I love this story and I assert you I'll be following. I've got one with TNS trying to boost the other Wales clubs and rely on youth intake but Europe absolutely obliterates me every time.
Thanks a lot I appreciate it. I'm starting to get to that point now where domestically its getting easy but we're a fair gap to the other teams in the group stage of Europe. Thanks for following
November/December 2019
Due to our exploits in the Champions League our season extends into the final two months of the year with three European games and a Challenge Cup final to kick it all off
Senior Challenge Cup Final
U.C.D. 1-0 Cork City
Byrne 22' This was our third final in a row and went much the same as the previous two did with us taking home the trophy thanks to superstar midfielder Jack Byrne's first half strike! This was my ninth trophy in five seasons and my fourth this season completing the quadruple! I couldn't have asked for a better season adding the Champions League group stage to this effort and I'm hoping this is just the start of our domination
UEFA Champions League Group Stage F Real Madrid C.F. FC Bayern Munchen CSKA Moskva U.C.D.
Matchday Four
U.C.D. 2-3 FC Bayern Munchen Buckley 25' & 90+2' Hojbjerg 72'
Boateng 81'
Volland 90+3' Again we took the lead here and didn't look out of place for most of the match before two goals in nine minutes changed the course of the match. Miraculously we didn't give up and WillBuckley equalised with his second of the match two minutes into injury time. It looked like it would be enough to earn us our first ever Champions League point but from kick off Bayern went straight down the other end to break U.C.D. hearts and leave me absolutely dejected despite us playing our socks off
Matchday Five
U.C.D.2-1 Real Madrid C.F. Morata 10'
Varane 58' S O'Hanlon 86' I keep saying it but we weren't disgraced against one of the best teams in the world again, going down by a one goal margin for this fifth time this campaign. We could have quite easily fallen apart when Richie Towell was sent off in the 53rd minute and Varane made it two nil with a towering header from a corner five minutes later but the ten men rallied and managed to get a late goal
Matchday Six
CSKA Moskva 5-4 U.C.D. McClean 11' & 30' Guardado 14' Buckley 35'
E Doyle 39' Tosic 42' 44' & 65'
Ramos 51' With the way the league was poised, a win here would have seen us qualify for the Europa League knockout stages and after forty minutes we looked as though we would be as we raced to a three goal lead. If we could have got to half time I think we would have been okay but a mad nine minute period either side of half time saw that lead evaporate and Tosic completed his hattrick to end our European Campaign for another year in a mad game
Confirmation of our point-less fourth place finish in our first ever Champions League campaign. I'm really astonished and proud of the lads performances as when I saw the group drawn I could imagine four or five goal hidings every game but we showed we are no pushovers and were the only team to score past Real Madrid and with a bit of luck could have even taken points off of them. I'm looking forward to next season's campaign and if we make it through the qualifiers I hope we get an easier group
"U.C.D. had been expected to make much of the Premier Division title running and lived up to their pre-season billing by finishing top of the pile.'' - The Irish Football Express
End of Season Confidence- Untouchable
Competitions
Irish Premier League - Champions Irish Senior Challenge Cup - Champions Irish League Cup - First Round Irish Leinster Senior Cup - Champions Irish President's Cup -Champions UEFA Champions League -Group Stage
Awards
Fan's Player of the Season - Jack Byrne (MC) Goal of the Season - James McClean (AMR) Young Player of the Season - Jack Byrne (MC)
Team of the Season View attachment 125908
Top Goalscorer -Eoin Doyle (33 Goals) Highest Average Rating - Jack Byrne (8.15) Most Assists - John Kavanagh (17 Assists) Most Player of the Match - Eoin Doyle (12 PoM) Average Attendance - 1,446 Highest Attendance - 7,320 (vs FC Bayern Munchen, UEFA Champions League Group Stage) Total Players Used - 34 (Highest in Premier League) Biggest Win - 7-0 (vs Crumlin Utd, Irish Senior Leinster Cup Fourth Round) Most Games Won in a Row - 8 (1st October 2018 to 24th February 2019) Finances - +£9,084,567
Irish Premier League
Winner - U.C.D.
Europa League - Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians
Relegated - Bray Wanderers, Limerick F.C.
Irish First Division
Winner - Wexford Youths Promoted - Shelbourne
Bottom - Finn Harps Irish Senior Challenge Cup Winner - U.C.D.
Irish League Cup Winner - Dundalk
Irish Munster Senior Cup Winner - Waterford Utd Irish Leinster Senior Cup Winner- U.C.D.
Irish President's Cup Winner - U.C.D.
