Latest news with #PremierDivision
The 42
a day ago
- Sport
- The 42
Drogheda United travel to Derry City for repeat of 2024 FAI Cup final after third-round draw
A REPEAT OF the 2024 FAI Cup final awaits in the third round of the 2025 competition as Derry City host the reigning champions Drogheda United. Drogheda were crowned champions last year for the second time in their history after a 2-0 victory at the Aviva Stadium. The sides meet again at the Brandywell on the weekend of Sunday, 17 August. Advertisement A classic Dublin derby between St Patrick's Athletic and current Premier Division champions Shelbourne is also a standout tie from the draw. Two other clashes between local rivals will come in the form of Kerry FC v Cobh Ramblers while Salthill Devon take on Galway United. An all-Munster meeting of Cork City and Waterford has also been confirmed following the draw while Longford Town will travel to take on Shamrock Rovers. Bohemians will welcome Sligo Rovers to Dalymount Park. Fixtures will take place on the weekend of Sunday, 17 August, with RTÉ providing live coverage of third-round action. The station will also cover the two quarter-finals, both semi-finals, as well as the final at Aviva Stadium on Sunday, 9 November. FAI Cup Third-Round Draw
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Cork City winger seals move to Scottish Premiership club
Cork City winger Malik Dijksteel is joining Scottish Premiership side St Mirren on a two-and-a-half year deal. The 24-year-old has signed a pre-contract agreement and will make the move in January, after this League of Ireland season. The Dutchman is a product of Feyenoord's academy, where he played alongside the likes of Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee and Arsenal's Jurrien Timber. He had spells in England with Middlesbrough, Whitby Town and Wrexham before joining the Rebels in the summer of 2023, making over 40 appearances. Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . Dijksteel will remain with City for the rest of the year as they try to stave off relegation after a difficult season to date. Cork City are rock bottom of the Premier Division, eight points adrift of Sligo Rovers who they host at Turner's Cross on Friday. St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson said: "Malik is a player that we have kept tabs on over the last six months. He's a real bright spark in the final third. 'He's quick, direct, takes players on and I think the fans will really take to him given how exciting he is. We look forward to welcoming Malik to the club.' Over the weekend, St Mirren also signed former Waterford and Finn Harps player Tunmise Sobowale on a deal until 2027. Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Cork City's Malik Dijksteel to join SPL side St Mirren in January
Cork City attacker Malik Dijksteel will join Scottish Premier League side St Mirren in January, the club have announced. The 24-year old joined the Rebel Army in the summer of 2023 and has made over 40 appearance in a City shirt to date. The Dutch winger, who emerged from Feyenoord's academy, where he lined up in a team featuring the Timber brothers - Jurriën and Quentin - as well as Crysencio Summerville, couldn't prevent City from being relegated in his first few months on Leeside but he did help City bounce back by winning the First Division title in 2024. Read More How Malik Dijksteel came back from the brink in Cork Dijksteel will remain at City until the end of the current campaign, where they face a tall task to avoid the drop yet again, before moving to St Mirren when his contract expires at the end of the year. A statement posted on the club's official website reads: "Cork City FC can confirm that Malik Dijksteel has agreed a deal to join Scottish Premier League side, St. Mirren, in January, following the conclusion of his contract with the Rebel Army. "The 24-year-old Dutch winger originally joined City in July 2023, and has made over 40 appearances for the club." Cork City host Sligo Rovers at Turner's Cross on Friday night in a game they surely need to win to have any chance of retaining their place in the Premier Division. City are currently eight points behind Sligo with 12 matches remaining.
