 Head Coach.

‘’Colm has a proven track record as a coach, he knows the club and has a vast knowledge of the best young players in the region.

‘’Having been previously involved with the Under 17’s, he played a big part in the development of the likes of Liam Kerrigan and Niall Morahan to name just two.

‘’The Under 14 age group is such an important one and the first entry point to the club and I feel Colm will fill this position well and help the club develop these players from a young age and set them up on their journey at the Academy’’.

Trials for the 2023 season begin this Saturday at The Sean Fallon Centre and Colm will get to work straight away as he looks to bring the best young players in the region to Sligo Rovers:

‘’I’m delighted to be offered the chance to be Head Coach of Sligo Rovers Under 14 squad next season. It’s great to be back in The Showgrounds again where I have being lucky enough to have worked with some fantastic players between 2014 and 2018 who came through our Academy and have gone on to play for Sligo Rovers, other clubs in the league and have made moves abroad.

‘’Assembling a new squad of players for the coming National League season is always challenging but one I’m looking forward to while making sure we get the best talent to represent Sligo Rovers on and off the pitch.

The club feel this is a very important age group for players to develop technically and build foundations for them to progress through the club’s pathway and hopefully one day into the first team’’. 

Colm will have a look at his prospective squad tomorrow at The Sean Fallon Centre as trials begin for the 2023 season. Players from all over the region will attend in the hope to sign ahead of next year.

Sligo Rovers Womens Manager Steve Feeney has been shortlisted for Manager of The Year for 2022, following his sides impressive first season at Women’s National League level.

Feeney took charge of Rovers last December ahead of the start of pre-season and has lead the side to a comfortable 8th place finish, finishing up with twenty points.

The squad was assembled within a number of weeks and compromised of players from both inside and outside the club with a number of current Under 17 or 19 players from our Academy being part of the squad.

Emma Doherty, our top goalscorer in 2022 with 11 goals, has been nominated for Young Womens Player of The Year for 2022 after an impressive season in front of goal.

Doherty has been capped at Irish Under 19 level throughout the season and was also part of a Republic of Ireland home based training camp back in the summer with Senior Manager Vera Pauw.

The awards will be presented to the eventual winners at the end of season awards night at The Gibson Hotel on November 24th.

Sligo Rovers are seeking applications for the role as Head Coach of our Women’s Under 17 team for the 2023 season.

The Bit O’ Red Under 17 Women enjoyed another strong year on the pitch in 2022 under then Head Coach Aaron O’ Connor, reaching the League Semi-Final where they lost to Cork City at The Showgrounds last month.

The position of Under-17 Women’s Head Coach is key to the ongoing development of our elite Academy players and will play a significant role in their development through this team and onto our Under 19’s and or Womens Senior team. The role will provide valuable experience for the successful candidate of working with an elite group of players in an professional environment.

Job Description

– Help club achieve its vision to ‘Build a brand that is associated with excellence on and off the pitch for women’s football, to be considered as an example of excellence and best practice, and one of the major developer of players within the country at underage, and eventually senior level’.
– The development and nurturing of a pool of elite players to facilitate their current and future success as individuals and as a team.
– Organise, plan and deliver a suitable player development programme in line with the FAI and Sligo Rovers coaching syllabus.
– Uphold the clubs code of conduct and implement club’s vision on and off the pitch.
– Set high standards for the players both on and off the pitch.
– Create and maintain appropriate communication with players / parents / clubs / leagues and any stakeholders relevant to the team
– To work with the media in any area regarding Sligo Rovers FC.
– Ensure the club adheres to FAI & Women’s National League rules and regulations and competition rules. . 
– To ensure that all delivery satisfies the clubs safeguarding and welfare procedures 

Job Specification:
The ideal candidate will have skills and experience in the following areas:

Essential Criteria
– A current valid UEFA B Licence holder as a minimum.
– Successful candidate will be subjected to garda vetting clearance. 
– Up to date Safeguarding 1 / Child Welfare Certificate.
– An ability to produce verbal and written reports.
– Access to both email and phone.
– Experience and enthusiasm for coaching and mentoring elite young players and coaches.

Desirable Criteria
– Administrative and organisational skills.
– Previous experience of coaching in female game.
– Coach mentoring experience.

Abilities / Skills / Knowledge: 
– Has the leadership ability to inspire a team to play to their maximum potential.
– Ability to communicate and implement club’s philosophy as head coach.
– Excellent communication skills with the ability to build meaningful, strong strategic relationships with players, staff and officials.
– Understanding of learning, development and high performance with a proven ability to create optimum and challenging learning environments for players.
– Strong existing relationships within women’s football in North-West.
– Must be available for games / training at weekends and evenings.
To apply for this position please email your CV with a cover letter by Monday, November 14^th at 5pm to Conor O’ Grady, Head of Academy, Sligo Rovers FC at ogrady.27@hotmail.com  

The final game of the Women’s National League (WNL) season as DLR Waves took the points with a comfortable 5-1 victory at the expense of Sligo Rovers.

The Bit O’Red handed out player of the year awards before kick-off in what was a historic inaugural campaign, Lauren Boles took the player of the year award and Emma Doherty scooped the young player of the year accolade.  

Both sides had early chances with Katie Malone firing over for DLR and Emma Doherty denied by Eve Badana at the other end, all in the opening five minutes.

DLR looked the more likely to score in those opening exchanges and in the ninth minute the home defence was exposed when Malone found some space in the penalty area and finished well.