Well my predictions in this section last season came true as Eoin Doyle, Richie Towell, James McClean and my personal favourite Jack Byrne all kicked on and helped us to have possibly and even better season than last year. We retained our league title dramatically on the last day of the season, won my first Leinster Senior Cup and incredibly made it through to the group stages of the Champions League at the first time of asking and with it the massive financial windfall that will allow us to dominate domestically and have hope of mixing it with the big boys in Europe. Jack Byrne had an incredible first full season knocking John Kavanagh off his perch as the best player. We're now a professional club so I've been able to tie him and a few others to full time contracts and with that will be able to attract more overseas players going forward. I've already taken full advantage of our financial situation by upgrading our youth and training facilities while relaying our pitch as it was atrocious and caused a lot of complaints. I've also taken the step of buying the three best players in the league outside of our club, taking inspiration from FC Bayern Munchen to make our domestic season that little bit easier by not only weakening our opponents but strengthening us for what I'm hoping will be another Champions League group stage assault
Pre Season 2020 Media Prediction With back to back titles and a different class of players coming in we've been made odds on favourite to win the title for a third year running. Dundalk are second favourites and despite not making the top four, Cork City have been made third favourites
Season Tickets
Despite our total domination domestically and our exploits in Europe we still only manage another eight season ticket holders taking our total to 147
Facilities
With the Champions League money burning a hole in our pockets we managed to upgrade our training facilities to impressive, our youth facilities to adequate, our junior coaching to excellent while our youth recruitment stays at basic with no option to improve
Transfers View attachment 125902
I possibly went a bit overboard here, taking advantage of our expanded scouting network and the ability to offer full time contracts but as you can see we did let go of a lot of players. The biggest loss was midfield maestro Richie Towell who asked to leave for a bigger club and when Bursaspor came in with that offer i had no choice but to accept as his contract expires at the end of this season. As you can see I spent £1.5 million on four players from Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers. McAlinden is a very good striker in his prime who will support Eoin Doyle as he's now in his mid thirties, Miele is Shamrock's best player and will add depth to the left wing position. Daryl Horgan will become my number one left winger and has been impressive the last few seasons while Power is a young defensive midfield who I will mould into a player for the future.
Pre Season Friendlies Five friendlies this pre season as I gave the lads an extra week holiday due to our Champions League commitments that went into December. It seemed to work as we won our first four friendlies against local opposition 9-0, 5-0, 6-0 and 11-0 while our fifth one at home to Malmo FF ended 1-1. The players are all set for another big season with Champions League qualification our main priority
February/March 2020
A new season begins and with it the hope of all the clubs thinking they can win the title. We're hoping that we can continue our dominance and with the squad we've assembled we're confident of doing just that
Shamrock Rovers 1-3 U.C.D.
McAlinden 22' Drennan 34' A O'Hanlon 37'
Madden (OG) 53' An excellent start to the new campaign as debutant Liam McAlinden opens his league account with the opening goal in a game we dominated from start to finish
U.C.D. 3-0 Waterford Utd McAlinden 33' 44' & 73' Our good start continues as we put away another three goals and new signing McAlinden continues on his way with a hattrick
Bohemians 0-5 U.C.D. Roberts 6'
Horgan 34'
Gibson (Pen) 51'
McAlinden 69'
Byrne 90+1' Another three points and a clean sheet to boot as we destroy last season's fourth placed team is put to the sword with five different goalscorers
Wexford Youths 0-2 U.C.D. Horgan 11'
Kinsella 25' Our first month in the league ends with another win against newly promoted Wexford Youths
Despite Dundalk losing three key players over the winter they still manage to join us on a 100% record after four games
Leinster Senior Cup Fourth Round
U.C.D. 4-0 Malahide Utd
Pantic 2'
Southam 17'
Gibson 36'
McAlinden 90+1' Passage through to the next round is assured with an expected result against non league opposition Leinster Senior Cup Quarter Final
U.C.D.1-0 Dundalk Roberts 9' A good win against our biggest rivals that sets the tone for our duels for the rest of the season
Irish President's Cup
U.C.D. 4-1 Dundalk
Gibson (Pen) 10' & 67' Murphy 44' McAlinden 54' & 57' We get our first trophy of the season thrashing Dundalk with striker McAlinden getting his seventh and eighth goals of the month to cap what has been an excellent start to his U.C.D. career
April 2020 Our undefeated start to the season continues as the pack starts to drop off
U.C.D. 3-0 Cork City Forster-Caskey 47'
Horgan 70' & 79' Another excellent performance this time at home as Doyle gets two more U.C.D.5-0 Derry City Roberts 7' & 65'
Horgan 40'
McAlinden 50'
Kavanagh 58' Another big win to keep our momentum going. Good to see both games this month so far have seen a few of our new signings get on the scoresheet Galway Utd 0-2 U.C.D. McAlinden 2' & 29' Striker McAlinden keeps his good form going with another double to sink Galway U.C.D. 3-1 Shelbourne Roberts 15' O'Sullivan 31'
Horgan 61' N Byrne 69' Newly promoted Shelbourne are the latest team to fall by the wayside. They at least brought to an end my seven game clean sheet streak
St Pat's Athletic 1-1 U.C.D. McGrath (Pen) 25'
Kavanagh 33' Our first dropped points for the season as St Pat's score with their only shot on target
U.C.D. 3-0 Sligo Rovers Kinsella 11'
Southam 13' & 60' Back to winning ways with on loan youngster Andrew Southam bags a brace
U.C.D. 2-0 Dundalk
Horgan 29'
J Byrne 56' Our biggest result so far this season as former player Daryl Horgan comes back to haunt his former club
Even at this early stage you can see that our Champions League money is making a difference as we open up a six point gap a third of the way into the season. Dundalk are showing that the losses they sustained over the winter have affected them falling behind by twelve points
May/June 2020
Our excellent form from last month is just the beginning as we have a 100% record in all competitions over this period
Shelbourne 0-4U.C.D.
