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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Stephen Bradley recommends drastic change be made to League of Ireland calendar in order to aid European hopes
STEPHEN BRADLEY praised those who helped save Shamrock Rovers 20 years ago. But the Hoops boss insisted those on the outside should not be allowed to hinder the club's progress as he again called for a shorter off-season. Two decades ago, fans came together to buy the club after it had been placed in examinership with debts of €2.6million, much of which were written off. And as he prepared for the second leg of their Conference League tie against St Joseph's, a dead rubber He said: 'Coming from Jobstown, there were groups coming knocking at the door, 'Buy a brick', and a lot of them would have been from my road. 'What people have done for the club should never be forgotten and I'm sure it won't be. Read More On Irish Football 'I know stories of people putting their house down as guarantees, people paying wages out of their mortgage and that wasn't just a one-off, that was a regular occurrence. 'I hope those people are enjoying where the club is at the moment and the success that this team has brought them. They deserve it. "They're the ones that fought to keep the club going and get into Tallaght. What we're doing today isn't possible without what those people did to make the club survive and then thrive. 'I hope they're sitting back and are proud of what they've achieved.' Most read in Football The club's biggest feat to date was to reach the knockout stages of the Conference League earlier this year. But that brought what had already been a bugbear for Bradley into even sharper focus — the length of the League of Ireland off-season. Man Utd & Newcastle in £40M Tug-of-War for Bundesliga Wonderkid! There were 15 weeks between the final league game in 2024 and the first in 2025, high by international standards. Rovers played five European fixtures in between. It will be an even bigger issue if MOVE WITH THE TIMES And Bradley believes full-time clubs have to be facilitated rather than catering to those worried about the cost of an extended season. He said: 'The days of part-time teams in the First Division having a voice on how the Premier Division operates should be long gone. "It's ridiculous. We either want to be serious about taking the league forward or we don't. Having such a long off-season is silly. It's not going to be great, the weather, either end, that's fine. 'Everyone in the Premier Division this year is full-time. I understand that might change with Cork if they go down. But the mentality in the league has to be wanting to get better. 'I understand the financial implication but what do we want to do? Do we want to just stand still or do we want to go forward? 'The conversation has to be had about extending the season. I don't understand why it's not happening. There's scope there to go early February or late November, to move it at both ends. 1 Bradley has been banging this drum for a while 'One of our problems last year was playing in European games deep and no competitive games in between. But it's not just because of us last year. I've been saying it for years.' There is a further fixture issue for Rovers as if two Kosovan clubs, Ballkani and Prishtina, progress this evening, their league game against Derry City — scheduled for Sunday — will not go ahead. Instead, they would be playing Ballkani on Tuesday. Bradley said: 'It's a bit of a strange one in terms of planning for the players. 'We just have to focus on the game, play it and see what comes.'
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘It's ridiculous' – Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley says it's time for FAI to extend length of League of Ireland season
Stephen Bradley believes the FAI must address the 'ridiculous' length of the League of Ireland season with the Shamrock Rovers boss stating that part-time First Division clubs are holding back professional Premier Division sides by preferring a shorter campaign.
