By Conall Collier
Almost three years to the day when he was first appointed, Steve Feeney has returned to the Showgrounds as manager of Sligo Rovers for the 2025 Women’s Premier Division season.
“I decided to take a break at the end of the 2023 season and that gave me a chance to recharge the batteries,” commented Steve this afternoon.
“When I was contacted about the possibility of taking on the role again, I decided to give it a go, I suppose I missed the involvement with a team playing at a good level and I’m really looking forward to it now,” he added.
Steve was handed the task in November 2021 of assembling a team for the club’s inaugural season in the 2022 Women’s National League.
He duly assembled a panel of players for the 2022 season and after a hectic settling in period, that first game was a daunting trip to west Dublin to tackle Peamount Utd.
Despite losing that encounter, the Bit O’Red boss was able to adopt a positive demeanour on what was a historic occasion for the club in March 2022.
“Some of the goals we conceded were down to mistakes, but Peamount scored a couple of very good goals also, we will benefit from the game,” he commented on the sideline at PRL Park only minutes after the final whistle.
Two weeks later and the Sligo Rovers boss was celebrating a first win at senior level for the team when victory was achieved at Turner’s Cross against Cork City.
“The girls proved to themselves that they can be competitive, it’s not just me telling them, they got the win, they scored two goals, it doesn’t mean we are going to win every game from now on, but to get the first victory in our third outing was definitely a big positive,” he commented after that result at the end of March 2022.
Now, he is ready to return to the fold and take the reins again with as much, if not more, enthusiasm with the added benefit of the experience gained in those first two seasons.
“The season just finished was a difficult one for the team, but what I noticed most was that the determination and spirit was still there, similar to my first two seasons, the players never dropped their heads and kept going for 90 minutes in every game,” explained Steve.
“Towards the end of the season they started to get the results that some of the form they had displayed earlier in the season deserved and they also made it to the semi-final of the FAI Cup again.
“I didn’t see every game, but from what I did see, it was encouraging and there was great evidence of the amount of talented players coming through from the Academy.
“It was a fantastic season for Keeva Flynn and I was delighted to see her get recognition with the FAI under-17 International player-of-the-year award yesterday at the presentations at the Aviva Stadium.
“I’ll be busy for the next few weeks organising my backroom team and contacting the players for the new season which will probably start in early March, but I’m really looking forward to it,” he concluded.