Buckley continues to blood in the land of Benbulben

In a conversation on League of Ireland teams of the decade 2010-19, it’s likely that Dundalk, Cork City and Shamrock Rovers will be the three names bandied about with fans of the respective clubs presenting strong cases based on relative league success throughout the years – added to some impressive results in Europe and silverware in the form of national cup competitions.

Certainly, all three, along with Derry City's multiple Cup wins (2012 FAI Cup, 2011+2018 League Cup) can claim to have had a great time in the 'Teens'.

However, only one side won the league, League Cup, Setanta Cup and 3 FAI Cups in the opening few years of the decade - Sligo Rovers and yet barely receive a mention. So, what happened to the Bit O' Red in the second half of the decade and how are they placed to begin the 2020 season?

Since winning the Setanta Cup in 2014, Sligo Rovers have had an interesting number of years in the silverware wilderness and have seen a number of players lift silverware with other sides in the League of Ireland – most notably Gary Rogers and Aaron Greene, while Alan Keane also pocketed a league medal while at Dundalk in 2016. Other members of the Setanta Cup winning squad also carved out a decent career in England, Seamus Conneely and Sean Maguire the two most prominent.

Following the success of the 2013 FAI Cup and subsequent Setanta Cup Final win, manager Ian Baraclough departed The Showgrounds in the summer of 2014 and is currently the manager of the Northern Ireland Under 21s, his defeated counterpart in the Final is, of course, the current Republic of Ireland Under 21 manager Stephen Kenny.

Baraclough's successor was John Coleman, who would later go on to manage Conneely at Accrington Stanley, and under his stewardship Rovers won their European tie against Lithuanian outfit FK Banga Gargzdai before succumbing to Norwegian powerhouse Rosenberg 4-3 on aggregate despite a 2-1 victory away in Trondheim.

The league season ended with The Bit O’ Red in 5th position, 19 points behind 4th place Shamrock Rovers and a number of players departed for pastures new. From the team, named by interim manager Gavin Dykes (who replaced Coleman at end of the summer) – which finished the 4-1 defeat at home to St Patrick’s Athletic to conclude 2014 – new manager Owen Heary selected only 3 for the 2015 season opener against Cork – goalkeeper Richard Brush, defender Danny Ledwith and midfielder David Cawley.

Gary Armstrong, who started in 2014, was amongst the substitutes against the Leesiders. Heary's new recruits were a mixture of returning Connacht men, in the shape of Galwegians John Russell and Stephen Folan, some experienced Dubliners – Keith Ward, Dinny Corcoran and Steven Beattie and a couple of high profile foreign imports- Estonian winger Sander Puri and ex Chelsea forward Morten Nielsen of Denmark.

The investment didn’t pay off and the legendary defender parted company with Sligo in the summer of 2015, with the Bit O’ Red on 12 league points, where he was temporarily replaced by Joey N'do and Gavin Dykes.

However, neither had the requisite coaching qualifications to take the reins until the end of the season. As such, the club appointed Englishman Mickey Adams and his assistant Alan Rogers with the remit to keep the club in the Premier Division and make progress in the FAI Cup. With experienced signings such as mercurial winger Jennison Myrie Williams and the return of explosive frontman Anthony Elding, the pair achieved their league objective and steered the club to a final finish of 9th and 31 points.



The Sligo board turned to another English man for the 2016 season, in the shape of former Peterborough United Academy manager and coach David Robertson. The ex Marine was tasked with the recovery of a club who’d fallen from the heights of league winners in 2012 to scrapping for their very survival in the league a few years later.

From the start, Robertson introduced a number of new first team players into the senior setup at Rovers with nine players debuting on the opening night against Shamrock Rovers- defenders Regan Donelon (still at the club) and Tim Clancy the only two retained from 2016.

New recruits included Kieran Sadlier (now at Doncaster Rovers) and current Rochdale player Jimmy Keohane, midfield tackling machine Craig Roddan and several loan signings from England- Phil Roberts, Janaai Gordon etc. Interspersed with these were locals Mikey Place, Raff Cretaro, Gary Boylan and Micháel Schlingermann (both Mayo). Paul Doyle and Mark Hannon moved up from the club’s Under 19s to both debut in 2016.

Within the Under 19s themselves, Killybegs man Brian Dorrian was appointed Manager of the Under 19s, replacing Ciarán Kelly and to be assisted by Raff Cretaro and Tim Clancy. The 2016 season saw Robertson's side return to the top half of the table, finishing 5th on 49 points and only one defeat in their final seven games saw them primed for the 2017 season.