The Irish Sun
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
My kids inspired my new RTE show – we uncovered big shock but there's genuine opportunity for my girl in football now
MARIE CROWE based an upcoming RTE documentary series around Shelbourne FC, impressed by what had been built at Tolka Park. But she came away from the experience concluding that much more needs to be done to bring Irish football up to scratch across the board. Advertisement 7 Marie Crowe has devised a new RTE documentary series called Football Families Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 7 The show was being filmed amid Shelbourne's run to the Premier Division title in 2024 Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 7 It takes a look at the behind-the-scenes workings of the club's academy Credit: Ben McShane/Sportsfile The But its core mission was to explore what is done - and needs to be done - to nurture the stars of the future. Advertisement Crowe told The Irish Sun: "It came from my own experience with my children. "There was a similar series on "We were watching that and seeing all these brilliant stories about different families and I just thought it's so similar to what I see all the time with my kids and their football. "There's brilliant families and children, really talented kids who want to be footballers and it's a bit of a journey." Crowe chose an ideal time around which to film the series. Advertisement In 2024, Shelbourne were flying high under The pay-off was winning the Airtricity League Premier Division title – Shels' first since 2006. Further down the ladder, Crowe cited their use of the AUL Complex for their academy as an influence behind it being at the core of Football Families. RTE pundit's one-liner about Damien Duff makes Joey O'Brien laugh after Shelbourne's win vs Linfield And yet for all of the good work being done on the ground, she learned first-hand that it was being done with limited resources. None of this will come as a surprise to those within the game, mind you. Advertisement Back in April, League of He outlined how there were just nine players between the ages of 16 and 19 in a full-time environment in Ireland, in addition to "a handful" abroad. REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS Clarke revealed how, to have success at international level, we need 35 players playing in the top five leagues in Crowe, meanwhile, attested to how the facilities within the League of Ireland are in dire need of an upgrade. She explained: "My kids play football as well, so when I go to the different grounds - and it's not just Shelbourne, it's across the board - they have so few pitches. Advertisement "We're trying to grow footballers, we're trying to create an industry, we're trying to have a really good Ireland team and yet the facilities need an upgrade across the board. "That was a big, big shock." "There's brilliant families and children, really talented kids who want to be footballers and it's a bit of a journey." Marie Crowe The volume of personnel and commitment of the same offers promise that, if built, success will come. Crowe added: "What surprised me in a positive way was the amount of people that are committed to making change and the amount of coaches that really want to help the kids. "The amount of people that have given up their free time, as well, to say, 'look, I want to help these kids along their football journey'. Advertisement "There's volunteers everywhere who are day-in, day-out, turning up to train and helping the kids. "While we might be falling behind when it comes to contact hours, when you compare us to Europe, there's a lot of people, a lot of families travelling long distances, giving up so much time, bringing their kids across the country to try and make it as footballers or to try and develop or try and fulfil their potential." 7 Shelbourne prospect Aoife Sheridan Credit: RTE 7 Marie and husband Billy with their four kids 7 The family welcomed baby Jessie back in March Advertisement 7 Euros in the RTE studios Marie has a vested interest in infrastructure and resources improving. The Clare-native is one of seven kids whose dad was a PE teacher and grew up in a sport-centric household. While she and her husband - former GAA star Billy Sheehan - are Liverpool fans, her dad is a Manchester United supporter and would take the family on holiday to matches at Old Trafford. Her hometown of Sixmilebridge is a Advertisement The mum-of-four, who just TOP TEAMMATES Both Treacy and Curtin were Ireland internationals but they had retired long before the Girls in Green played at their first And even Crowe admitted to looking at the progress and profile of women's football with envious eyes. She said: "I have a daughter now, which is lovely after three boys, and to think that if she wanted to go and have a career in football, that there's a genuine opportunity now to go and become a professional footballer. "I look at these girls coming through and the world is their oyster. They can go to America, they can go to Advertisement MAJOR HIGHLIGHT She continued: "Seeing Ireland go to major tournaments. When they got to the World Cup, that was one of the highlights of my life because it was such a big sign of progress. "I love that there are academies now. "When you go to "You go to the St Pat's set up, they're twinned with Cherry Orchard. You see girls there as well. "It should just be a completely normal thing. Now, we're way off the English academies when you look at Arsenal, Advertisement "At least it's now accepted that you can't have one without the other. And that's the way it should be and the way it will always be." 'MUST GET BETTER' But she warned that more needs to be done, having got an up close and personal look at increasing participation numbers. She holds a And Crowe continued: "It has to get better. There has to be more contact hours, more training. "There has to be investment in these academies because they're just not able to do it on their own. Advertisement "They need support now to try and improve everything so that we have a better national team. "We're trying to grow footballers, we're trying to create an industry, we're trying to have a really good Ireland team and yet the facilities need an upgrade across the board." Marie Crowe "We have to realise that we need these players to be good if we want to have those Italia 90 moments, the USA 94 moments, the "I've been watching the "Teams that you maybe wouldn't have expected to be really good, like Poland. They're doing really well. "Wales, who knocked us out. You can see that they've got this huge opportunity going to the Euros, and they're going to build on that. Advertisement "I always feel that we're just a little bit behind the curve when it comes to player development here." LESSONS LEARNED And it is the knowledge she has accrued through her study of She said: "I want people to understand what's happening at grassroots level in Irish football, at academy level, because I think unless you're in it, you don't really understand what these football academies are trying to do. "You don't get to see the people, you don't get to see the families, because everybody is just busy doing their own thing. "There's so much negativity around football in this country that it's nice to show a little bit of a positive side of it, to lift the bonnet and say, 'look at all these kids, look at all these Irish kids who want to be footballers, and look what they're doing to try and make it'. Advertisement "That's what I'd like people to know, that there's a whole lot of kids out there who want to be footballers, and they're doing it around us all."
