Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that Avenue Mould Solutions are our new Main Sponsors to our Under 17 Women’s team until the end of the 2023 season.

Located in Finisklin, Avenue specialises in the design and manufacture of plastic injection moulds, product development, scientific moulding and contract manufacturing for leading medical device, diagnostic, and pharma OEMs.

Our Under 17 Women’s squad are over half-way through their 2022 season in The National Underage League and took on Cork City away from home today in the first outing of their newly branded kit.

As part of the sponsorship, Avenue will have two pitch-side signs placed at The Showgrounds and Sean Fallon Centre as well as access to players for different promotional purposes throughout the length of the contract.

Avenue General Manager Ricardo Silva:

“Avenue – A Nolato Company are very proud to be a part of our local community. We are extremely happy to secure this new partnership with Sligo Rovers and we look forward to help, inspire and empower young women as they progress through their football career. We’re excited to be involved and look forward to the years ahead.”

Sligo Rovers Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady:

‘’We are extremely grateful to the guys at Avenue who are coming on board to support us with this sponsorship.

‘’The company employ a lot of local people in their base at Finisklin and are showing their support to the community once again with this sponsorship. It’s important for all our Academy teams to have a sponsor and it’s very much appreciated by all the players and staff of the club’’.

We’d like to thank Ricardo, Gerry and everyone at Avenue for their support and we look forward to working with the company in the coming months.

Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce the signing of 18-year-old goalkeeper Anais Coyne.

The American joins the Bit O’Red having opted to make the move to Ireland instead of playing college football in her native US.

Coyne, originally from Texas, has just finished school and made the decision to move to Ireland to play football having kept a close eye on the Women’s National League for the last number of years. Coyne played high school football with Mansfield Legacy High School and played for her club BKSC.

“I had the choice of playing college soccer in the US, but ultimately I decided to forego that and come to Ireland instead because I thought it would be a cool opportunity to come here. Family circumstances brought me here too,” she told sligorovers.com

Coyne added:

“I am excited about the challenge ahead. I enjoy the training a lot. Especially the goalkeeping portion, I think Kristen (Sample) is a really good coach. And I really like the goalkeepers I’m working with as well”.

Coyne made the move to Sligo a month ago and is enjoying life here so far, even if it is a big change. She is hoping that she can develop her football and feels that joining Rovers is the right fit.

“With college soccer in the US you have four or five years and that’s it. With me, it’s sort of about staying in the sport for as long as I can and developing along the way.”And this feels like the right opportunity for me.”

Coyne will be available for selection in the matchday squad for Saturday’s league game at The Showgrounds against Bohemian FC.

We have five Academy games this weekend between Saturday and Sunday with four teams on the road around the country and just our Under 19 Womens team at home on Sunday afternoon.

Our Under 14’s travel to face Finn Harps at 2pm tomorrow in Donegal.

Our Under 17 Womens team face the long journey south to take on Cork City at 2pm in Mayfield.

On Sunday we have two Under 19 games with our Mens team away to UCD from 3pm and our Under 19 Women at home to Galway at The Sean Fallon Centre at 4.30pm.

Also on Sunday, our Under 15’s face Klub Kildare in Tougher Park at 2.30pm.

There is no Under 17 Mens game this weekend.

#bitored

Sligo Rovers women host Bohemian FC at The Showgrounds on Saturday as the sides clash for the second time in a week, with the visitors winning last weeks Womens FAI Cup game 3-1 in Dublin.

“The first-half last Saturday in the Cup game wasn’t at the level that I know we can produce and Lauren (Boles) got us back into the game early in the second-half,” stated Sligo Rovers manager Steve Feeney.

“We were better in the second-half and grew into the game a bit more and limited Bohs to very few chances.

“We have to play Bohs in our next outing this weekend at the Showgrounds and that will be an ideal opportunity for the girls to produce a 90-minute performance and if we can do that, then we have a chance.

