Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce the signing of defender James Finnerty who joins the club as a free agent following his departure from Bohemians at the end of the 2022 SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division season. Finnerty signs until at least the end of the 2023 season.

Finnerty was on loan at Galway United for the second half of the 2022 season, helping the Tribemen to a spot in the First Division play-offs.

The 23-year-old joined Aston Villa in 2015 from his youth career at Belvedere in Dublin.

Finnerty returned to Ireland for a spell with Bohemians at Dalymount Park where he made over 60 appearances.

Sligo Rovers Manager John Russell is delighted to have Finnerty on board:

‘’I’ve been monitoring James for a while.

‘’He’s a player who caught my eye when he came back from England in 2019.

‘’James is a ball playing centre back who is very comfortable stepping into midfield and creating overloads. He’s quick and aggressive and exactly the type of defender I like.

‘’He comes to us at a really good stage in his career. He’s played a lot of games in this league while also experiencing European football.

‘’We’re all excited to start working with him’’.

The Bit O’ Red return to pre-season in just over two weeks as Russell starts preparations for the season opener against Shamrock Rovers on February 18^th at The Showgrounds.

The Meath born defender Finnerty is excited to join John Russell’s squad:

”’I am delighted to sign for Sligo Rovers.

” I’m looking forward to meeting all the lads and starting pre-season in January.

”I knew straight away after meeting with John the plans he has for the club going forward that this was the place I wanted to play my football next season and, the style of play and having a proper game plan is something I’m looking forward too.

”The Showgrounds was always a tough place to come and I can’t wait to play in front of the fans”.

Finnerty is the 21^st signing ahead of the 2023 season and joins Daniel Lafferty, Johan Brannefalk, and Lukas Browning as new players from last season.

Pre-season preparations are at full pace in recent days and weeks as John Russell and his Management team put together a busy training and friendly schedule throughout January and February.

Season Tickets for the new season can be ordered now on www.srfcdirect.com

The Sligo Rovers Christmas store opens all weekend at Barton Smiths and all the way up to Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow sees a meet and greet session at 1pm in store where supporters have the opportunity to meet members of the Men’s and Women’s teams for photos and autographs.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that Jessica Casey has re-signed for The Bit O’ Red until at least the end of the 2023 season.

Casey has come through our Academy and made a number of appearances in 2022, mostly at right-back, impressing throughout.

Jessica is a native of Charlestown and attends St. Attracta’s College in Tubbercurry and was part of the school’s Connacht Title winning squad earlier in 2022 who were then narrowly beaten in the All-Ireland Semi-Final.

Casey was a regular starter for our Women’s Under 19 team last season and will continue to play for both the Under 19’s and First-Team in 2023.

Manager Steve Feeney:

‘’It is great that Jessica has signed with us for next season.

‘’She is a real up and coming talent in the club and we are enjoying seeing her progress to date.

‘’Jessica will be an important part of our squad next season and hopefully for years to come.

‘’It shows the importance of the work being done in our Academy that these players can step in for the first team at any time and not look out of place. She had some very good performances for us last year’’.

Our 2023 fixtures were released earlier today and, the team will host Shamrock Rovers on the first day of the season on Saturday, March 4^th at The Showgrounds.

Casey is delighted to be part of the squad again:

‘’I am thrilled to sign for the 2023 season for Sligo Rovers.

‘’We established ourselves well last year and are more than capable of competing against the top teams in the country.

‘’I have no doubt Steve and the Management team will push us to our potential against next season.

‘’It is great for the club to see more Academy players graduate and advance to the first team squad’’.

Rovers have been tasked with a tricky away tie in our second game of 2023 with a trip to Wexford Youths Women on March 11^th followed by back-to-back home games against Peamount United and Treaty United at The Showgrounds.

Women’s first-team Season Tickets will go on sale for just €50 from January which gives you access to every kick of the ball in 2023.

The 2023 SSE Airtricity Womens Premier Division fixtures have been announced today as we head into our second season in the Division, almost one year on from our League debut back in March 2022.

Our first fixture is a game against newcomers Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds on Saturday March 4th at 5pm.

5pm on Saturday will become our new kick off time for all home fixtures in 2023. The decision was made to help grow attendances as we felt supporters might have a better opportunity of attending games at this time, rather than at 2pm during the day.

