Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce the appointment of John Russell as the new Senior Men’s Team Manager on a contract until the end of 2023.

The 37 year-old had taken the team on an interim basis for our previous two fixtures with a win over Derry City and a draw with UCD last Friday night in Dublin and will take the team in an official capacity as Manager this afternoon at training as the team begin preparations for the remainder of the season.

Russell’s first competitive game in charge will take place against Finn Harps on June 18^th at The Showgrounds at 7.45pm.

The Galway native enjoyed an 18 year-long playing career in which he made over 130 appearances for the Bit O’ Red in three spells starting in 2010, signing for Paul Cook from Galway United. The signing proved to be a major part in the club’s success in his first two seasons at the club, with Russell winning The FAI Cup & EA Sports Cup in 2010 and another FAI Cup in 2011.

Russell then departed for St Patrick’s Athletic at the end of the 2011 season, going on to win a league title in 2013 before returning to Rovers in the 2014 season under then manager Ian Baraclough. John played for four seasons, winning The Setanta Sports Cup in 2014 and being part of the team which won away to Rosenborg on a famous night in Trondheim in The Europa League later that summer. He departed at the end of 2017 to take up a full-time coaching and development role with the FAI as Regional Development officer for Sligo/Leitrim.

Russell became First Team Assistant Manager before the start of the 2019 SSE Airtricity League season, a position he has held until today.

Russell said:

‘’I am privileged and honoured to be appointed as first team manager of Sligo Rovers.

Sligo Rovers is the heartbeat of the community and I want all the supporters to know that I am determined to improve this team. I have a clear vision and strategy for the club going forward.

I know first-hand the quality of players we have in our dressing room. This group has a real willingness to learn and improve. It’s an exciting time to be following Sligo Rovers with the league games resuming, European Football next month, and the FAI Cup around the corner.  We are all looking forward to the challenges ahead’’.

Club Chairman Tommy Higgins:

‘’We are thrilled to make this announcement this afternoon. After a rigorous recruitment process, we are fully satisfied that John is the right man to take us forward and lead us on our journey over the coming season and a half at least.

John knows the club inside out and has a great work ethic and passion for the club which stands out and his in-depth knowledge of our Academy, the local community and club as a whole, which will help him over the coming weeks and months.

John is a very driven individual and has shown great leadership in just a short time as interim manager. We are excited and looking forward to our future with John at the helm’’.

John will be holding a press conference on Friday at The Showgrounds where he will be introduced to local and national media.

Despite being only 21, New Zealand striker Max Mata has already racked up his fair share of air miles having played in his native country, Switzerland, Estonia and America. It was after finishing his season with Real Monarchs in the States that he got the call about playing in Ireland and he had no hesitation in signing:

“My agent called me to say that there was interest from a club in Ireland which turned out to be Rovers. I didn’t really have to think twice about it as I wanted to get back to Europe as I felt it was better for my career in general and that there were more opportunities for me there. So I made the decision straightaway to sign. I didn’t know much about Ireland to be honest, I had met a few Irish people before but I guess I didn’t really know what it would be like. I didn’t know it was going to be as cold as it is!”

New Zealand are well represented with Mata joining up with his compatriot Nando Pijnaker but didn’t get a chance to speak with Ryan DeVries who had left the club just before he signed:

“Yeah I had heard that Ryan played in the League of Ireland but didn’t actually speak to him about the club before I joined. It was awkward timing as he had left just before I signed so I never spoke with him but do know that he played here for two seasons and did some damage which was good. The situation with Nando was that his club were sending him out on loan for the second time. He was obviously looking to go somewhere he would get game time and where he would be given a good opportunity. And he has gotten that here and is playing well and proving that he is a good player. So far it has been going perfectly for us; we are both settling in and get the chance to do things off the pitch together. We actually both played together briefly at Grasshopper in Switzerland. We were there together for half a season but the season was cut short by COVID.”