“It won’t be easy, but it will be a good test of our ability to bounce back from what was a disappointing result the last day,” he added.

Seven days on from that 3-1 FAI Cup quarter-final victory at Dalymount Park, Bohemian FC travel to tackle Sligo Rovers In the Women’s National League (WNL) in the first game in the final round for the hosts with the teams sitting seventh and eighth respectively.

In terms of statistics, the Dublin women have an unbeaten record to maintain and they will also be anxious to maintain a push up the table in pursuit of DLR Waves in sixth.

However, Bohemian FC are two points adrift of the Waves and have a game more played following a scoreless draw with defending champions Shelbourne in a rescheduled game at the beginning of August.

For last Saturday’s Cup tie Abbie Brophy was the main tormentor of the Sligo Rovers rearguard and she caused major problems.

She gave the Dublin side a well-deserved 14th minute lead and soon after he hosts hit a second from a penalty, but an own goal on the stroke of half-time left it almost mission-impossible for the Bit O’Red.

Lauren Boles got her side back into contention early in the second-half with a fine piece of finishing and for the remainder it was end-to-end without any more goals.

Sligo Rovers can boast a victory against Shelbourne in their last WNL outing and they will take confidence from that despite a below-par first-half performance against Bohs in that FAI Cup quarter-final.

Eighteen games into their inaugural WNL season, Sligo Rovers have shown that they can compete and beat the best on home turf as they also shocked high-flying and now second-placed Wexford at the Showgrounds earlier this season.

A victory against Bohemian FC would be a good way to start the final series in the WNL.

We host Viking FK on tonight at 7pm at The Showgrounds in The Europa Conference League.

We outline all our Match Night information below:

Turnstiles:

Turnstiles open from 5.30pm. The game is completely sold out with no admission without a ticket and no cash taken on the night.

Duplicate tickets will be recognised via our scanning system and those with a duplicate ticket will be turned away and banned from attending future matches.

Please have your tickets ready with your barcodes showing at the gate to fasten up the entry process.

Seating:

Seating is first come, first served in all areas of the ground. Seats with names on them must be respected as these are Gold Season Ticket members who have paid for their seat to be reserved all season. Anyone found sitting in a seat that is not theirs will be asked to move.

Security:

Members of our security team will carry out on the spot checks on bags and persons entering the ground. Alcohol and Pyrotechnics are not allowed and will be confiscated on entry. We ask supporters to please help the club in this regard and refrain from attempting to get in with any prohibited items.

CCTV:

CCTV is again in operation throughout the evening using our Brand New state of the art CCTV system. Security personnel and An Garda Siochaina will be monitoring the system and anyone found to be behaving in a way which contravenes our ground rules will be removed and potentially banned from attending future games.

Car Parking:

There are limited spaces available at The Showgrounds astro turf car park. This will be closed once full, which is expected to be early in the evening. Supporters should note the club have come to an agreement with Nazareth House for official Match Night use of their grounds which has over 200 parking spaces. There is a charge of €2, with proceeds towards the upkeep of their grounds.

Pitch:

It is an offence to enter the field of play at any stage. This includes children. It is parent/guardian’s responsibility to ensure children do not encroach on the pitch at any time.

We wish to thank all supporters for their support in recent weeks and for the atmosphere created both at home and away.

We thank you for your co-operation

Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce the signing of Welsh Underage International Cameron Evans who last played for Swansea City until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Evans, 21, also spent a season on loan at Waterford in 2021, appearing 35 times for The Blues so he comes as no stranger to The League of Ireland.

The defender made his Senior debut for Swansea in an FA Cup game against Stevenage in 2021 and moved on loan to Waterford soon after, gaining experience at Senior Level which the defender says has stood him well:

‘’I am happy to be here at Sligo Rovers.

‘’My experience at Waterford was a good one because I was playing games. I played 35 times for them and even though the season ended up differently than we had wanted, I still enjoyed my time in Ireland so when the chance came to come back I jumped at it.