RTÉ News
20 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Shamrock Rovers eye league phase ahead of St Joseph's procession
Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley is targeting another long run in the UEFA Conference League as they look set to book a place in the third qualifying round on Thursday night. The Hoops take on St Joseph's in the second leg of round two in what is expected to be a formality given their 4-0 advantage from the meeting in Gibraltar. Ballkani of Kosovo are likely to await in the third round as they hold a two-goal lead over Malta's Floriana, with a play-off for the league phase then on offer for the winning side. Bradley is hoping to follow up on last year's run to the knockout rounds which ended in a heart-breaking loss to Molde. He said: "We can't take for granted what this team has done throughout the years, but it should be the aim for every League of Ireland team [to qualify for the league phase every year]. We want to keep pushing the boundaries, you want to keep getting better and in order to do that, you've got to try to go deep in Europe. It is definitely our aim this year. Can we go and achieve that again? "It isn't just from our point of view, I think a lot of smaller nations around Europe are really thriving in this competition. "You also see Chelsea win it last year and they're in Champions League now so the effect it has on all teams around Europe is massive. For us it opens pathways and doors that are realistic. We've got to keep striving to be better and going deep in this competition is definitely one of our aims." The Tallaght side may rest some players for the game against St Joseph's but there is a chance their league match with Derry City on Sunday will not take place. If Ballkani progress, as well as FC Prishtina, the Hoops will be back in action next Tuesday in Kosovo rather than Thursday, meaning the Premier Division clash must be deferred. Bradley said: "We have just got to go and win the game on Thursday, that has to be our approach. That's how we are built, that's how we're made. That's what we try and do so nothing changes. "We've got to forget about last Thursday and just focus on winning the game and that will be the aim in the second leg. "It's important for the tie but also for our coefficient. We can't underestimate that going forward. The more games you win the better it gets, it really important for the league as a whole. That's our aim in this game. "You have to try and get the balance right of freshness, but you also want to keep people sharp as well, so it will play a part in the team selection. "We can't control other results and what's going to happen regarding Sunday. Either way, we'll be ready to play." With no injuries and John McGovern and Connor Malley arriving this window, it could be said the squad Bradley has at his disposal is as strong as its ever been. They are set to compete for a double at home as well as their crunch European matches. "We've had to work extremely hard throughout the years to get to this point," Bradley stated. "I like where the squad is. It's in a really good place, there is a real competition for places and everybody is ready to play which is nice."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Midfielder Harkin departs Derry City for Sligo
Ciaron Harkin has departed Derry City to join fellow League of Ireland club Sligo Rovers on a permanent deal. The midfielder joins the Bit O'Red until the end of the season with the club retaining the option of extending his contract for the 2026 season. Harkin departs his hometown club after a six-year stint in his second spell at the Brandywell, making 109 appearances but only six this season. The 29-year-old missed both the 2022 and '23 seasons after suffering back-to-back ACL injuries before joining Irish League side Coleraine on loan in July 2024, returning to Derry City in January for the beginning of the League of Ireland season. Sligo currently sit ninth in the League of Ireland Premier Division table, 11 points ahead of basement club Cork City and just three points behind eighth-placed Galway United. Harkin becomes the second former Derry City player to join Sligo in the summer transfer window after defender Patrick McClean joined the club earlier this month.
