Our 2023 Annual Draw is coming towards its end, with €69,000 now raised so far by our brilliant volunteer sellers in addition to our online sales on srfcdirect.com

The draw takes place at the UCD game on Saturday night at The Showgrounds which kicks off at 7.45pm.

The top prize is €5,000 and will be won by one of our entrants who has purchased a ticket for €10.

If you can, we’d encourage you to support our draw by purchasing a ticket now online via the link below:

https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-ticket/

There are other top prizes such as a huge €2,500 voucher for West Coast Orthodontics in Sligo Town and a €1,000 voucher for Petstop Discount Warehouse.

Vouchers for stays at The Connaught Hotel, Clayton Hotel Liffey Valley and the Silver Tassey Hotel in Letterkenny are also up for grabs.

Corporate match tickets for a Liverpool home game at Anfield are also on offer which will be a great prize for any football fan.

There are also vouchers for Kate’s Kitchen in Sligo, Elverys Sports and Ticketmaster.

We’d like to thank all our supporters for getting behind the draw once again this year.

Did you know, Celtic FC was founded by a Sligo man?

Andrew Kerins, or Brother Walfrid as he is more famously known, was born in Ballymote in 1840.

At the age of 15, Kerins went to Scotland in search of work, as did many Irish in those times due to the Famine.

In 1964, he joined The Marist Brothers, a catholic religious order who focused on educating the youth of Glasgow.

A few years later, after a four year stay in France, Kerins returned to the Scottish city as a teacher and soon established a football league in his school. He was then appointed Headmaster in 1885 at Sacred Heart School.

Brother Walfrid as he was now known dedicated his time to raising money for the poor in Glasgow, hosting charity matches as he tried to help the most vulnerable in his community.

He formed a number of football clubs, but only one survived, Celtic Football and Athletic Club.

Walfrid proposed the name Celtic, with the strong historic links between Ireland and Scotland, as he never forgot his home in Sligo.

To this day, Celtic remain a massive club globally, with huge support here in Ireland.

There is a monument in Ballymote to remember the club’s founder, in the town where he grew up.

Celtic supporters attending next week’s game at The Showgrounds are expected to visit the monument throughout next week, as they show their appreciation to the Sligo man who started it all.

You can buy tickets to the game here online:

https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/

Nando Pijnaker and Max Mata are currently on International duty with New Zealand for two upcoming friendlies with Sweden and Qatar.

They face Sweden on Friday at 6pm in Stockholm and three days later, on Monday face Qatar in Austria at 5pm.

We wish the lads the very best of luck.

Sligo Rovers made it a successful away journey to Tolka Park on Friday night as goals from Estonian winger Frank Liivak and Mullingar born Striker Aidan Keena securing a 2-0 win in front of around 1,500 fans in Drumcondra.

Rovers were on the front foot from the first minute as Max Mata broke forward only to be taken down on the edge of the area by defender Gavin Molloy, who picked up an early booking for his troubles. Adam McDonnell’s free kick floated over Brendan Clarke’s crossbar.

The hosts replied with chances of their own soon after. Shane Farrell testing Luke McNicholas from close range before skewing an effort wide moments later.

The games first big incident came on 23 minutes when Frank Liivak broke free on the right before to beat defender Aaron O’ Driscoll and fired past Clarke in the Shelbourne goal. Rovers had weathered a bit of a storm up until then and the goal was a welcome reward for some good counter attacking play.

It was nearly 2-0 when Aidan Keena had a free kick from 25 yards go inches wide of the post after Mata was again fouled on the edge of the box.

Shelbourne had half chances through Sean Boyd before half time but Rovers lead at the break.

Colm Horgan was introduced for Nando Pijnaker at half time.

John Russell’s side started the second half on top and Mata was played through on goal at an angle by the brilliant Liivak. Mata’s chipped effort was touched wide of goal by Clarke and Shels cleared.

Mata was replaced by Will Fitzgerald after an hour and Rovers continued to push forward as Keena took up a more central striking role.