Our second fixture is a long trip to face Wexford Youths Women at Ferrycarrig Park a week later, on March 11th.

We then have two home games against Peamount United on March 18th and Treaty United on March 25th.

There is a mid-season break around the Womens World Cup with no games scheduled between June 11th and August 19th.

Our final game before the break will see Galway United, taking over from Galway Womens FC this season, travel to The Showgrounds on June 10th and we will travel to Athlone Town on August 20th in our first game following the break.

The season finale will see the side take on Peamount United at PLR Park on November 11th.

The 2023 Womens FAI Cup starts with first round games scheduled for week-ending August 26th 2023.

Womens Season Tickets will go on sale from January and are priced at just €50 per person or €25 if you bring your 2023 Men’s Season Ticket to our offices to purchase your Women’s one.

The 2023 SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division fixtures have been announced in full this afternoon from the League office.

As announced on Monday, Rovers will host Shamrock Rovers on Matchday One at The Showgrounds on February 18th.

Next up for John Russell’s side will be a trip to take on UCD at The UCD Bowl on February 24th followed by another away game, this time away to Drogheda United on March 3rd.

St. Patrick’s Athletic will then visit The Showgrounds on Saturday March 11th in our second home game before a trip to Derry City on St. Patrick’s Day.

The mid-season break begins after we play Shelbourne in Tolka Park on June 9th and there will be no fixture on weekending June 18th.

The league resumes on Friday June 23rd when we travel to UCD for the second time.

Our final game of the 2023 Season will be away to Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium on November 3rd.

There are just three mid-week games scheduled at present with trips to Shelbourne in April and St Patrick’s Athletic in May included as well as Shamrock Rovers visiting The Showgrounds on Monday June 5th.

The FAI Cup begins in July with the first round scheduled for weekending July 21st.

Today saw another two fixtures released for both our Men’s and Women’s First Teams by the League of Ireland department.

John Russell’s Men’s First Team will take on UCD at The Belfield Bowl on Friday June 23rd 2023 at 7.45pm in what will be the first round of fixtures following the Men’s mid-season break earlier in the month,

Steve Feeney and his Bit O’ Red Womens team will take on Athlone Town away from home following the break for the Women’s World Cup, with the game taking place at 7pm on Saturday August 20th 2023.

In squad news, Steve Feeney confirmed the signing of versatile player Leah Kelly, who stays at the club until at least the end of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Womens Premier Division season.

Full fixture lists for both our Men’s and Women’s teams are released tomorrow afternoon.

#bitored

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that Leah Kelly has re-signed for the club ahead of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division season.

Kelly was a regular in the Bit O’ Red team throughout the 2022 season before her season was ended late in due to a planned shoulder procedure on an injury picked up earlier in the season.

Kelly, from Templeboy joined the club at the start of the 2022 season having had spells with local club Strand Celtic and Ballina Town in Mayo.

Kelly was also a keen GAA player featuring for her local club and Sligo Ladies GAA.

Manager Steve Feeney is thrilled Kelly has signed:

“I am very happy that Leah has signed with us again for next season.

“Leah was very important to us last year and no doubt she’ll have the same influence on the team next season.

“She is versatile as well as being 100% committed both on and off the pitch”.

Leah is also happy to have re-signed:

“I’m delighted to re-sign with Sligo Rovers and I’m very grateful to Steve and the management team for including me in their plans.

“Last year was a great start but, I think as a team we want to push on and work on the foundations we started to build last season.

“I think there’s been so many positives for women’s football in Ireland this year so, it’s a great time to be involved and build on this momentum.

“Hopefully, my recovery continues to go well and I can get back on to the pitch as soon as possible”.

Rovers will start our season with a home tie against Shamrock Rovers Women at The Showgrounds on March 4th at 5pm.

Season tickets will be available in January for just €50.

You can buy our 2023 Home Womens shirt online with Worldwide delivery via the link below:

www.srfcdirect.com

The League of Ireland today announced another set of fixtures in both the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Men’s and Women’s Premier Divisions for the 2023 season.

The fixtures are set to be played on St. Patrick’s weekend in March.