Roberts 3'
Horgan 21'
Kavanagh 48'
J Byrne 52' Another big win against the newly promoted side this time away from home. Glad to see both of our new wingers making an impact on the scoresheet
U.C.D.4-0 Shamrock Rovers McAlinden 15' & 20'
Horgan 17' & 33' A huge result against our closest rivals for the title at this stage of the season. Our two new signings from Dundalk made the difference
Waterford Utd 0-2U.C.D.
McAlinden 26'
Kavanagh 71' Ten goals in three games as we continue to stretch our lead at the top showing everyone why we're title favourites
U.C.D. 3-0 Bohemians
McAlinden 17'
Doyle 90' & 90+2' Forgotten man Eoin Doyle comes off the bench and bags two in added time after an injury lay off at the start of the season. After Liam McAlinden's form this season it'll be tough to include an ageing Doyle into this side
U.C.D. 7-2 Wexford Youths Horgan 2' & 85'
Roberts 13'
Boylan 17'
McAlinden 31'
J Byrne 51'
Fox (OG) 53' Lyons 73' & 86' Incredible! Our highest scoring win ever! A bit disappointed to concede two late goals through former striker Chris Lyons but to score seven in any game is an impressive achievement League Table
As you can see it was a good period for us in the league, opening up a ten point gap with a game in hand. A massive goal difference of 47 shows how dominant we are now at this level
Senior Challenge Cup Second Round
Shelbourne 0-3 U.C.D. McClean 13'
Gordon 13' & 89' Two goals in 30 seconds took this away from Shelbourne as new signing Jaanai Gordon gets his first two goals for the club
View attachment 125647 EA Sports Cup Second Round Bray Wanderers 0-3 U.C.D. Southam 31'
Horgan 34' & 47' Passage through to the quarter finals is assured as we show our depth with a handful of changes
EA Sports Cup Quarter Final
U.C.D. 4-0 Galway Utd Southam 30'
Horgan 40' & 81'
Gibson (Pen) 64' Another semi final appearance beckons as another clean sheet is secured to go with four goals thanks in a large part to another Daryl Horgan double
Leinster Senior Cup Semi Final Bray Wanderers 1-2 U.C.D. Brennan 12'
Mulraney 66' N Byrne 68' We knocked Bray Wanderers out of two cup competitions in the space of a week with two goals in two second half minutes sending us through to consecutive finals
Leinster Senior Cup Final U.C.D. 5-0 Wexford Youths
Forster-Caskey 2' & 70' Roberts 24 & 86'
J Byrne 48' Wexford will be sick of the site of us after we put another five past them, this time in a cup final taking the total to twelve in two games and with it back to back Leinster Senior Cups.
July 2020
Our hopes of qualifying for the Champions League group stage begins in emphatic fashion while our league form continues to go from strength to strength
Derry City 1-4 U.C.D. Horgan 8' 26' & 59' Daniels 74' Forster-Caskey (Pen) 76' Another dominating result, especially from Daryl Horgan who has settled in perfectly
U.C.D. 2-0 Galway Utd Miele 58'
A O'Hanlon 80' With the games coming thick and fast a much changed lineup was able to keep our league momentum going Sligo Rovers 0-3 U.C.D.
Griffin 13'
J Byrne 36'
Forster-Caskey 55' Our preparation for our first CL qualifier this season couldn't have gone any better
U.C.D. 3-2 St Pat's Athletic Miele 15'
Southam 34' Fagan 36'
O'Driscoll 71' Liddle 80' We scrape through with a narrow win despite playing with a heavily changed team
Dundalk 1-2 U.C.D.