The Bit O’Red created a chance almost immediately, but Emma Doherty hurried her shot and Badana saved comfortably.


The remainder of the half was well-contested with DLR enjoying periods or dominance, but failing to add to the tally while Sligo Rovers threatened on the break without creating any clearcut chances.

Katie Melly had a great chance to get Sligo Rovers back into contention in the 55th minute, but her shot produced a spectacular save from Badana and then DLR took control and went 3-0 in front.

Kate Mooney scored twice in the space of 10 second-half minutes, one from the penalty spot and one a fine individual effort before the hour mark, she completed her hat-trick in the 67th minute to give her side a comfortable 4-0 advantage.

Substitute Amber Cosgrove added a fifth for DLR with a super strike in the 79th minute before Lauren Boles found the net for the hosts seven minutes from time.


Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Orna O’Dowd, Amy Hyndman, Gemma McGuinness, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty, Katie Melly, Kerri O’Hara, Paula McGrory, Amy Boyle Carr, Aife Haran.
Subs – Sarah Kiernan for Hyndman, Aoife Brennan for O’Hara and Ciara Henry for Melly all 63 mins, Amy Roddy for Haran and Lauren McLellan for McGrory both 75m



DLR Waves – Eve Badana; Louise Corrigan, Fiona Donnelly, Kerri Letmon,
Katie Malone, Aoife Brophy, Mia Dodd, Jane McKevitt, Sophie Watters, Kate Mooney, Shauna Carroll. Subs – Carla McManus for Mooney and Robyn Bolger for McKevitt both 68 mins, Catherine Cronin for Carroll and Amber Cosgrove for Malone both 79m, Rugile Auskainyte for Badana 85m.

Referee – Marc Lynch
Assistant-referees – Darren Carey, Darren Corcoran,
Fourth official – Alan Carey.

Sligo Rovers ended our home season in this year’s SSE Airtricity League with a narrow 1-0 win over St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday night at The Showgrounds.

The win secures a top five finish for Rovers.

John Russell made two changes to the side that drew 0-0 with Derry City on Monday, with Greg Bolger and Colm Horgan replacing Robbie Burton and Shane Blaney respectively.

The game started with the visitors wasting a good chance for the opening goal. Nando Pijnaker overhit a back pass to Richard Brush and the goalkeeper was chased down by Pats’ striker Eoin Doyle who just couldn’t squeeze the ball home.

The remainder of the half was pretty even with both sides pushing forward as much as possible, the next best chance again probably falling to the away side as Chris Forrester went through one on one with Brush but his effort didn’t have the legs to roll over the line and Lewis Banks cleared.

Kailin Barlow went close for Rovers soon after but it remained scoreless at the break.

Seven minutes into the second half came the game’s biggest talking point. Aidan Keena dribbled into the penalty area and Paddy Barrett closed him down and was adjudged to have fouled the Rovers’ striker and referee John McLaughlin pointed to the spot and gave Rovers a penalty.

Keena picked himself up and blasted the ball high into the net to give The Bit O’ Red the lead.

With Dundalk ahead against Bohemians, St Pat’s knew only a win would do if they were to have any hopes of a top three finish. Tim Clancy pushed everyone forward for the last ten minutes but a combination of strong defending and good goalkeeping from Brush meant that Rovers never really came under a massive threat and saw out the game comfortably enough meaning John Russell’s side are now guaranteed fifth spot in the table.

We play our last game of the season away to Bohemians next Sunday at 7pm at Dalymount Park.

Our Academy Player of The Year awards were presented last night at our Senior Men’s game against St. Patrick’s Athletic.

The winners were:

Under 19 Men’s: Sean McAteer who was presented with his award by Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady. Sean has been impressive in midfield this season and has secured a scholarship at ATU Sligo, which began in September.

Under 19 Women’s: Katie McGuire was selected as Under 19 Women’s Player of The Year and presented with her award by Brian McIntyre from Overstock, who sponsor the team. Katie finished top goalscorer in 2022 for the team with an impressive 15 goals.

Under 17 Men’s: Daire Patton, who attends Summerhill College was the winner of this award. Daire was given the award by Bit O’ Red goalkeeper Luke McNicholas before kick-off. Daire plays in midfield and chipped in with a number of goals in 2022.

Under 15: Ballymote native James Lavin was the winner of our Under 15 Player of The Year this season. James is a strong tackling defensive player and impressed throughout the year with a string of good performances. James received his award from Luke McNicholas also.

Under 14: Jamie O’ Malley was our top scorer at Under 14 Level in 2022, scoring 8 goals competitively. Jamie picked up his award off Luke McNicholas also, just before the game.

We wish to thank all our Academy sponsors:

Ej Menswear

Ivor Parke Paintors and Decorators

Overstock

Avenue Mould

O Connor Cabins

Paul Gallagher

Sligo Rovers are aware of incidents which took place at half time during last night’s 1-0 win over St Patrick’s Athletic at The Showgrounds.

The incident has been captured on our CCTV cameras and we have identified a number of those involved and they will be subject to lengthy stadium bans.

The Showgrounds is a welcoming, family friendly stadium and incidents like this will not be tolerated and those involved in such incidents are not welcome at our club.

We wish to thank our supporters for their support of the club in 2022 and we will not allow our supporters’ fantastic reputation be tarnished by a minority of supporters who come to cause trouble.

Ends.