2015 WILL GO down as one of the greatest years in the history of Dundalk Football Club.
As well as retaining the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title for the first time, Stephen Kenny’s side added the FAI Cup to make it a league and cup double.
Having covered the season in his role as sports editor of the Dundalk Democrat, Gavin McLaughlin (along with the help of photographer Ciaran Culligan and Grandson Design) has produced a 280-page book, entitled Dundalk FC: The Double, looking back over the hugely-successful campaign through a series of match reports and player interviews.
We caught up with Gavin to get his thoughts recently.
Hi Gavin. Where does the past season’s achievements rank?
We all thought it couldn’t really get any better than 2014 but to go and win the double in the way that they did, you would be hard pushed to improve on that next year.
In years to come, will this team be looked back as one of the greatest in the club’s history?
It’s hard to compare eras and it is often unfair to do so. What Jim McLaughlin’s team of ‘79 did in European football will never be repeated unfortunately because of the structure of the competition.
People look back at Turlough O’Connor’s side of ‘88 and say that was one of the best. Talking to older generations who would have seen the three teams, many of them think the current team is the most eye-catching and play with the the most flair.
I was seven when the team won the double in ‘88 and lads in the schoolyard wanted to be Barry Kehoe or Dessie Gorman. This current batch is the first squad since then that you hear kids around the town saying they want to be Daryl Horgan, Stephen O’Donnell or Richie Towell.
The amount of Dundalk shirts going around the town these days compared to the last 10 or 15 years is unbelievable.
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They’re the first team to ever retain the title in the club’s history. If they went on to win it again next year, I don’t think there would be any doubt that they would be the best.
As a man who covers Dundalk week-in week-out, what was your favourite moment from last season?
We have a bit in the book where we give our highlight of the season. The FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium was brilliant, but for me, when they played the Champions League anthem in Belarus, before the BATE Borisov game, it was incredible.
We were in a proper stadium with a full house for a European night. The press box was in the main stand and we were looking down with the players right in front of us facing it. When you heard that music, there were goosebumps.
The teams lined out for the Champions League anthem at the Borisov Arena back in July. Sasha Milentey / INPHO
Sasha Milentey / INPHO / INPHO
When you think back, three years ago the club was dead and buried. You can often look back on these things and think people are making out that it was worse than what it was, but they were literally going from day-to-day.
We played Shelbourne at Tolka Park in July 2012, it was just after The Stone Roses played the Phoenix Park. Dundalk were beaten 4-0 and some were saying that would be their last game as they wouldn’t make it through another week.
To go from that to playing Champions League football in the space of three years is something else.
That is remarkable. Has the current team captured the imagination of the whole town?
100%. The one thing about the team as well, and anyone who deals with them will tell you this, is that they are as good off the pitch as they are on it.
As far as the community is concerned, they were in every school with the league trophy and the FAI Cup. Six or seven of the players live around Dundalk and they are out and about, which gives you extra credit with the fans when they see that you’re part of the community.
Obviously the lads who live in Dublin come up and down but after we won the cup, the majority of the squad stayed in Dundalk for two or three nights to celebrate and that goes a long way.
Should going a step further in Europe be the main goal for next season?
Three-in-a-row is going to be a big objective, but making a decent run in Europe would have to be one of the main priorities.
It’s a cliché to say that it’s the luck of the draw, but that really is the case. We were unlucky to get BATE.
Stephen Kenny says if you win your first tie in the Champions League, even if you lose your second, you’ve still got a bite at the Europa League group stages.
If they had won against BATE, it would have been Videoton of Hungary in the next round and I think Dundalk would have beaten them. Then you’re into the play-offs for the Champions League, so it all depends on the luck of the draw.
They’ve shown over the last few years against the likes of Hajduk Split that they can compete with these teams.
Getting into the Champions League group stages isn’t realistic but as Shamrock Rovers showed a few years ago the Europa League group stages are achievable. It would be great to see.
Looking ahead, you’ve lost Richie Towell, but with Ronan Finn coming in last year and the recent acquisitions of Patrick McEleney and Robbie Benson, have they gone some way to replacing him?
It’s difficult to know. There were no guarantees that Towell was going to hit 29 goals again next season. Don’t get me wrong, what he did was incredible and we will only appreciate it fully in 15 or 20 years when we look back.
The club scored 78 goals, the most ever in a season, so it is not as if they are just relying on Richie.
Ronan really came good towards the end of the season, so you would fancy him to chip in with double figures next year. The same with Ciaran Kilduff, who only joined midway through the season.
McLaughin expects Ronan Finn to step up in his second season at Dundalk. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
You would back Stephen Kenny to get the best out of Patrick McEleney and people forget that Stephen O’Donnell missed two or three months of the season.
Richie is a massive loss but before you even added McEleney and Benson, the midfield still had O’Donnell, Finn and Chris Shields. They are three players who would walk into any other team in the country.