Mata started off his career in New Zealand playing with his local youth side before signed by A League team Wellington Phoenix. He was also playing under-age with his country and his performances for them brought him to the attention of a number of sides in Europe including Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Zurich:

“Yeah I started off with Wellington Phoenix. I didn’t come up through the ranks with them but was asked to sign for them when I was 15. Then I moved to Eastern Suburbs who are a professional club in New Zealand to get more game time. I played under-age with New Zealand as well and it was playing for the U-17’s at the World Cup that I got spotted by Grasshopper. They basically offered me a trial and brought me over for a month and told me that they wanted to sign me. I missed the transfer window deadline for the end of July so went home and came back over in November and stayed there for a month and then signed in January. It was definitely difficult to settle into life in Switzerland as there was the language barrier which made things difficult in terms of getting around. Anytime I went to do anything there were always problems unless the person spoke English which wasn’t that uncommon but it isn’t their first preference as they are not as comfortable speaking it. It was a big culture shock and a different type of football for me which made it worth it.”

Mata found his first team chances limited with Grasshopper but found his feet when he was loaned out to Estonian side Nomme Kalju as he scored 12 goals in 20 games for them and also played for them against Celtic in an Europa League qualifier:

“I got the chance to go on loan with Nomme Kalju in Estonia and this was something I wanted as I was hoping to get more game time. I had been in preseason with Grasshopper to get ready for the new Swiss season and joined Kalju halfway through their season as theirs was a Summer one. I came in at a good time as they were playing Champions League qualifiers and then Europa League ones as well as their League matched so it was back to back games. It took a little while to adapt to their culture but when it clicked then I started scoring goals and was hungry for more. At the end of my loan move Kalju were interested in signing me but Grasshopper weren’t interested in letting it happen. It got to a point then where it was made pretty clear to me that I have no shot of making the first team squad. I wanted to play in a professional league and the chance to play in America popped up and it was everything I was looking for. Unfortunately things didn’t go as well as I would have hoped although there were some positives for me to take from my time with them.”

Now starting to settle into life in Sligo, Mata had impressed in his opening weeks of the season with a brace against UCD and a goal against Dundalk to add to some other all around good performances. Since then a calf injury sustained against Finn Harps has hampered his receent weeks but he is keen to get back on the pitch to help Rovers and also to earn his way back into the international side for whom he has one cap:

“I’ve scored three goals and we had a decent start to the season and have a good bunch of players here and a good staff and there are a lot of good people working for the club as well. I enjoy the whole community in Sligo because everyone knows everyone and that’s quite cool. I know I have to keep working hard and give 100% effort and hopefully take my chance when it comes and help the team to win matches. Those who watch football don’t watch training and only get to see you and what you can do when you play. Being out on the pitch is the most fun thing in life, nothing beats playing football. It’s all I want to do. I want to play more international football but getting picked for the squad is predominantly based on form so that means I have to find my feet here and start scoring lots of goals which will give me the best chance to back into the squad which is definitely something that I want to do.”

Mata will once again be available for selection in our next game with Finn Harps at The Showgrounds on June 18th.

Another busy weekend for our academy teams has just concluded with each of our six teams all in action.

It started on Saturday with our Under 17 Men’s team at home to Dundalk at The Sean Fallon Centre. A goal from Kyle McDonagh was only a consolation in a game that ended 3-1 to the visitors.

Our Under 14 team lost 2-1 to Derry City away from home with Jamie O’ Malley scoring for Alan Farry’s side.

Our Under 17 Women’s team were beaten 2-1 at home to Peamount with our only goal scored by Ella Vahey.

Conor Langan’s goal for our Under 15’s wasn’t enough as they lost out 3-1 at home to Shelbourne on a Sunny Sunday afternoon at Sean Fallon Centre.

Our Under 19 men’s side faced a long journey south to Blarney to play Cork City at 3pm. Kailin Barlow scored twice to add to an own goal from the hosts to secure a 3-1 win.

