Our 2023 Annual Draw will take place on Saturday September 16th at The Showgrounds during half-time of our fixture against UCD.

With two weeks until the draw, €50,000 has now been raised.

We wish to thank all our volunteer sellers who continue to go throughout the county and surrounding areas selling our €10 tickets.

The top prize is €5,000 followed by a €2,500 voucher for West Coast Orthodontics.

There are a number of other top prizes including a voucher for Petstop Discount Warehouse and hotel stays or match tickets.

We’d like to thank all our supporters and the general public for their support so far.

If you’d like to enter the draw, you can do so here:

https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-ticket/

New volunteer opportunities have become available within the Media and Communications team at Sligo Rovers Football Club. This role encompasses our League of Ireland Men’s and Women’s Premier Division teams and our Academy.

We are looking to welcome new volunteer Social Media Administrators to the existing team of volunteers that are responsible for the management of the Club’s official social and digital channels and Club website.

The ideal persons will have an interest in some of the following areas – sports, media, communications, social media or digital.

Experience in graphic design would also be advantageous. Those with experience in graphic design but who are not interested in applying to become an administrator can also apply.

The Social Media Administrators will assist with the implementation of the Sligo Rovers social strategy and content calendar and ensure the brand is consistent across all platforms.

The Social Media Administrators will co-ordinate, create, and schedule content for the club’s social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube and sligorovers.com, designed to engage and inform supporters.

In addition, the Social Media Administrator will help to support the delivery of match day content, including live updates on social, video content, match reports etc.

The ideal Social Media Administrators will be enthusiastic, confidential, hardworking, and flexible to the requirements of what is a voluntary position. 

The role may be best suited to students, graduates or those looking to gain practical experience in media, digital and communications, with a view to forging a career in the media, sports or communication industries.

The following attributes are desirable but not all are essential: 

• A keen interest in sports.
• Relevant third level course experience in media, digital, sports or communications.
• An interest in the League of Ireland and Sligo Rovers FC
• Familiarity with creating and scheduling content for Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube.
• Available on most match days (including pre- & post-match and evenings) for both home and away games that may fall outside normal working / college hours.

If interested in the volunteer role of Social Media Administrator, please send samples of work, if applicable, a CV or cover letter to: media@sligorovers.com  

Sligo Rovers return to action in the Women’s Premier Division (WPD) with the TG4 cameras returning to the Showgrounds for a big game on Saturday evening as the Bit O’Red prepare to host Wexford, 7.35pm, writes Conall Collier.

Steve Feeney’s side will be in a buoyant mood following last Sunday’s FAI Cup victory against Donegal side Bonagee Utd while Keeva Flynn was also called into the Republic of Ireland under-17s for a series of friendlies in Portugal this week.

The Wexford women will be fully-focused on the challenge they will face at the Showgrounds after last Saturday’s penalty shoot-out exit from the FAI Cup against DLR Waves. They shared six goals with the Dublin side in a thriller, but lost out on penalties.

That was a disappointing result for a Wexford side that had beaten DLR Waves the previous week on a 4-1 scoreline when the WPD action resumed after the mid-season break.

The Sligo Rovers players won’t read too much into the 11-0 victory that was achieved against Bonagee Utd in the FAI Cup as they were expected to win the game.

However, the margin of victory was a surprise and, in that sense, it reflected the latent talent of a Sligo Rovers squad that has struggled in the WPD this season with only one win achieved so far, a 2-0 win against Cork City at Turner’s Cross back in May.

One notable fact is the results achieved by each side against Shelbourne this season.

The defending champions defeated Sligo Rovers by 6-0 last May and then in June recorded a 5-0 victory against Wexford who had defeated Shelbourne by 1-0 a few weeks earlier with Rianna Jarrett the scorer.

At Ferrycarrig Park last March, the hosts defeated Sligo Rovers by 3-1, but the Bit O’Red claimed the goal-of-the-match when Sarah Kiernan hit a sensational 49th minute equaliser.

Kiernan won possession around midfield and from halfway lobbed Wexford ‘keeper Maeve Williams for a goal that cancelled Michaela Lawrence’s first-half strike.

There was also a setback for Sligo Rovers that day as they had to replace Casey Howe just before the interval after she picked up an ankle injury.

Wexford regained the lead in the 70th minute when Rianna Jarrett powered a header to the net and with 14 minutes remaining Emily Corbet added a third goal to seal the 3-1 victory.