This would pay off just four minutes later as Keena latched onto Shane Griffin’s wayward pass in the Shels’ backline and raced through towards goal. The striker kept his composure and smashed the ball past Clarke to double Rovers’ lead.

Kailin Barlow came on in Rovers’ final change on 77 minutes for the hard working Liivak and Rovers managed to see the game out comfortably in the closing stages to earn an important three points.

Next up is a trip to take on Derry City on Tuesday night at 7.45pm.

The first live televised game of the 2022 Women’s National League season will see the TG 4 cameras at the Showgrounds on Saturday evening where the home supporters who attended Thursday night’s Europa Conference League game will gain free admission as a ‘thank you’ gesture from Sligo Rovers.

And Bit O’Red manager Steve Feeney will be urging his players to draw some inspiration from the feat of the men’s team who belied their underdog status to record a 2-0 victory over SPL side Motherwell when his team tackle champions Shelbourne.

Feeney has every reason to believe his team can pose some major problems for defending champions Shelbourne and manager Noel King.

Last May, the defending champions had to wait until the 91st minute for the breakthrough goal from substitute Caoimhe Keenan in what was an absorbing WNL game at Tolka Park.

On that occasion it was only a fifth senior outing for the newest team in the WNL and while Sligo Rovers have only won twice more on the pitch since then, one of those was against high-flying Wexford at the Showgrounds.

Last Saturday Sligo Rovers lost away to Galway after showing some good first-half form to lead twice and go in level at the break (2-2).

However, Galway upped the tempo in the second-half and added three more goals for a comfortable 5-2 victory and that is an issue that Feeney admitted his players need to address.

“We were good, we were competitive against Galway in the first-half, but we were over-run in the second-half and that’s something we need to avoid now when we tackle Shelbourne,” stated Feeney.

“It’s a big game for us, last season we were all watching these types of games on the television, now we have a chance to be involved with the game live on TG 4, a great opportunity for the players.

“We know it will be tough, but we also know that we can make it difficult for Shelbourne, we know that we can score goals, if we can play to our best, then we have a chance,” he added.

Feeney confirmed that both Emma Hansberry and Amy Hyndman are doubtful while Kristen Sample is also sidelined.

For Shelbourne, they go into the game after failing to win in their last two outings and also failing to score from play.

They needed a 93rd minute penalty to earn a draw with Athlone Town last Saturday at Tolka Park and midweek were held to a scoreless draw against Dublin neighbours Bohemian FC.

Manager King will view this trip to the Showgrounds as an ideal opportunity for his side to get back amongst the goals and to tighten their grip on retaining the title as the WNL season heads towards the home straight.

LAST TIME

Shelbourne 1

Sligo Rovers 0

Sligo Rovers host Dundalk on Saturday night in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division. 

The Bit O’ Red will play their first home game of the season after starting the year with two away matches due the postponement of the Bohemians fixture

In team, Robbie McCourt (muscle) and Greg Bolger (ankle) are doubtful and will be checked pre-game.

Liam Buckley said: “It was two tough away games to start the season. The group performed well over the period and I say group because it was a squad effort to get four points out of six. We’ve worked hard as a collective unit in pre-season.

“It was a good result in Derry. I think two games in three days so early on had an impact on both teams but it doesn’t come easy to leave with a clean sheet. Again that was a collective performance so we were pleased with the outcome overall. 

“It’s great for the fans to have the team coming back to The Showgrounds. We were disappointed that the first game didn’t happen and I’m delighted to have a good start behind us ahead of Saturday. 

“We want to build a reputation about The Showgrounds being a tough place to come for the opposition. We want the supporters to get behind us and make that atmosphere that teams come here knowing it’s a difficult place to go and play. That starts with our own performance first and foremost. We’ve adjusted training around the games to deal with the busy start and be ready for Saturday night.

“Dundalk will be one of the teams competing for the top four just like the first two teams we’ve played. They’ve got a strong squad and it doesn’t surprise me that they’ve made a good start. 

“We’re really looking forward to the challenge and being back home in Sligo.”