‘’From playing against Sligo Rovers a couple of times I know the type of football club I am coming into and I can’t wait to get started.

‘’John has shown great faith in me and I am looking to pay that back and make an impression here and keep the team going in the right direction for the rest of the season’’.

Manager John Russell is delighted with the latest addition to his squad:

‘’I am delighted we’ve secured the signing of Cameron Evans.

‘’He is a player who has come up through the Swansea Academy and is a Welsh Underage International.

‘’Cameron had experience in our league before where he impressed during a loan spell at Waterford.

‘’He is a young ambitious player who will bring a lot of quality to our team. We’re all looking forward to working with him’’.

Evans is expected to be part of the Rovers squad on Sunday for the first time as we take on St Patrick’s Athletic in Inchicore in The SSE Airtricity League.

Rovers currently lie just one point off Pats with a game in hand.

Sligo Rovers can confirm defender Garry Buckley has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury which will see him out for the rest of the 2022 season and also a large part of 2023.

The injury occurred in last week’s defeat to Viking FK in The Europa Conference League Third Round Qualifier First-Leg in Stavanger in a challenge with an opponent.

Buckley arrived at Rovers ahead of the 2020 season from Cork City and appeared mostly as a midfielder in his first season at the club.

Since then, he has made the move back to the centre of defence and has impressed on many occasions becoming one of the stand-out defenders in the league, signing a contract extension in 2021 to keep him at The Showgrounds until the end of 2023.

The injury comes at an important time in the season as we continue in Europe and look ahead to the remaining games of our League season and Buckley will prove a big loss to John Russell’s squad.

The club will help Garry over the coming months and support him off the field and we look forward to seeing him in the Bit O’ Red shirt again next season.

John Russell:

‘’We’re all devastated for Garry.

‘’He is a leader within our group and a player of immense quality so we will miss him on the pitch for the rest of this season.

‘’As a club we will do everything to support him on his road to recovery.

‘’It’s a tough moment right now for Garry but I know he will come back fitter and stronger and the fans can look forward to seeing him back on the pitch at some point in 2023’’.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce the signing of Eanna Clancy on professional terms until the end of the 2024 season.

Clancy has been a regular at Academy level in recent years after signing for Rovers from Sligo/Leitrim club Manorhamilton Rangers.

The 18 year-old made his Bit O’ Red debut against UCD recently, coming on for Shane Blaney before making his full debut in last week’s FAI Cup match against Wexford FC at The Showgrounds.

Clancy has been a consistent performer at Academy level in recent seasons, coming through our Under 17 and 19 sides before signing as a professional for the first time today.

It brings to eight, the number of players currently in the First Team Men’s squad that have developed through our underage system to sign professional terms at the club. Other former players such as Johnny Kenny, John Mahon and Edward McGinty have also been through the same player pathway and have now been transferred to other clubs having made their name in the Rovers’ senior set up.

Bit O’ Red Manager John Russell expressed his delight at Eanna’s signing:

‘’I am delighted that Eanna has signed his first professional contract at the club.

‘’It’s a proud moment for him and his family.

”Eanna is an Irish Schools International and a player of huge potential.

‘’He has already made two first team appearances and is a player I know will improve and develop within our first team environment’’.

With over 120 players currently playing in our Academy, at both male and female levels, it shows these players that there is a proven pathway at the club with Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady and all Academy coaches producing and developing talent and First Team Manager’s John Russell and Steve Feeney bearing the fruits of this with good quality young players coming through to their squads.

After signing his first professional contract today, Clancy told of his happiness to get the deal done:

‘’I am very happy to have signed for the club today. It is my first professional contract and it is something that I have worked hard for in the last few years.

‘’It is a great club here and it just goes to show that if you work hard and do well in our youth teams that you’ll be given a chance to progress and make it with the seniors.

‘’There are many other young players who have gone through this Academy and done well with the First Team so I want to do the same and keep progressing and keep improving.

