SO MUCH FOR taking a breather.
In a League of Ireland season of relentless change, the mid-season break has not slowed the pace of the drama.
If gorging on three games a day since the start of Euro 2024 hasn’t been enough to sate your appetite, developments on the domestic front have provided a sugar rush of excitement.
Two of the sides battling for the title have each lost one of their most important players to clubs in Britain.
There have been replacements from overseas while the most high profile person – and manager – in the league has committed his future until the end of 2026.
Who knows, maybe the senior men’s international team will have one of their own by then?
So, what else?
A couple of internationals “had their contracts terminated by mutual consent” at a club languishing in eighth place, although the return of another fan favourite more than cushioned that blow.
An Ireland underage international is about to embark on his future with a Premier League club after a €500,000 transfer was agreed earlier in the year, while the small matter of the European draw for the four clubs representing the League of Ireland this season also took place.
In the midst of all this, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Sport, Chris Andrews TD, addressed Dáil Éireann to reinforce the message that Irish football continues to fall behind counterparts throughout Europe and that League of Ireland academies require increased investment to ensure the gap doesn’t continue to widen.
It was important to highlight the significance of future investment into @LeagueofIreland Academies today to Government.
— Chris Andrews TD #stopthegenocide (@chrisandrews64) June 19, 2024
This investment is crucial if we are to have future success at Men's & Women's Senior International level - particularly post Brexit.@FAIreland 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/J816SdPvJ6
For Shelbourne, it’s also been a week of contrasting emotions.
The morning after their vital 1-0 win away to Waterford to maintain a two-point lead over Derry City heading into the mid-season break, they announced that centre back Gavin Molloy had agreed a deal to join Aberdeen.
The 22-year-old has emerged as a cornerstone of Damien Duff’s title challengers and, despite battling at the top with European football to come, the lure of the side who finished ninth in the Scottish Premiership before the league split was too great.
That’s the harsh reality of the football food chain.
Molloy’s release cause – in the region of €80,000 – was met and Duff accepted the player’s decision to seek an immediate transfer rather than agree a pre-contract to see out the season like Jack Moylan before his move to Lincoln City in England’s League One last term.
“I want to wish Gavin the best of luck, he’s a fabulous boy, a class act and he never gave me a moment of trouble,” Duff said.
“Don’t ever think this club is lacking ambition. This is the way of the world now in the League of Ireland. Agents don’t always have the best interests of the player at heart. There’s clauses you can’t get around.
“If it was up to me, I’d lock Gav in Tolka Park for the next 10 years. But there’s an out, there’s a clause. He’s going.”
Duff isn’t.
In the days after it was confirmed that former Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic centre back Sam Bone was Molloy’s replacement, having spent last season with English non-league side Maidstone United when they reached the FA Cup fifth round, while Ali Coote also returned to Dublin to put pen to paper on a deal in Drumcondra.
The midfielder starred for Bohemians in 2021 before leaving for Detroit City and the Scot will be with Shels for the next 18 months, as will Duff and his coaching staff after it was announced they all extended their contracts to take them through until the end of the 2026 season.
Defender Kameron Ledwidge was also rewarded for his development this season with new terms
Their closest rivals for the title are currently Derry City (two points adrift in second spot) although it was confirmed on Thursday that the Candystripes lost defender and vice-captain Cameron McJannett to Grimsby Town in League Two.
That news came just after Derry were drawn with FCB Magpies of Gibraltar in the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, with the winners facing FC Copenhagen in the next round.
Duff’s Shels are also heading to Gibraltar next month, to play St Joseph’s, with FC Zürich awaiting whoever comes out on top there.
Shamrock Rovers, who conceded an injury-time winner to St Patrick’s Athletic just before the break that left them 12 points off the top, announced a new link up with Dublin schoolboy club St Joseph’s AFC but of much more immediate concern is their Champions League first-round qualifier with Vikingur Reykjavík.
St Pat’s received a bye into the second round of the Conference League and must overcome Lichtenstein’s FC Vaduz.
Europe is on the horizon now but the importance of qualifying for next season can be seen from Bohs’ business over the last week.
They’re seven points off Waterford, whose Ireland underage international Romeo Akachukwu will head for Southampton after a €500,000 deal was struck in February, but with two games in Alan Reynolds’ side could cut that deficit.
The Bohs boss also cut loose two Estonia internationals signed by predecessor Declan Devine. Striker Sten Reinkort and defender Michael Lilander became outcasts at Dalymount Park in recent months and the decision was made to take the hit on their multi-year contracts.
The Bohs coffers were still considerable enough to entice Ross Tierney back from Scotland after leaving for Motherwell in January 2022, with a season-long loan spell at Walsall soon after.
A fee was required to get him out of that contract and it will be worth every cent should the exciting midfielder hit the ground running.
The football resumes next Friday but the action never stops.