Horgan 16' Agnew 32'
A O'Hanlon 50' If Dundalk had any hopes of mounting a title challenge it was ended here. Despite this game falling three days either side of CL qualifiers we put in a very good performance away from home League Table
You would think that thirteen points with twelve games remaining would be insurmountable but we'll be taking nothing for granted ensuring that we aren't to distracted by our European adventure
UEFA Champions League Champions Second Qualifying Round
U.C.D. 13-0 Avenir Beggen
Horgan 2'
McAlinden 32' 47' & 73'
Clark 38'
J Byrne 45+1' 68' & 75'
Roberts 45+2' 52' 55' & 70'
Forster-Caskey 63' Unbelievable!!! No this isn't a typo, we put the Luxembourgian champions to shame with an incredible attacking display. It was only 5-0 at half time and i was quite content with that but the guys had other ideas and turned it up a few gears in the second half. It's very rare that a guy who scores a hat-trick and makes three assists doesn't get man of the match but it happened to Liam McAlinden today as he was pipped by Callum Roberts' superb four goals
Avenir Beggen 0-8 U.C.D
T O'Connor 4' 69' & 85'
Gibson 8'
G Clarke 29' 68' & 71'
Horgan 47' Not content with the 13 we scored in the first leg our reserve side showed what they could do with an 8-0 thrashing. I very happy day for me as academy graduate Graham Clarke bags a hat-trick. UEFA Champions League Champions Third Qualifying Round
Sparta Prague 2-3 U.C.D A O'Hanlon 35' Svejnoha (Pen) 47'
Roberts 49' & 59' Schon 66' We drew Czech champions Sparta Prague in the next round and managed to score an impressive three away goals as a draw will be enough to see us through to the playoff
U.C.D. 4-2 Sparta Prague
Zelenka 29'
Jakimeczko 41' McAlinden 52' 88' & 90+2'
Horgan 69'
After going down by two goals at half time I stuck a rocket up the players backsides and got an excellent response with four unanswered goals including an excellent McAlinden hattrick
Transfer Window
A lot of ins and outs this summer, with the main ones being internationally capped Italian goalkeeper Mattia Perin and centre back Glen Rea leaving for half a million to Blackburn
In other news the Irish national job came open after this summers Euro's as Ireland failed to win a game. I applied for it without having much hope of getting it but they obviously saw something in me and offered me the job! So starting September I'll be adding in Irish results to my posts.
August 2020
We finally lose a game after 23 straight victories and 35 without a loss while Champions League qualification awaits
U.C.D. 3-0 Waterford Utd
Miele 21'
McAlinden 31'
Byers 59' Another expected league result
Cork City3-1 U.C.D.
Sweeney 5'
Maguire 31'
O'Connor 65'
Roberts 73' Weren't at the races at all today, poor performances at both ends of the field resulted in them taking their few chances and us squandering ours. I almost forgot what it was like to lose U.C.D. 5-0 Shelbourne
A O'Hanlon 1' & 65'
G Clarke 6'
Miele 17'
Mulraney 53' Delighted for the lads response after the loss to win this one so comprehensively
Shamrock Rovers 0-0 U.C.D. I'm alright with this result considering it fell a few days before our CL Playoff return leg
U.C.D. 1-0Cork City Agyei 45+1' We were lucky with the way the fixtures panned out that we could get a shot at revenge a mere 18 days after Cork beat us and exact that revenge we did with a narrow win League Table
The title's almost back in our hands for another season barring an absolute miracle. This is more or less what I was predicting would happen after CL group stage qualification and the money that came with it
UEFA Champions League Champions Playoff
Ludogorets FK Razgrad 1-3 U.C.D Damyanov 5'
Horgan 43'
Roberts 75' McAlinden 90+1' In a weird twist of fate we get the same result as we did at this stage away from home last season. After going behind early I thought we might be in a bit of trouble but our lads showed some determination and fought back. Liam McAlinden's injury time goal really topped off our day making our second leg job a little bit easier
U.C.D. 2-2 Ludogorets FK Razgrad Miele 4'
Roberts 18' Damyanov 50'
Pupov 71' Two early goals made this a very comfortable qualification in the end and with it comes another £10m
Senior Challenge Cup Third Round U.C.D.1-1Dundalk
R Keogh 31' Bunney 48' An extra match at this stage of the season is not what we needed as we weren't able to get past Dundalk on the night View attachment 125441 EA Sports Cup Semi Final
U.C.D. 1-0 St Pat's Athletic
Bennetts 49' Another cup final placed booked as our reserve team went out and got the job done
September 2020
Our title is retained in emphatic fashion and another tough Champions League group awaits
U.C.D. 5-1 Derry City A O'Hanlon (Pen) 2' & 42' Daniels 15'
Southam 25' & 40'
Byers 35' Another comprehensive victory on our charge to the title as midfielder Alex O'Hanlon get man of the match for his two goals and an assist. The worst thing Derry could have done was equalise as we piled on four unanswered goals before half time after they did!