Jarrett (two) and Ciara Rossiter scored the goals for Wexford in last Saturday’s FAI Cup tie against DLR Waves and that duo will be a threat again this weekend.

Wexford will be expecting to pick up three points at the Showgrounds, but a hard-fought contest is on the cards and the Sligo Rovers duo of Emma Doherty and Casey Howe will be eager to continue their goal-scoring exploits.

The game will be live on TG4 with kick-off at 7.35pm.

This weekend sees four games down for decision between Saturday and Sunday for the Sligo Rovers Academy.

Saturday afternoon sees our Under 17 Men’s team hosting Longford Town at 1pm at The Sean Fallon Centre.

Admission is free and all support is welcome.

Sunday will see three games take place, with our Under 15 side up first in Oriel Park against Dundalk at Noon.

At 1pm, at The Sean Fallon Centre our Under 19 Men’s side host Derry City in a North-West derby.

Our Under 19 Women’s side are on the road South to take on Cork City at 2pm at their Bishopsgate training centre.

Best of luck to all our players and staff this weekend.

Tickets for Sligo Rovers supporters making the journey to Turners Cross this Friday night at on sale now on the Cork City ticketing site.

To access the site, please visit the link below:

https://corkcityfc.ticketco.events/ie/ie/e/loi_cork_city_v_sligo_rovers

The game kicks off at 7.45pm on Friday evening.

Our Senior Women’s team have been drawn to face Bohemians away from home in the 1/4 Final of the Sports Direct Women’s FAI Cup.

The side progressed to the next round following Sunday’s victory at The Showgrounds over Bonagee United.

The game will take place on either Saturday or Sunday September 16th or 17th at Dalymount Park.

The League of Ireland’s Healthy Football League has been launched today with a chance of winning a total of €11,000 for the Club.

Participants simply download the Healthy Football League App (free of charge) and can then score points for the club by walking, running, or cycling. The app offers them the opportunity to record your running and cycling sessions by using the start-stop function.

Points are calculated based on the users’ BMI, the number of steps they have taken, the number of calories they have burned, and the distance that they have covered.

The Healthy Football League of Ireland app users will be rewarded with a variety of badges for certain performances related to steps that were walked, calories that were burned, or challenges that were created by their club.

Additionally, fans can see an overview of their daily and weekly progress, which will make it easier for them to improve on their current rates of physical activity. The points that were earned every day can also be checked on a daily and weekly basis.

We’ll keep supporters updated throughout the League and see how far up the table the Bit O’ Red can finish.

It was Cup weekend at Academy level across the country with four teams taking part in their respective Cup 1/4 Final’s.

Our Under 14 side were in action in an earlier round and an entertaining game saw them eventually lose out 5-3 after extra time.

Conor Whittaker continued his good goalscoring form with two goals and Ryan Cunningham added another.

The game took place at the brand-new Summerhill College all-weather facility.

Our Under 17 Men’s team were defeated 7-0 at home to Shelbourne on a difficult afternoon in the Cup 1/4 Final.

On Sunday, our Under 19 Men’s team had a tricky tie away to Shamrock Rovers. The game ended 2-1 to the hosts. Our goal came from an OG and it could have been different if Rovers’ had taken a couple of good opportunities throughout the game.

Our Under 15 side lost 3-1 against Bohemians at Summerhill College, with our only goal coming from Daire O’ Connor.

Our Under 19 Women’s team were defeated 4-2 against Dundalk at The Sean Fallon Centre with goals from Eimear McIntyre and Katie McGuire.

There was a proud moment for Keeva Flynn on Sunday as she made her first start for our Senior Women’s team in their 11-0 win over Bonagee United.

Keeva now departs for Portugal to join up with the Republic of Ireland Under 17 Women’s team for three friendlies against Poland, Scotland and Portugal with the first game taking place on Wednesday against the Poles before games against Scotland (Saturday) and the hosts, Portugal on Tuesday week.

Five goals apiece from Emma Doherty and Casey Howe helped Sligo Rovers advance to the quarter-finals of the Women’s FAI Cup with an 11-0 victory against Donegal neighbours Bonagee Utd at the Showgrounds this afternoon, writes Conall Collier.

Substitute Amy Hyndman also found the net late in the second-half as the Bit O’Red completed a memorable afternoon in what was also a first FAI Cup win.