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
RTE doc shines a light on League of Ireland academies and the need to fund them
Far away from the glamour of Champions League football, on a wet and windy day at the AUL, Dan Ring knocks home his 43rd goal of an incredible season. Shelbourne's Under-17s are well on their way to a 5-2 win against Cork City, a result that sends the 2024 league title to the Tolka Park club. Not long after that, Ring makes the first-team bench in a 3-2 defeat at home to St Patrick's Athletic. A week later, as their game away to Shamrock Rovers heads into injury-time, the young striker is finally rewarded for his prolific campaign with a senior debut. It's a 2-0 defeat and Shelbourne's Premier Division title bid is on the rocks. But, in dramatic fashion, they win their final three games and Ring, a huge player in the 17s league triumph, can boast a tiny role in the club returning to the top of Irish football. Fast forward to the present and Ring now has an FAI Cup appearance under his belt. After appearing on the bench last week at Windsor Park against Linfield, along with his pal from the Under-17s, goalkeeper Ali Topcu, the teenager is sprung from the bench for the final 11 minutes of Shels' 4-0 win away to Fairview Rangers. He is likely to be on the teamsheet again tomorrow night when the Reds host Azerbaijani football royalty Qarabag, regulars in the group stages of the Champions League and Europa League. Another step on a long road for the youngster who features in a brand new RTÉ documentary called 'Football Families', a three-parter beginning on July 31. The focus in episode one is on Shelbourne's academy. The show provides a timely reminder of the need for serious investment in the underage structures here, with warnings popping up all over the place that Ring's story is the exception, not the norm. 'The industry in the UK and across Europe is much bigger,' warns Colm Barron, Shelbourne's academy director. 'They go into practically a full-time training environment from the age of 16, whereas we don't, we can't offer that. 'We are trying, so we can then start to get it closer to a level playing field. But those two years of development between the ages of 16 and 18 are drastic. 'We cannot compete with what the other clubs can offer from a development perspective at those ages.' Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . In the post-Brexit era, UK clubs can only sign Irish players after their 18th birthday. This puts the onus on Irish football to finally get its house in order. But it cannot do it alone. Academy coach John Moore warns: 'Some of the players, and in particular their parents, start thinking they've made it. 'Not everybody playing on Shels' Under-14s will play on Shels' Under-18s. It's just a fact of life. We don't make them any false promises. 'Our ultimate ambition is to get players good enough to play in Damien Duff's first-team, but very few will reach that final stage.' And Duff, who features in the documentary, which is shot before his shock decision earlier this summer to quit, adds that the outlook for Irish football's production line is grim as long as the status quo exists. 'Do I see enough, which ties in with training hours in the country, do I see enough players that take my breath away that maybe would have happened 10, 15, 20 years ago? No, I don't,' he says. 'We have a lot of sayings at Shelbourne - enough is never enough. Footballers now across the board, and it's not just our academy, they think they are doing enough, but they're not.' Football Families (Image: RTE) With the government kicking the can down the road, in terms of committing to academy funding, Barron, Moore and Duff are banging a well-beaten drum. As are the countless other volunteers and part-time staff up and down the land who, to their credit, put in as much time as they can on the training pitch. FAI academy chief Will Clarke now provides an annual update on the state of Irish football's underage structures compared to those across Europe, and the stats are jarring. Barron and Moore work in an industry that employs just 10 full-time staff. Not at Shelbourne, but nationwide. Take Croatia, a country with a similar population, and that figure is at 190. There are 200 teenagers in the Shels academy and they all share one dream. 'So many players think they want to be a footballer,' says Barron. 'They see the glitz and glamour of what's on TV and what's on Sky Sports News. They see those elements and they think, that's football. But they don't see the hardship, the dedication towards it. 'These players want to be professional players. If you are not doing everything you possibly can, you 100 percent will not have a chance of making it at the top.' Episode one of Football Families also follows Fettercairn native Jayden Marshall, a centre-back who makes his Ireland Under-15 debut, and 15-year-old midfielder Cillian O'Sullivan from Howth. But it's Topcu and Ring who have found themselves in the middle of Shelbourne's Champions League adventure, which continues tomorrow night at Tolka Park. Both have ambitions to play at the highest level. 'The goals do get you recognition. People hear your name, your name gets put out on social media or whatever,' says Ring. 'But it's not about just doing it at academy level. I would love to eventually play in England. That's my end goal. I still have a long way to go.' So too does Irish football. But it is in need of serious backing. 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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stewart leaves Reds to join Sligo Rovers
Defender Sean Stewart has left Cliftonville to join League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers. The 22-year-old signed permanently for the Reds in the summer of 2024 from Norwich City after spending the 2023-24 season at Solitude. He made 48 appearances for Jim Magilton's side and started in the Irish Cup win against Linfield in 2024. Stewart has signed an 18-month deal with Sligo, who are ninth in the Premier Division. The full-back credited the influence of Sligo boss John Russell for persuading him to join. "John had been chasing me for a while and once I knew the clubs were happy to come to a deal and I spoke to him, I wanted to come here straight away," Stewart told the club's website. "He is hugely ambitious for the club's future and I want to be part of that. "Sligo is one of those clubs that realises the importance of giving younger players an opportunity. You only have to look at the average age of the current squad. The manager puts trust in his players; a young squad and it's paid off the last few weeks."