Bohemians1-1 U.C.D. J Byrne 21' Hoban 53' We were unable to hold onto our lead despite our dominance and due to our heavy schedule, didn't have the legs to go again once they equalised
Galway Utd 2-2 U.C.D. Folan 10'
Keating 33'
Agyei 45+1'
Bennetts 72' Our 'B' side were unable to take all three points on our trip to Galway but did manage to comeback from two goals down to earn the point that kept the IPL trophy in Dublin for another year! League Table
A completely different story to 12 months ago when the destination of the title was still unknown but our dominance, due in a large part to the prize money we've received has blown this league wide open for us to dominate for a while.
UEFA Champions League Group Stage F F.C. Barcelona Manchester City A.C. Milan U.C.D. I remember quite vividly last season hoping for an easier group stage in this years Champions League. Not only did they not give me an easier group, they made it even more difficult substituting Bayern and Real for Barca and City. The real kicker was Milan joining us to make sure it is the group of death Matchday One
F.C. Barcelona4-1 U.C.D. Neymar 5' & 36'
Suarez 7' McAlinden 21' Piatta 31' Absolutely outclassed by this ridiculous team and the MSN combination up front. The only shining light is that at 4-1 after 36 minutes it could have been a lot worse if not for some very good defending
Matchday Two
U.C.D.1-2A.C. Milan
Mauri 3'
Romagnoli 14'Agyei 66' It was a similar start to the last game, conceding two early goals but we managed to stem the flow and get one back but were unable to find that equaliser
Senior Challenge Cup Third Round Replay Dundalk1-4 U.C.D.
A O'Hanlon 24'
Roberts 34' A Keogh 38' McAlinden 45' & 56' Ex-player Liam McAlinden comes back to haunt his old club to knock them out of the Challenge Cup replay in an extra game we really didn't want or need at this point of the season
Senior Challenge Cup Quarter Final St Pat's Athletic 1-0 U.C.D. Fagan 45+1' I made a couple of changes expecting to still win but I was surprised that we weren't able to progress despite it View attachment 125399 EA Sports Cup Final
U.C.D. 2-1 Bohemians
O'Sullivan 8'
Bennetts 45+1'
Pearce 51' Another trophy makes its way back to Dublin as we regain the League Cup we lost last season thanks to some of our lesser known players
Latvia 0-3Ireland Grego-*** 15'
Hoban 33'
Smirnovs (OG) 65'
A good start to my international management career as we get a good run out and try a few different players to see who we're going to use in our first competitive fixture
European League Division B Group One
Russia 2-0Ireland Kokorin 57' & 74'
Not the start I was hoping for in my first competitive fixture as we go bottom of our group early on
October 2020
Our league campaign comes to a close just as we get into the thick of the Champions League
U.C.D. 3-1 Sligo Rovers
Byers 21'
Roberts 40' & (Pen) 63' Hamilton 81' Callum Roberts scores his 20th and 21st goals of the season as we dominate another game against the already surprisingly relegated Sligo
St Pat's Athletic 0-1 U.C.D.
G Clarke 6' A small amount of revenge after they knocked us our of the Challenge Cup. This result denied them the chance of a fourth place finish and with it the Europa League qualifiers
Wexford Youths1-2 U.C.D.
Southam 41' & 59 Murphy 64' Our penultimate game of the season ends in another victory with on loan striker Andrew Southam getting a brace
U.C.D. 2-2 Dundalk Kinsella 22'
McEleney (Pen) 65' A O'Hanlon 76'
McAlinden 80' A two goal comeback to earn a draw in the last game of the season. McAlinden's equaliser was his fifteenth league goal of the season
Not as close as last season's league but with only one loss this season I'm very happy with how things went. A goal difference of 72 in 33 games is highly impressive aswell
UEFA Champions League Group Stage F F.C. Barcelona Manchester City A.C. Milan U.C.D. Matchday Three
Manchester City2-0 U.C.D. Sterling 1'
Aguero 6' In what seems to becoming a pattern we concede two early goals before holding on
Ireland 2-2 Israel Kashket 37' & 45'
Grego-*** 87' & 90'
A really disappointing result, especially the first half but a change in personnel putting Grego-*** onto the wing after playing poorly upfront really turned the game around and prevented us from falling too far behind in the standings
Ireland 3-1 Russia Grego-*** 38' & 69' Dzagoev (pen) 52' Bamford 54'
Reece Grego-*** made his move out to the wing from the start tonight and it paid off as he grabbed another brace to give us our first win in the Euro League and my first competitive win as Ireland manager leaving us in with a chance of finishing top of the group
November/December 2020
Our remaining Champions League games bring the curtain down on another successful season
UEFA Champions League Group Stage F F.C. Barcelona Manchester City A.C. Milan U.C.D.