The victory and the 11-goal tally will provide an invaluable confidence-boost for the Sligo Rovers women who have found the going tough this season in the Women’s Premier Division (WPD) as they now turn the focus to next Saturday’s live TG4 game against Wexford.

This was a historic occasion for the Bit O’Red, a first home game in the competition and a first victory following last season’s narrow loss to Bohemian FC at Dalymount Park in the club’s debut season at senior level.

It was also a notable outing for Donegal Women’s League champions and FAI Amateur Cup finalists Bonagee Utd as a mother and daughter featured in the starting 11, Catherine Fletcher between the posts and daughter Katlyn in an outfield role.

Bit O’Red manager Steve Feeney made one change to the team that started against hosts Athlone Town last weekend as the action resumed in the WPD.

Keeva Flynn came in to make her first senior start for Kate Nugent while Sarah Kiernan, who limped out of the action after 34 minutes against Athlone last week, was able to take her place in the starting 11.

The hosts made the best possible start with Emma Doherty finding the net inside a minute and it got better soon after from Casey Howe’s eighth-minute effort made it 2-0 to the Women’s Premier Division side.

The Sligo Rovers women continued to create chances and the effort and determination was rewarded before the mid-point of the half when Emma Doherty grabbed her second goal of the afternoon.

Howe claimed her second goal soon after and then Doherty completed her hat-trick in the 30^th minute.

Bonagee eased the pressure on a couple of occasions in the opening half and won a number of corners, but close to the interval they were almost caught out by a quick counter-attack from the hosts as Doherty brought a good save out of Catherine Fletcher.

Sligo Rovers resumed on the front foot and Doherty added two quick goals to take her tally to five and give the hosts a 7-0 advantage.

Howe then completed her hat-trick with a great strike before the hour mark while at the other end Bonagee’s Katlyn Fletcher was denied by a smart Bonnie McKiernan save.

The goal-hungry hosts continued to surge forward and Howe added two more for a five-goal haul and substitute Amy Hyndman also hit the target to make it 11-0.

Sligo Rovers – Bonnie McKiernan; Alice Lillie, Keeva Flynn, Sarah Kiernan, Leah Kelly, Jodie Loughrey, Eimear Lafferty, Katie Melly, Keri Loughrey, Casey Howe, Emma Doherty. Subs – Lauren Boles for Lillie and Kate Nugent for Flynn half-time, Ciara Henry for Doherty and Amy Hyndman for J Loughrey both 60 mins, Michaela Burke for McKiernan 73m

Bonagee Utd – Catherine Fletcher; Siobhan Sweeney, Zara Shortt, Catherine Greer, Eimear Sweeney, Amanda Callaghan, Katlyn Fletcher, Mollie Page, Keevna Heron, Bronagh Gallagher, Deborah Kerrigan. Subs – Natalie McFadden for Kerrigan 59 mins, Rachael Bogan-Alison for Gallagher 70m.

Referee- Michael Connolly.

Assistant-referees – Alan Dunne, Keenan Deering.

Fourth official – Ryan Maher.

Conall Collier had a chat with Niall Morahan for an interview that was included in the match programme for Sligo Rovers v Shelbourne last Saturday evening.

Leitrim Village is home for Niall Morahan and by his own admission, it’s not a very big place.

However, Niall has made a little bit of history in 2019 as the first beneficiary of the innovative IT Sligo (as it was then) Scholarship Programme in conjunction with Sligo Rovers.

Fast-forward four years and Niall has completed his exams at the newly-branded ATU Sligo last May with a Level 7 qualification in Business Management.

“My parents encouraged me to pursue my education after I finished secondary school at Carrick-on-Shannon CS, I wasn’t particularly eager at the time, but now I’m glad they pushed me in that direction,” explained Niall.

“The initiative between the College (ATU) and the club (Sligo Rovers) was a tremendous benefit and it certainly helped me in my career choices.

“I wanted to play for Sligo Rovers, but I also was able to get good advice from my parents and from the club and also from the people in ATU.

“It was fairly demanding, combining study and football, doing it successfully, you have to be able to deliver on a couple of fronts. 

“I can say now that full-time football and full-time studying was a new experience, but I was able to adapt with assistance from so many people, for that I am very appreciative,” he added. 

Niall joined Sligo Rovers at 15 years of age in 2015.  He played for Sligo Rovers under-17s, captained the under-19 side and signed his first professional contract in 2018. 