In Tallaght our Under 19 Women’s team were defeated 5-0 by an impressive Shamrock Rovers team.

Sligo Rovers and hosts Treaty United served an exciting Women’s National League (WNL) scoreless draw at the Markets Field yesterday evening, writes Conall Collier.

Treaty went into the game on the back of 11 defeats and will be disappointed not to have won this time out as they rattled the woodwork on a number of occasions and also missed a gilt-edged chance in the 90th minute.

For Sligo Rovers, it was a second clean sheet and they also had a couple of chances, but will be relieved to have picked up another point in their first draw of the season.


Sligo Rovers started on the front foot with a free from Aoife Brennan in the third minute that was saved by Treaty’s Trish Fennelly and soon after Emma Doherty surged through the home rearguard, but she was closed down and the danger was cleared.

Treaty settled into the game and worked the Bit O’Red defence without creating any worthwhile chances.

Gemma McGuinness raided consistently down the left wing and sent in a number of crosses, but didn’t pose any major problems either as both teams worked hard in the sweltering conditions.

Treaty’s Cara Griffin created a great opening in the 19th minute that gave Aislinn Meaney a chance, but her well-struck effort tested the quality of the crossbar and the ball was cleared by a relieved visiting defence.

At the other end, Treaty had a let-off when goalkeeper Trish Fennelly produced a spectacular save to deny Gemma McGuinness midway through the half.

Treaty began to enjoy a period of dominance and were unlucky not to score when a speculative Amy Madden effort from 30 yards thundered off the underside of the crossbar in the 39th minute and Amy Mahon gathered the loose ball.

The hosts remained in the ascendancy until the interval, but failed to make the breakthrough that their attacking play deserved.

Treaty were on the defensive in the early part of the second-half with both Alannah Mitchell and Laoise Brown solid in the central positions while for Sligo Rovers, it was the efforts of Lauren Boles at midfield that earned her side a lot of possession.

Both teams gave it their best shot and worked the respective goalkeepers, but it remained scoreless as Treaty were denied in the 90th minute when Aislinn Meaney saw her effort shaved the outside of the Sligo post.

Treaty Utd – Trish Fennelly; Emma Deegan, Sarah Kiernan, Jessica Casey, Alannah Mitchell, Lauren Keane, Jesse Mendez, Heidi O’Sullivan, Michaela Lawrence, Laoise Brown, Cara Griffin, Amy Madden, Aislinn Meaney.
Sub – Esra Kangal for Madden 79 mins.

Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Orna O’Dowd, Gemma McGuinness, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty, Aoife Brennan, Amy Roddy, Fiona Doherty. Sub – Paula McGrory for F Doherty 70 mins.

Sligo Rovers can confirm that our SSE Airtricity Premier Division clash with Dundalk, scheduled for Saturday June 11th at The Showgrounds has been postponed.

The postponement comes after international call ups involving Dundalk players.

Bit O’ Red defender Nando Pijnaker is also away on international duty. Pijnaker will now not miss any Bit O’ Red fixtures as he returns to Sligo on June 14th ahead of our game against Finn Harps which now becomes our next league fixture on Saturday June 18th at 7.45pm

The Dundalk fixture has not yet been given a new date.

Sligo Rovers travelled to UCD on Friday night in The SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

The sides last met in The Showgrounds in April and played out a 2-2 draw with Rovers’ goals coming from a Max Mata brace.

The Bit O’ Red came into the game following Monday’s last-minute win over Derry City while the students were defeated 2-0 by Shelbourne at Tolka Park.

Interim boss John Russell made no changes to the team from Monday but David Cawley and Robbie McCourt returned to the bench in place of Peter Maguire and Kailin Barlow.

The first half was a quiet affair with little or no chances created by either side.