Despite a difficult start to the season, which saw the side slump to a heavy defeat to Limerick on the opening night and pick up 5 points from their first 7 games, Robertson blooded more local youth with current first teamers Ballisodare man John Mahon, ex-Hibs stopper Ed McGinty and former Norwich and Orlando City defender Kyle Callan-McFadden (both Donegal), goalkeeper Shaun Patton (now Donegal GAA) and Jack Keaney (UCD) all making the first team squad in preseason and all bar the then Under 19 goalkeeper McGinty were in the opening night match squad. Those seven games were all Robertson was afforded before he was replaced by Ger Lyttle in the April.

Lyttle, another manager with history involving Peterborough having played there as a youth, arrived at The Showgrounds following a spell in charge of Cliftonville. The Belfast man introduced a number of short term signings to the club, including Benny Ighieon, Omar Haughton and Vinny Faherty, as well as the influential midfielder Scotsman Rhys McCabe who recently departed the club for St Patrick’s Athletic.



The 2017 season finished with Sligo Rovers in 9th place, tied on 39 points with 8th place St Pat’s. Departures at the end of the season included Jamie McDonagh and influential winger Danny Kearns who’d arrived under the Robertson era. In came signings including former Derry City defender Patrick McClean, ex Finn Harps winger Caolan McAleer, ex Liverpool striker Adam Morgan, Brazilian Eduardo Pincelli and Scottish players Callum Waters and Ally Roy (both on loan).

However, the latter four signings all departed the club before the end of the season, as did Lyttle himself. From a local's point of view, Mayoman Schlingermann left the club following the installation of Mitchell Beeney as number one.

However, the strong work being done by Donegal's Brian Dorrian at Under 19 level continued to be felt at senior level as six of the local youngsters saw action in a league game at Oriel Park under Dorrian's stewardship – Liam Kerrigan debuting with Darren Collins and Niall Morahan appearing as substitutes in a game which also featured Ed McGinty, John Mahon and Jack Keaney. The 2018 season saw Sligo Rovers finish two places (7th) and three points (42) better off than in 2017.

The club’s new permanent first team manager for 2019 was a departure from the Connacht club’s recent modus operandi. Liam Buckley was a Dubliner who had experienced considerable success as both player and manager in the League of Ireland with clubs including Shamrock Rovers, Sporting Fingal and St Patrick’s Athletic. He was renowned for his teams playing a passing game and had a reputation for playing young players when he felt they were ready for first team football- age wouldn’t be a barrier.

With Mahon, McGinty, Keaney and Kerrigan starting to become important members of the first team and the likes of James McGrath, Niall Morahan and Scott Lynch making the senior squad, the addition of the experienced Donegal campaigner Johnny Dunleavy (who also coached the U19s with Dorrian) alongside Mayomen Ronan Murray, David Cawley and Assistant Manager John Russell, practically an honorary Sligoman, gave the club a strong community link which was continued throughout the season with the education programme in local schools and the impressive fundraising of the local supporters.

On the field, Canadian Kris Twardek, Bermuda's Dante Leverock and Romeo Parkes brought a more global feel to proceedings alongside the experienced Daryl Fordyce and Ronan Coughlan. Despite the midseason loss of both Kerrigan and Keaney to UCD on a scholarship scheme, the underage structure continued to produce with players such as the returning Brian Morley and Luke McNicholas adding to the senior ranks and Niall Morahan appearing in international Under 19 squads. At Under 17 level, Ryan Casey and Packie Lynch replaced Colm Jinks and Danny O Leary.

As well as continuing a well worn development path for younger players, Buckley's 2019 side came within a minute of taking Dundalk beyond 90 minutes in the FAI Cup Final- an 89th minute Michael Duffy strike denying the Connacht men a first FAI Cup Final since 2013 while 7th again and 42 points saw Rovers one point off 6th place Waterford.

Off the field, following the aforementioned departures of Keaney and Kerrigan for the scholarship programme in UCD – a path also trodden by ex-Sligo Youth Paul Doyle – the club relaunched their partnership with IT Sligo to offer players the change to study and play with the club. In August, Leitrim's Morahan became the first recipient of the award in the same summer as he signed a new contract with the club and played in the European Under 19 Championships for Ireland.

The same month saw Sligo Rovers Under 19s defeated in the Enda McGuill Cup Semi-finals, the same hurdle they also fell at in 2017- one of two consecutive years they also were defeated in the league quarter finals. The Under 17 side won the Shield and while there is merit in silverware at Underage level, of greater importance is player development. Of the 2017, Mark Farren Cup (U17) losing finalists in 2017, McNicholas, Smyth, Lynch, Morahan, McGrath, Collins and Kerrigan all featured at senior level in 2019.

In 2016, The Bit O'Red had the second youngest squad in the division, the following year the third youngest and second youngest again in 2018 (Courtesy A Game of Two Halves) For 2020, Buckley and Russell remain at the helm of the senior side with Dorrian, Dunleavy, Brian Morahan and John McAteer at U19s. What the season will bring Sligo remains unknown but there’s a strong chance that any success which comes their way will be from seeds planted long before with a solid local underage structure which continues to bear fruit.