‘’To make my debut lately was really special for me and my family and I look forward to making many more appearances here at Sligo Rovers.

‘’It’s important too for my local club Manor Rangers who have been a great help to me down the years. All the coaches and volunteers out there are so good and so hard working, I am happy that a player like myself can develop and come in and play for such a big club like Sligo Rovers’’.

Eanna will be part of this Thursday’s Europa Conference League squad for our Third Round Qualifying Second-Leg tie with Viking FK at The Showgrounds.

Sunday evening saw 5th place take on 6th in The SSE Airtricity League as Sligo Rovers hosted Bohemians at The Showgrounds.

The Bit O’ Red weren’t long back from Stavanger in Norway following Thursday night’s First-Leg defeat to the Norweigans and manager John Russell was without a host of key players going into the game.

Garry Buckley, Adam McDonnell, Lewis Banks, Colm Horgan and Seamas Keogh all missed out through injury however Greg Bolger returned to make his first start since June having recovered from a heel injury.

Karl O’ Sullivan slotted into the back four and Nando Pijnaker came in beside Shane Blaney at centre back in place of Garry Buckley.

Frank Liivak started on the right and Max Mata was among the subs having played over 90 minutes in total as a substitute in Thursday’s game against Viking.

The game started slowly with no major chances created by either side. Rovers went close through Aidan Keena and the visitors tried their lick on a few occasions but there was nothing to trouble Rovers’ keeper Luke McNicholas.

There were four bookings in the first half with Paddy Kirk and Shane Blaney booked for Rovers and Liam Burt and Declan McDaid being shown a yellow each for Bohs.

John Russell made two half time substitutions with Greg Bolger and David Cawley replaced by Robbie Burton and Max Mata.

This gave Rovers a little more in attack and the hosts started the half the brightest with long periods of possession only for that to be undone on the counter attack as Bohs took the lead through John O’ Sullivan, shooting low past McNicholas on 54 minutes.

Ten minutes later though, Rovers were level. Aidan Keena found space and clipped a lovely through ball to Mata and the New Zealander made no mistake, blasting home into the far corner of the Bohs net.

Two minutes later and Mata was at it again. Will Fitzgerald’s cross from the left was knocked down into Mata’s path and he controlled it on his chest and scored with a strong left footed effort past goalkeeper Tadhg Ryan to give Rovers a deserved lead.

Aidan Keena almost got in on the act with 18 minutes remaining. Great play down the left from Paddy Kirk saw him skip inside his man and run along the end line before finding Keena who’s powerful effort was saved by Ryan.

The visitors tried to push forward and manager Keith Long made a number of changes as the half went on but in the end Rovers saw the game out well and earned a valuable three points on a tough afternoon at The Showgrounds.

Next up is our Europa Conference League Second Leg tie with Viking with the score currently 5-1 to our opponents following the First Leg.

Kick off is 7pm and the game is sold out.

Our Academy teams were in action on Saturday and Sunday with three home games taking place and two teams travelling to Derry and Dublin respectively.

Our Under 14’s played out a 1-1 draw against Derry City on Saturday afternoon, Jamie O’ Malley with the Rovers’ goal.
We wish goalkeeper Gareth Cummins a speedy recovery after picking up an injury in the game.

Also on Saturday, our Under 17 mens team defeated Bohs 2-1 at home thanks to goals from Daniel Kelly and Shea Malone.

Our Under 17 Womens team lost 2-1 to DLR Waves at The Sean Fallon Centre on Saturday evening. Ella Vahey with the only goal.
Sunday saw both Under 19 teams in action. Our Mens team lost 3-0 at home to Galway United at MacSharry Park while our Under 19 Womens team drew 1-1 away to Bohs.

Katie Maguire had given Rovers the lead but the hosts equalised late on.

On Tuesday night our Under 17 men’s team travel to take on Athlone Town at 7pm in Lissywoolen.

#bitored