Liam Kerrigan did find himself with a half chance as a long ball found the winger going towards the Rovers penalty area but goalkeeper Ed McGinty rushed out and cleared the danger.

Aidan Keena was proving problematic for the UCD defence and he worked his way into the area from the left hand side and had a shot blocked down by Sam Todd.

It remained scoreless at half-time.

Rovers’ started the second half with a higher pace to their play and this led to the opening goal nine minutes into the half. Keena again caused problems for the defence as he turned brilliantly in the area and worked a shot on his left foot. Goalkeeper Kian Moore parried the ball into the air and Karl O’ Sullivan was on hand to nod home from close range to give Rovers the lead.

On the hour, referee David Dunne had to be replaced after he got struck in the head by Jack Keaney’s pass and was knocked to the ground. Fourth official Derek Tomney came on in his place for the last half hour or so.

Moments later, Rovers almost doubled their lead. Will Fitzgerald found Adam McDonnell down the left and he squared it towards substitute Lewis Banks, on for Colm Horgan, but the English man couldn’t reach the dangerous cross.

Banks had a shot on target soon after, cutting in from the left and getting a strike away but it was too close to Moore.

Then, on 69 minutes, UCD equalised against the run of play. Rovers were on the attack but UCD cleared and broke up field. Liam Kerrigan’s cross was cleared by Garry Buckley but only as far as Evan Caffrey on the edge of the area. He composed himself and picked our team-mate Dylan Duffy in the box who glanced home from six yards.

Rovers reacted to this and almost regained the lead straight away. Keena found McDonnell on the edge of the area and he turned and fired a shot toward goal but Moore brilliantly tipped over.

The hosts grew into the game from here and broke forward at every opportunity. Half chances fell their way through Duffy again but Rovers cleared.

Aidan Keena came closest for Rovers after this with another effort on goal but again Moore was equal to it.

John Russell brought on Seamas Keogh and Cillian Heaney for the closing stages and ten minutes of added time wasn’t enough for either side to grab a winner.

(Photo: James Fallon )

Sligo Rovers women head for Limerick on Saturday and a first Women’s National League (WNL) assignment at the Market’s Field against bottom-of-the-table Treaty Utd.

The Bit O’Red players have achieved three wins on the pitch, one of those was at home to Treaty Utd last month when two super strikes from Aoife Brennan and one from Emma Doherty gave Sligo Rovers a first home win (3-1).

Rovers recovered from the concession of a Leah Kelly own goal in the 11th minute that gave Treaty Utd the lead on that occasion.

Last Saturday Treaty lost against Athlone Town (1-4), but there were similarities in the Limerick side’s performance and Sligo’s display three weeks earlier when the Bit O’Red lost 0-5.

In each game Athlone were awarded and scored two penalties, but to their credit, Treaty managed a goal against the Westmeath women and that statistic alone should prompt manager Steve Feeney to adopt a cautious approach to the Limerick assignment.

Granted, Treaty’s goal was also a penalty, scored by Héidí O’Sullivan, a goal that brought her side back into contention briefly in the second-half.

Treaty manager Don O’Riordan will have his team well prepared for the visit of the Bit O’Red and will be eager to get something out of the game, but the Sligo Rovers will be focused on picking up another three points.

“We will be confident going to Limerick, confident in the sense that we have produced good performances back-to-back and if we can do the same again, then we have a chance of another win,” stated Feeney.

“Treaty haven’t won a game yet, but they are not going to go through the season like that, they will beat someone, we just have to make sure that we are on our game, if we aren’t, then we will be in trouble.

“Treaty gave us a good game here in the Showgrounds although we won by 3-1, they will approach the game positively and they have nothing to lose anyway, they will work us hard.

“Our players won’t get carried away with the win against Cork last Saturday, they have learned that there are no easy games in the WNL and they don’t expect anything easy in Limerick either,” he added.

