The League of Ireland is a summer league, but this season, just half a dozen games in, the season was stopped due to the virus. It only resumed on 31 July. In the early games after the re-start, Dundalk, whom we play tonight, had three defeats and two draws, including getting themselves knocked out of the Champions League at the first time of asking being beaten by NK Celje of Slovenia. Since then results have been mixed – a run of three wins and two draws being followed by two defeats, one in the league one in the Europa.
The early Europa games were qualifying rounds. Inter Club play in Andorra, and FC Shefiff are from Moldova.
| Competition | Date | Home | Score | Away |
| League of Ireland | 31 Jul 2020 | Dundalk | 1 – 1 | St Patrick’s |
| League of Ireland | 07 Aug 2020 | Bohemians D. | 2 – 1 | Dundalk |
| League of Ireland | 14 Aug 2020 | Dundalk | 2 – 2 | Waterford |
| CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | 19 Aug 2020 | NK Celje | 3 – 0 | Dundalk |
| League of Ireland | 22 Aug 2020 | Sligo Rovers | 3 – 1 | Dundalk |
| League of Ireland | 11 Sep 2020 | Dundalk | 3 – 2 | Shelbourne |
| EUROPA LEAGUE | 17 Sep 2020 | Inter Club D’Escaldes | 0 – 1 | Dundalk |
| EUROPA LEAGUE | 24 Sep 2020 | FC Sheriff | 1 – 1 | Dundalk |
| League of Ireland | 27 Sep 2020 | Dundalk | 0 – 4 | Shamrock R |
| EUROPA LEAGUE | 01 Oct 2020 | Dundalk | 3 – 1 | Ki Klaksvik |
| League of Ireland | 04 Oct 2020 | Dundalk | 0 – 0 | Finn Harps |
| League of Ireland | 13 Oct 2020 | Cork City | 0 – 2 | Dundalk |
| League of Ireland | 16 Oct 2020 | Dundalk | 0 – 0 | Bohemians D. |
| League of Ireland | 19 Oct 2020 | Derry City | 1 – 2 | Dundalk |
| EUROPA LEAGUE | 22 Oct 2020 | Dundalk | 1 – 2 | Molde |
| League of Ireland | 25 Oct 2020 | Waterford | 1 – 0 | Dundalk |
Dundalk as you can see play in the League of Ireland, also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division. This is the top league of what British people call the “Republic of Ireland” but which is actually the league of the country whose constitution states that “the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland”.
The stadium holds just 4500 people but lest we think that we are playing one of the smaller Irish clubs here is a list of all the main Irish clubs…
| Team | Region | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | Phibsborough | Dalymount Park | 3,400 |
| Cork City | Cork | Turners Cross | 6,900 |
| Derry City | Derry | Brandywell | 3,700 |
| Dundalk | Dundalk | Oriel Park | 4,500 |
| Finn Harps | Ballybofey | Finn Park | 4,500 |
| St Patrick’s Athletic | Inchicore | Richmond Park | 5,350 |
| Shamrock Rovers | Tallaght | Tallaght Stadium | 8,000 |
| Shelbourne | Drumcondra | Tolka Park | 3,600 |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds | 4,000 |
| Waterford | Waterford | RSC | 5,500 |
Dundalk have won the Irish League eight times, which is more times than any other club since the inauguration of the Premier Division of the league in 1985/6 the move to the summer league coming in 2002. Since then Dundalk have won the league four times, in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. Shamrock Rovers won the league in 2020.
However this season Dundalk are struggling, at least by their recent standards…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 7 | 31 | 38 |
| 2 | Bohemians | 17 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 34 |
| 3 | Dundalk | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 25 |
| 4 | Waterford | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 21 | -4 | 24 |
| 5 | Sligo | 17 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 23 | -6 | 22 |
| 6 | Derry City | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 19 |
| 7 | St Patricks | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 19 |
| 8 | Shelbourne | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 20 | -7 | 19 |
| 9 | Finn Harps | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 20 | -9 | 14 |
| 10 | Cork City | 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 29 | -20 | 10 |
This is Arsenal’s first-ever competitive game against any League of Ireland side and Dundalk have been making all the right noises about saying how excited they are to be playing Arsenal, with comments about it being the game everyone is talking about. It’s a good job they don’t know what the Arsenal blogs and newspapers are saying about Arsenal and their form at the moment.
Indeed on their website is the statement that,
“Arsenal are going well at the moment and we know what’s ahead of us. We’ll be as prepared as we can and hopefully, it’s an enjoyable experience. They’re a top-quality side and they have players all over the park that can hurt you so it’s up to us as a team to put a game plan in place on Thursday night.
“Whatever team they pick will be a team full of internationals. When you can leave the likes of Mezut Ozil out of your 25-man squad you’re doing okay!
“It’s going to be a tough ask but it’s one we have to embrace it as a group and it’s part of the prize of getting to the group stages which is what we strive to do every year. It’s a game to enjoy.”
For anyone who likes to donate money to bookies Dundalk are 40/1 outsiders to pull off the win. On the eve of the game their club captain said, “We’re very big odds with the bookmakers but I think we can give a good account of ourselves. Training at the Emirates tonight will give the lads a bit of a buzz and if we can do it tomorrow night, it would probably top 2020 off!”
More on this game shortly…
- Good runs, bad runs, manager changes. How’s Arsenal doing?
- The disgraceful way some football staff are treated, and how the media respond
- Another Arsenal put down: why do journalists hate us so much?
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