Matchday Four
U.C.D. 0-0 Manchester City Our first ever point! We incredibly held on despite going down to 10 men in the 44th minute
Matchday Five
U.C.D. 0-2 F.C. Barcelona Suarez 9'
Messi 77' Back down to earth against probably the best side in world football at the moment as we get back to normalcy conceding an early goal and again its Luis Suarez
Matchday Six
A.C. Milan 4-1 U.C.D. Adriano 20' El Shaarawy 45'
Illarramendi 53'
Bonaventura 58' McAlinden 64' Thoroughly outplayed showing we've still got a way to go before we are competitive at this level
Proof of our second Champions League campaign coming to an end. A much tougher group this time around and we manage to get a point more than last year despite this. Surely after the last two years we're deserving of an easier group
"U.C.D. had been expected to make much of the Premier Division title running and lived up to their pre-season billing by finishing top of the pile.'' - The Irish Football Express
End of Season Confidence- Untouchable
Competitions
Irish Premier League - Champions Irish Senior Challenge Cup - Quarter Final Irish League Cup - Champions Irish Leinster Senior Cup - Champions Irish President's Cup -Champions UEFA Champions League -Group Stage (4th)
Awards
Fan's Player of the Season - Jack Byrne (MC) Goal of the Season - Callum Roberts (AMR) Young Player of the Season - Jack Byrne (MC)
Team of the Season View attachment 124948
Top Goalscorer -Liam McAlinden (29 Goals) Highest Average Rating - Jack Byrne (8.33) Most Assists - John Kavanagh (21 Assists) Most Player of the Match - Alex O'Hanlon (6 PoM) Average Attendance - 1,619 Highest Attendance - 10,129 (vs Manchester City, UEFA Champions League Group Stage) Total Players Used - 46 (Highest in Premier League) Biggest Win - 13-0 (vs Avenir Beggen, UEFA Champions League Champions Second Qualifying Round) Most Games Won in a Row - 23 (1st October 2018 to 24th February 2019) Finances - +£14,755,810
Irish Premier League
Winner - U.C.D.
Europa League - Shamrock Rovers, Cork City, Dundalk
Relegated - Sligo Rovers
Irish First Division
Winner - Bray Wanderers Promoted - NA
Bottom - Athlone Town Irish Senior Challenge Cup Winner - Cork City
Irish League Cup Winner - U.C.D.
Irish Munster Senior Cup Winner - Cobh Ramblers Irish Leinster Senior Cup Winner- U.C.D.
Irish President's Cup Winner - U.C.D.
Well incredibly I think we had an even better season than last winning the league at a canter and picking up our first ever Champions League point. Our bank balance is also looking very healthy and is allowing us to continue to improve not only our squad but our facilities putting us up there with some of the top teams in the world.
Pre Season 2021 Media Prediction Still odds on favourites for the title. Not surprising considering what we've done in the league the last few seasons, especially the last as we ran away with the title. The chasing pack are the same, with Dundalk and Cork equal second while Shamrock are the only other team under double figures
Season Tickets
Our ticket holder numbers jump by 47 to 191, the highest leap in years. This is despite us moving to a temporary ground, Paddy Mahoney Park which has a 1,500 capacity while Belfield Bowls capacity is increased to 4,500
Facilities
Another Champions League qualification brings in another large amount of money burning allowing us to upgrade our training facilities from impressive to superb, our youth facilities from adequate to average, our junior coaching from excellent to exceptional while our youth recruitment stays at basic again with no option to improve it
Transfers View attachment 124729
Not a great deal of players in this winter window. Jim Hull is a promising striker on loan from Celtic, Paul Corry is a good DM from Northampton who also has the added advantage of being homegrown at the club to boost my quota for the Champions League. Axel Prohouly is a younf former Monaco and QPR winger who is a direct replacement for the outgoing Keanan Bennetts who was unhappy about playing time. Reece Murphy is an exciting midfielder in his early twenties who has won the Young Player of the Year and U21 Player of the Year awards.