One noticeable trait in the performances of Sligo Rovers each week has been the ability within the squad to find some improvement from the previous game and Feeney highlighted one particular aspect.

“From a fitness perspective, the players have improved, but that was to be expected when you have a team starting out in the League for the first time, we have made progress and, for the most part, have improved from game-to-game.

“We have to keep doing that, there is always something that we can work on at training and then we have to bring that to the game each week.

“Against Cork City last Saturday, we started really well, the second-half was more of a disciplined, defensive performance and that was pleasing to see as it’s something we have worked on at training.

“It was great to see Gemma (McGuinness) and Emma (Doherty) linking up for the first goal against Cork, it must be one of the quickest of the season, 40 seconds I think it was.

“We also kept a clean sheet and that was crucial, if we can keep another clean sheet this weekend, maybe get another early goal, then we will have a good chance of getting something out of the game,” he concluded.

TEAMS AND SUBS LAST TIME

Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Ruth Monaghan, Orna O’Dowd, Gemma McGuinness, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty, Aoife Brennan, Amy Roddy, Katie Melly, Sarah Kiernan. Subs – Paula McGrory for Brennan 70 mins, Jessica Casey for Melly 68m, Kerri O’Hara for Kelly and Amy Hyndman for Doherty both 83m.

Treaty Utd – Michaela Mitchell; Alix Mendez, Emma Deegan, Alannah Mitchell, Lauren Keane, Jesse Mendez, Heidi O’Sullivan, Emma Costelloe, Michaela Lawrence, Emily O’Halloran, Laoise Brown. Subs – Cara Griffin for Costelloe 65 mins, Shannon O’Donovan for A Mendez 68m, Eimear Carey for Brown 84m.

FIXTURES – SATURDAY 28^th MAY

Treaty Utd v Sligo Rovers

Bohemian FC v Peamount Utd

Cork City v Shelbourne

Wexford v Athlone

DLR Waves v Galway

There are three more rounds before the mid-season break which is from Sunday 12^th June – Friday 1^st July. 

Sligo Rovers travel to Dublin once again as we take on UCD at The UCD Bowl tomorrow (Friday) night at 7.45pm.

The Bit O’ Red come into the game on the back of a 2-1 win on Monday night against Derry City at The Showgrounds after goals from Garry Buckley and Seamas Keogh, the latter coming with one of the last kicks of the game after 93 minutes.

UCD were defeated by Shelbourne at Tolka Park on the same night.

The last time the sides met was back in April when a 2-2 draw was played out with Rovers’ goals coming from a Max Mata brace.

Interim boss John Russell:

‘’Everyone was delighted to get back to winning ways on Monday. We were aggressive in our play all night and our mentality was spot on. I felt we created a lot of chances and the players fed off the atmosphere in the ground which helped us to go on and get the late winner.

UCD will be a different challenge tomorrow evening. We know they carry an attacking threat having drawn with them at home in our previous meeting.

The players have worked extremely hard this week and are looking forward to the game. Hopefully we will have a big following on the night’’.

In team news, Garry Buckley was forced off on Monday night and will be assessed close to kick off. David Cawley, Robbie McCourt and Max Mata all near a return to the squad having missed out through injury on Monday.

The game is live on LOI TV from 7.45pm and there is Live commentary on Ocean FM.

All six Sligo Rovers Academy teams are in action over the weekend between Saturday and Sunday.

This sees the teams play their final fixture before the break for Summer exams, apart from our Under 19 Women’s team who will have a game next weekend.

On Saturday, our Under 14 boys team take on Derry City at The Vale Centre at 1pm.

Also at 1pm, our Under 17 Men’s team host Dundalk at The Sean Fallon Centre.

Straight after this game, at 3.15pm our Under 17 Women’s team host Peamount United at the same venue.

On Sunday, our Under 15 team take on Shelbourne at 1pm at The Sean Fallon Centre.