Niall made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland under-19s in 2019 and was a member of the squad for the European qualifiers and European finals in Armenia 2019.  

He scooped the first Wehrly Bros Jewellers Player of the Month award for the 2020 season and in November 2021 he signed a two-year contract with Sligo Rovers that will take him up to the end of this season.

A full-time professional footballer from Leitrim with a mother whose brother won a Connacht SFC medal in 1994. All the ingredients for a successful career at the Showgrounds.

Niall takes up the story:

“Emlyn Mulligan was a Leitrim man who played for Sligo Rovers and I think Keith Byrne played a bit for Longford Town, but I might be the first full-time professional from the county, maybe someone will correct me on that, I’m not sure,” he suggested.

“There aren’t that many teams in Leitrim, there is Manorhamilton Rangers and then there is Carrick Town, they would be the main ones, but it’s great to see so many young players coming through now with the development of under-age football.

“The usual other sports provide alternatives, Gaelic football and hurling, rugby, and of course the population of Leitrim has to be taken into consideration also.

“I played with Carrick Town up until under-14 and then I made the move to Strand Celtic in Sligo.

“I had been going to Sligo at that stage anyway for the Emerging Talent Programme (ETP), I started that at under-12, Donagh Oates and Packie Lynch were the men in charge.

“Some of the other Leitrim lads were beginning to drift away, but I wanted to keep playing and Strand Celtic were good enough to give me the chance as there was a possibility that Carrick mightn’t have a team.

“I had played in the Kennedy Cup for Sligo / Leitrim when I was with Carrick Town, but then when I moved to Strand Celtic, I had the chance to play up an age group and that’s what I wanted to do.

“There were trials at the Showgrounds for Sligo Rovers under-age teams and I got the chance to go from Strand Celtic, I was 15 at the time and I made the selection for the under-17s, I was delighted with that.

“I made my debut for the under-17s against Mervue Utd, it was a real step up from the Sligo / Leitrim League, it was a great experience and I really loved it, just what I wanted at the time,” he recalled.

Regarding the urging by his parents about staying in education, Niall explained that he always got great support from his dad (Michael) and mum (Orla) and his sisters, Dara and Niamh.

“My sisters would have played Gaelic football with Allen Gaels in Drumshanbo, I also played with the club until under-14 level,” he said.

“Gaelic football was big on my mum’s side of the family, her brother won a Connacht SFC medal with Leitrim in 1994, but my dad (Michael) played for Carrick Town.

“I made my debut for the Sligo Rovers senior team against Limerick in 2018 as a substitute and my first start was a bit later that season against Shamrock Rovers in the Showgrounds.

“My first game in Europe, that was another step up in standard, it was against FH (Iceland) in 2021 and then there was the European games last year, great nights for the supporters and memorable from my perspective.

“The target has to be ‘more of that’ as playing in a European competition has so many benefits for everyone involved with the club.

“Looking at the current season, the morale in the dressing room is good, I can honestly say that we have a good group of players and it will come right, but we need it to come right fairly soon, we are all aware of that.

“It’s very frustrating, I can understand that it’s frustrating and disappointing for the supporters, but it’s even more so for the players. 

“I come away from a game and I know that we have played well and haven’t got a result. The only way I can deal with that is to not get too high when things are going well and not get too low when it’s not going well.

“We have to dig in and start grinding out a few results, it’s certainly not down to a lack of effort and determination, we have a good group of players.

“We have players coming back from injury and that will be a big boost for everyone and then we have Pedro (Martello) in as a striker.

“You have to take into account that it will take a few games before we are all on the same wavelength. Pedro’s a good guy and I’m sure he’ll start getting the goals which is just what we want.

“It was disappointing that Max (Mata) and Luke (McNicholas) left the club, but we would all like to see them doing well, that’s the way it is in football. If a player gets a chance, he has to take it as it’s a relatively short career.

“Conor Walsh stepped up and he’s a very good goalkeeper and we have Richard Brush there as well, he is very experienced and he also showed how good he was last season when he stepped in when Luke was injured.

“I have played in a few different positions this season, centre-back, right-back, left-back, all due to injuries to other players, it’s made it very difficult for everyone.

“On the other side of the coin, I’m just glad to get a jersey every week, if I have to play in a different position every week, I’ll take that and do the best I can,” he concluded.