On Friday, March 17th at 7.45pm, Rovers Men’s team will travel to face Derry City at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

This North-West derby will be our only derby in 2023 after Finn Harps were relegated from the Premier Division last season and promises to see a large travelling contingent of Bit O’ Red fans make the journey.

The following day, Rovers will take on Peamount United in the Women’s Premier Division at 5pm at The Showgrounds.

This will be the sides second home game of the season after yesterday’s announcement that we will host Shamrock Rovers two weeks before it on March 4th.

Season Tickets continue to sell well ahead of 2023, with all Men’s season tickets available now via the link below:

https://srfcdirect.com/season-tickets-2023/

Our 2023 Womens Season Tickets will go on sale in January and are €50 across the board.

Those who purchase a Men’s season ticket can avail of 50% discount on a Women’s season ticket by showing their Season Ticket in the club offices anytime before the start of the season.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that youngster Kerri O’ Hara has once again signed for the club ahead of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Womens Premier Division season.

Kerri, or Pixie as she is more commonly known was one of the standout performers last season in our first season at Women’s National League level.

The Tubbercurry native who attends St Attracta’s College was given her debut by Steve Feeney early in the season having progressed through our Under 17 and 19 Womens teams.

O’ Hara played in a number of positions throughout the season and was rewarded with a number of call-ups to The Republic of Ireland Under 19 Womens squad, most recently for a training camp in Waterford last weekend.

Bit O’ Red boss Steve Feeney is pleased that Pixie is once against on board next season:

‘’I am delighted to see Pixie sign again for next year.

‘’Every time she stepped on the pitch she played without fear and her talent is limitless and we are all very excited to see what her future in the game brings.

‘’She was deservedly called up to the International set up during the year and I am sure this is only just the start of her career’’.

Pixie also plays for her school’s team and was part of the squad that won the Connacht Junior title earlier this year, narrowly missing out on reaching the All-Ireland Schools Final after a close defeat in the Semi-Final.

O’ Hara is another product of Sligo Rovers Academy and played for our Under 17 side before progressing through to our Under 19 team and now becomes a main stay in our Senior squad.

The versatile midfielder is happy to be on board again:

‘’I’m delighted to have resigned for the 2023 season.

‘’Last season, we proved that we’re well able to compete in the Woman’s National League and we only want to push on going into next season’’.

The Bit O’ Red will begin the 2022 season with a home tie against Shamrock Rovers on Saturday March 4^th at The Showgrounds.

Season Tickets for the Women’s team will be on sale from January at just €50.

Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce that defender Ruth Monaghan has re-signed for the club ahead of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Womens Premier Division season.

Monaghan is from Sligo and was an important part of Steve Feeney’s squad in their first season at Women’s National League level making some key appearances throughout.

Feeney is thrilled at the announcement today:

‘’I am very happy to see Ruth involved with us once again next season.

‘’She is a quality defender and a good leader and a popular member of the group.

‘’She put in some great displays last year and we’re looking forward to working with her again in 2023’’.

The local was part of The Ursuline Convent Senior football team in 2019 that won the Connacht Schools Final and is now studying at ATU Sligo.

Ruth joins fellow senior players Emma Doherty, Ciara Henry and Lauren Boles as confirmed signings for next season with many more expected to be announced in the coming days.

Monaghan is grateful to be part of the squad again next season:

‘’I’m grateful for the opportunity to re-sign for Sligo Rovers for the season ahead.

‘’I’m looking forward to new challenges that the next season will bring, starting with our opening game against Shamrock Rovers at home’’.

The Bit O’ Red will begin the 2022 season with a home tie against Shamrock Rovers on Saturday March 4^th at The Showgrounds.

Season Tickets for the Women’s team will be on sale from January at just €50.

Our 2023 Womens season will get underway on Saturday, March 4th 2023 with a home fixture against Shamrock Rovers Women at The Showgrounds.

The game will take place at 5pm. This is our new kick off time in 2023.

Tickets for the game will go on sale soon and supporters should also note that 2023 season tickets are available as an add on to your Men’s season tickets for just €25.

Stand alone Women’s Senior team season tickets will be available for €50 from the new year.

https://srfcdirect.com/season-tickets-2023/

Bit O’ Red Manager Steve Feeney will see his squad report back for pre-season training in January ahead of the new season.