In terms of departures the only one I'm a bit disappointed about it Danilo Pantic who wanted to leave if Hoffenheim came calling and with his contract having less than a year to run and no interest in renewing I had to be forced to sell for less than I personally feel he was worth
Pre Season Friendlies Only the four friendlies including the testimonial for St Pat's left back Ian Bermingham who was a U.C.D. homegrown player. Two wins, a draw and a loss were the results with the loss coming away to Crewe. I felt I didn't need anymore games as there were few additions and tactical awareness was already high. Also three of our first four competitive games were cup games so any players lacking match sharpness could get it there
February/March 2021
The squad's been improved, the deadwood cleared and the friendlies played so it's time to kick off a new season. Confidence is high at the club and amongst the supporters that we can have our best season yet.
Shamrock Rovers 1-1 U.C.D.
O'Connor 29'
Byrne 54' I must say I'm surprised by this result as I went into it thinking we would win comfortably. Maybe complacency got the better of us
Wexford Youths 0-4 U.C.D. McAlinden 3' 68' & 72'
Corry 47' And we're away in the league with a comprehensive victory over a Wexford side that finished an impressive sixth last season
U.C.D. 1-0 Derry City McAlinden 39' Our first home game of the season and we finish it with all three points thanks to McAlinden's fourth goal of the month
Unsurprisingly it's close this early in the season. We'll see how long the challengers last
Leinster Senior Cup Fourth Round
Wayside Celtic 1-3 U.C.D.
Dennehy (Pen) 30'
Agyei 50' & 70'
Roberts 81' Passage through to the next round is assured with an expected result against non league opposition Leinster Senior Cup Quarter Final
Bluebell Utd 1-4 U.C.D. McFadden 4'
Power 35'
Forster-Caskey 63'
G Clarke 70'
Prohouly 74' After Reece Murphy was sent off and they scored I was wondering if we were going to be the victims of a giantkilling but we eventually wore them down and guaranteed a place in another semi final View attachment 124519 EA Sports Cup First Round
U.C.D. 4-0 Galway Utd Byrne 9'
Hull 13'
Griffin 40' & 76' Another big win at home as left back Shane Griffin manages to get two
Irish President's Cup
U.C.D. 2-0 Cork City
Corry 24' Roberts 70' The first trophy of the season and we bag it this time against Cork City at our temporary home for this season Paddy Mahoney Park.
April 2021 All but one of the challengers fall by the wayside after the second month as we only drop points in one game
U.C.D. 5-1 Galway Utd Keating 29'
McAlinden 35' & 48'
Byrne 38' & 87'
Miele 82' The worst think Galway did was score first as all that did was poke the beast as a couple of club favourites get doubles St Pat's Athletic 0-7 U.C.D. Agyei 1' & 43'
McAlinden 25' 32' & 82'
Byrne 26'
Byers 71' Twelve goals in two games as Liam McAlinden continues to pay his transfer fee off with another hattrick Bray Wanderers 0-1 U.C.D. Hull 9' Loan signing Jim Hull gets his second goal since joining to send Bray Wanderers packing
U.C.D.1-1 Cork City Buckley 10'
McAlinden 65' A poor result as our left sided defender and midfielder Doherty and Miele have very poor games U.C.D. 2-1 Dundalk Byers 16'
Horgan 43' O'Connor 82' An excellent result as O'Connor's late consolation isn't enough to deny us a big three points
Bohemians 0-5 U.C.D.
Byrne 1'
Agyei 8' 34' & 38'
McAlinden 12' Another five goal haul as our free scoring style of play continues to cut shreds into opponents up and down the country
U.C.D. 4-0 Shelbourne Prohouly 16' 39' & (Pen) 54'
Doherty 27' Another demolition job at the expense of bottom of the table Shelbourne as left winger and new signing Axel Prohouly takes advantage of Daryl Horgan's recovery from a broken leg to get a hattrick
U.C.D. 3-0 Waterford Utd
McAlinden 2'
Roberts 29' & 82' Liam McAlinden completes his excellent scoring month with his eighth goal
Despite our excellent month and goal filled games Shamrock have done even better going unbeaten and leading us by a couple of points. Demonstrating how well we'd both done we managed to open up a nine point gap on the chasing pack
May 2020
A 100% record over three competitions this month as we attempt to take control of this two horse title race
U.C.D. 3-0 Wexford Youths
Byrne 3' & 53'
Corry 65' Another win against Wexford meaning that in seven years of playing them we haven't lost to them over the twelve times we've played them. Jack Byrne has turned into a real superstar for us, he never has a bad game and has chipped in with at least ten goals in each of the past three seasons Cork City0-3U.C.D.