Our Under 19 teams are both in action on Sunday afternoon with the Men’s team taking on Cork City at 3pm in Blarney and the Women’s team travelling to Tallaght Stadium to take on Shamrock Rovers at the same time.

Admission to all our home games is as always, free of charge.

At 37, goalkeeper Richard Brush is the oldest member of the Sligo Rovers squad but don’t let that belay his continuing love and enthusiasm for the game. He has seen it all and won it all in trophy laden spells with Rovers and tonight’s opponents Shamrock. Rovers made a recent start to the season and had a blip in form which was dispelled by wins against Finn Harps and Drogheda United and for Brush he feels this just underlines how strong the League is getting:

“One of the oldest clichés in football is that there is no easy game and this year has proved that more than other seasons, there are no easy games in this League. All the clubs are continuing to improve and do things in a more proper fashion and getting this right in terms of budgets and that. You see now a more even spread of players going to clubs so you see lads who normally would only play for the top six clubs going to the likes of Harps and Shels and Drogs and that’s no disrespect to them clubs. It just shows how things are getting tighter in the league and the gap in standards are narrowing. All clubs now have a certain level of strength in depth that they can turn to and has been seen on their day any club can beat another.”

The good start maybe glossed over that Rovers were somewhat of a rebuild in the off season with the departures of Johnny Kenny to Celtic and John Mahon to St. Johnstone and the arrival of a number of new players including ones who are new to the League and Brush feels that it can take time for sides to gel and that the start they had maybe glossed over that fact:

“It’s a fact in this League that the best players move on, we lost Johnny who was our top scorer and then John who was one of our best performers. These aren’t players who are easily replaced and we have signed well but these lads need time to work their way into the team and to adapt to the League. There is no doubt for me that once they find their feet that they are going to be top lads but there was always going to be a wobble as they settle in. When we were playing St. Pat’s we were telling them they are a strong team one of the better sides in the League and then we go out and beat them. Then you go and play the so called ‘lower teams’ and we lost and that was an eye opener for us all and certainly opened the eyes of the new lads that this is not an easy League. It goes back to what I said earlier that every game is tough, there are no easy games.”

While he might be happy to be in a support role to Edward McGinty, injury meant that Brush was called into action for the games against Drogheda away and Harps at home and he enjoyed getting back out on the pitch:

“Yeah I played against Derry towards the end of last season and then when Ed got injured I was in for the games against Drogheda and Harps and thankfully they were two good results for us. In both games especially the game away against to Drogheda we them early on the counter. We knew from previous years that Drogheda away and be a tough place to game and I have played in some torrid games for us there. We got them with three sucker punches inside the opening half an hour. Still you had to be on top of your game as in the second half they missed a penalty which if that had gone in would have put us under pressure and would have made for a different game. Then against Harps Aidan got a hat trick and while Harps pulled a late goal back it was too late for them to rally. That said they were still having a pop when they were three down. You see that more that clubs aren’t writing games off look at the game against Drogheda last weekend. They went two down but didn’t let their heads drop and got back into the game with a dubious penalty but well I’m biased as I’m a goalkeeper and we have to stick together! But even when they went down to ten it was still a struggle to break them down but we did and Garry got us a late winner. You see now that teams will continue to have a go and chase to find a way back into games.”

Now in his 15^th season in Irish football since he first arrived at the Showgrounds after spells with Coventry and Shrewsbury Brush is still enjoying his football and hopeful to keep going for a few more years yet:

“When I was warming up for the game against Drogheda in the Showgrounds one of the guys in the crowd said to me I remember your debut Brushy. That was away against Bray Wanderers, I came on for John O’Hara, that was my introduction to the club and the League. That was the start of it all and everything that has gone in-between and all the clubs that I have played with, it has been great and I have been lucky to have won trophies and played in big European games and hope there are a few more years left yet. But if it was to come to an end after this season then I would have nothing but fond memories of my career all the way through”.

By Keith O’ Dwyer