He was the poster boy for the kids around the town but there is every reason to be optimistic.
Dundalk FC: The Double is on sale for €15 and you can buy it here
'If they win it again next year, I don’t think there'd be any doubt that they're the best ever'
2015 WILL GO down as one of the greatest years in the history of Dundalk Football Club.
As well as retaining the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title for the first time, Stephen Kenny’s side added the FAI Cup to make it a league and cup double.
Having covered the season in his role as sports editor of the Dundalk Democrat, Gavin McLaughlin (along with the help of photographer Ciaran Culligan and Grandson Design) has produced a 280-page book, entitled Dundalk FC: The Double, looking back over the hugely-successful campaign through a series of match reports and player interviews.
We caught up with Gavin to get his thoughts recently.
Hi Gavin. Where does the past season’s achievements rank?
We all thought it couldn’t really get any better than 2014 but to go and win the double in the way that they did, you would be hard pushed to improve on that next year.
In years to come, will this team be looked back as one of the greatest in the club’s history?
It’s hard to compare eras and it is often unfair to do so. What Jim McLaughlin’s team of ‘79 did in European football will never be repeated unfortunately because of the structure of the competition.
People look back at Turlough O’Connor’s side of ‘88 and say that was one of the best. Talking to older generations who would have seen the three teams, many of them think the current team is the most eye-catching and play with the the most flair.
I was seven when the team won the double in ‘88 and lads in the schoolyard wanted to be Barry Kehoe or Dessie Gorman. This current batch is the first squad since then that you hear kids around the town saying they want to be Daryl Horgan, Stephen O’Donnell or Richie Towell.
The amount of Dundalk shirts going around the town these days compared to the last 10 or 15 years is unbelievable.
They’re the first team to ever retain the title in the club’s history. If they went on to win it again next year, I don’t think there would be any doubt that they would be the best.
As a man who covers Dundalk week-in week-out, what was your favourite moment from last season?
We have a bit in the book where we give our highlight of the season. The FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium was brilliant, but for me, when they played the Champions League anthem in Belarus, before the BATE Borisov game, it was incredible.
We were in a proper stadium with a full house for a European night. The press box was in the main stand and we were looking down with the players right in front of us facing it. When you heard that music, there were goosebumps.
When you think back, three years ago the club was dead and buried. You can often look back on these things and think people are making out that it was worse than what it was, but they were literally going from day-to-day.
To go from that to playing Champions League football in the space of three years is something else.
That is remarkable. Has the current team captured the imagination of the whole town?
100%. The one thing about the team as well, and anyone who deals with them will tell you this, is that they are as good off the pitch as they are on it.
As far as the community is concerned, they were in every school with the league trophy and the FAI Cup. Six or seven of the players live around Dundalk and they are out and about, which gives you extra credit with the fans when they see that you’re part of the community.
Obviously the lads who live in Dublin come up and down but after we won the cup, the majority of the squad stayed in Dundalk for two or three nights to celebrate and that goes a long way.
Should going a step further in Europe be the main goal for next season?
Three-in-a-row is going to be a big objective, but making a decent run in Europe would have to be one of the main priorities.
It’s a cliché to say that it’s the luck of the draw, but that really is the case. We were unlucky to get BATE.
Stephen Kenny says if you win your first tie in the Champions League, even if you lose your second, you’ve still got a bite at the Europa League group stages.
If they had won against BATE, it would have been Videoton of Hungary in the next round and I think Dundalk would have beaten them. Then you’re into the play-offs for the Champions League, so it all depends on the luck of the draw.
They’ve shown over the last few years against the likes of Hajduk Split that they can compete with these teams.
Getting into the Champions League group stages isn’t realistic but as Shamrock Rovers showed a few years ago the Europa League group stages are achievable. It would be great to see.
Looking ahead, you’ve lost Richie Towell, but with Ronan Finn coming in last year and the recent acquisitions of Patrick McEleney and Robbie Benson, have they gone some way to replacing him?
It’s difficult to know. There were no guarantees that Towell was going to hit 29 goals again next season. Don’t get me wrong, what he did was incredible and we will only appreciate it fully in 15 or 20 years when we look back.
The club scored 78 goals, the most ever in a season, so it is not as if they are just relying on Richie.
Ronan really came good towards the end of the season, so you would fancy him to chip in with double figures next year. The same with Ciaran Kilduff, who only joined midway through the season.
You would back Stephen Kenny to get the best out of Patrick McEleney and people forget that Stephen O’Donnell missed two or three months of the season.
Richie is a massive loss but before you even added McEleney and Benson, the midfield still had O’Donnell, Finn and Chris Shields. They are three players who would walk into any other team in the country.
He was the poster boy for the kids around the town but there is every reason to be optimistic.
Dundalk FC: The Double is on sale for €15 and you can buy it here
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