Byers 14'
Roberts 53'
McAlinden 71' A great result away from home to keep our title run on track
Captain Kavanagh seals the win here to send us top
Derry City 0-7U.C.D.
Prohouly 10' 40' & (Pen 61)'
Kinsella 19'
Murphy 39'
McAlinden 65' & 83' Another seven goal performance and Axel Prohouly gets his second hattrick of the season. He's given me a real headache when Daryl Horgan comes back from injury as to who my first choice on the left wing will be
Galway Utd 1-5 U.C.D. Mountney 1'
Prohouly 2'
Folan (O.G) 21'
McAlinden 46' & 49'
Lee 60' What a start to this one as Galway score from kick off and then we do the same thing straight after. John Kavanagh the assist king gets another three here as our goal scoring knows no bounds League Table
Our undefeated month puts us slightly ahead of Shamrock as we inflicted on them their first defeat of the season. I'm a bit surprised that another team has been as consistent as us for this long
EA Sports Cup Second Round
U.C.D. 1-0 Bohemians
McAlinden 82' A late goal from prolific striker McAlinden is enough to send us through to the next round
EA Sports Cup Quarter Final
U.C.D. 3-0 Shamrock Rovers
Roberts 16'
McAlinden 65'
Clark 90+4' A great performance against our challenges for the major trophies this season
Leinster Senior Cup Semi Final
Wexford Youths 0-2 U.C.D.
Kinsella 65' Miele 90+2' Two games against Wexford in three days and this one ended in much the same way as the others with passage to the final gained thanks to a much changed lineup
June/July 2021
Our Champions League campaign comes around again and our trophy fight continues on three domestic fronts
U.C.D. 4-1 Bray Wanderers Clarke 8' & 27'
Roberts 34'
Cleary 45' Stokes 79' Youngster Clarke gets a brace as a reserve side does the business against Bray Dundalk 2-5 U.C.D.
Smith (O.G) 2' Wilkinson 6' & 35'
Gribbin 15'
Byers 24'
Byrne 69'
Horgan 77' An impressive win! Maybe our best ever as we destroy our previously biggest rival showing everyone up and down the country how good we are
U.C.D. 4-1 St Pat's Athletic Barrett 3' & 66'
Roberts 40' Murphy 64' Yadolahi 84' We finish the league month with another good performance as we are playing a game every three or four days at the moment League Table
One further point ahead of Shamrock as I keep expecting them to drop off every month but it hasn't happened so far. It makes it difficult for me to rotate the squad for league games when we've got Champions League qualifiers coming up
UEFA Champions League Champions Second Qualifying Round IFK Goteborg 0-1 U.C.D
McAlinden 63' We drew fairly tough opposition at this stage of the competition and managed to get a crucial away goal heading into the return leg at the Aviva U.C.D. 3-1 IFK Goteborg
Byrne 12' & 72'
Eriksson (O.G) 22' Andersson 25' We get the job done in the return leg thanks to another impressive Jack Byrne display
UEFA Champions League Champions Third Qualifying Round
U.C.D.2-1 FC Basel McAlinden 23' Xavier 81' Bosson (O.G) 85' We got another really tough draw, this time against Basel in a game that had everything. After taking the lead they missed a 49th minute penalty before they got a late equaliser which I thought would take it very hard in the second leg but we pushed on again and forced an own goal
FC Basel 0-3 U.C.D. McAlinden 35' & 61'
Clark 83'
This was a surprising result against a team with far greater Champions League history than us making the group stage five out of the last seven seasons. It mattered little as more goals from striker Liam McAlinden gave us passage through to the Playoff View attachment 124072 Senior Challenge Cup Second Round Derry City0-0 U.C.D. A poor draw as I thought that the team I put out was strong enough to win this
Senior Challenge Cup Second Round Replay U.C.D. 3-0 Derry City
Byrne 8'
McAlinden 51' Corry 53' A much better result as I put out our best XI to ensure we get through to the next round
U.C.D. 3-1aet Dundalk McAlinden 48' 93' & 112' Donnelly 28' Another cup final and the trophy comes back home with us after a struggle in ninety minutes. Once again Liam McAlinden puts his former club to the sword with a hattrick completed in extra time. I bet they're wishing they held out for more money when they sold him to us!
Quite a few players coming in and what players they are! Couldn't believe I was able to get Callum Gribbin, Josh Barrett and Ryan Ledson on free transfers while loan signing Levi Peters is an amazing 18 year old goalkeeper. The idea with Peters is to have him on loan long enough for him to become homegrown so we can eventually sign him to help boost our Champions League squad.
Three big departures as Agyei, Ebanks-Landell and Perin all wouldn't re-sign so I had to get some money for them before their contracts expire
