As we enter into a new year in 2023, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful supporters for their support in 2022.
The European run in July and August will go down in memory and it was wonderful to see a sold-out Showgrounds in our three home European games as well as good attendances throughout the domestic campaign.
Happy New Year to all our supporters.
The club would also like to thank our players, staff and volunteers and wish them a Happy New Year.
Sligo Rovers Chairman Tommy Higgins has penned a short message on Christmas Day to thank a number of people in and around the club.
Higgins looks back on a memorable European run and looks ahead to 2023.
Tommy Higgins:
”As we come to the end of 2022, we can reflect on a memorable summer and those never-to-be-forgotten European matches, we go again in 2023 and can look forward to a great night at The Showgrounds when we play Shamrock Rovers on February 18th.
”I would like to take this opportunity of wishing our staff, sponsors, coaches, players and most of all our wonderful supporters, a Very Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year”.
Sligo Rovers 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division season is 10 weeks away with Shamrock Rovers the visitors to The Showgrounds on the opening day of the season on Saturday March 4th at 5pm.
Pre-season training returns in January with Bit O’ Red Manager Steve Feeney having had a busy period since the end of the 2022 season with a number of players re-signing for the club in recent weeks.
Lauren Boles was an important re-signing for Feeney as the midfielder was a key player in 2022, playing in every minute of every game. Leah Kelly was also a regular starter in the team and will also be back for 2022 along with Irish Under 19 Internationals Emma Doherty and Kerri O’ Hara.
This week, left-sided defenders Amy Hyndman and Sarah Kiernan re-signed for the new year to add to goalkeeper Amy Mahon who signed earlier in the week.
The full 2023 squad so far is listed below:
Goalkeepers:
Amy Mahon
Defenders:
Sarah Kiernan, Amy Hyndman, Jessica Casey, Kate Nugent, Ruth Monaghan
Midfielders:
Lauren Boles, Leah Kelly, Katie Melly, Kerri O’ Hara, Ciara Henry
Attackers:
Emma Doherty, Lauren McLellan
A series of pre-season friendlies will be announced shortly home games expected at the end of January and February.
Season Tickets 2023: Womens Season Tickets are available to Men’s Season Ticket holders for just €25. You can add a Women’s Season Ticket to your Men’s season ticket by showing your Season Ticket at The Showgrounds office at any time before the start of the new season.
Women’s Season Tickets are priced at just €50, giving you access to every kick of the ball next season.
Tickets will be available in early January.
Sligo Rovers 2023 SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division season is fast approaching with Shamrock Rovers the visitors to The Showgrounds on the opening day of the season on Saturday February 18th at 7.45pm.
Pre-season training begins in less than a fortnight with Manager John Russell and his Management team busy making preparations for the squad to help prepare them for the year ahead.
This week, Russell added Nando Pijnaker to his squad on a permanent basis after completing a transfer from his former club Rio Ave in Portugal.
Nando joins other new signings Johan Brannefalk and Lukas Browning who both join from Sweden, James Finnerty from Bohemians and Daniel Lafferty from Derry City.
Rovers already had a number of players on long-term contracts with Kailin Barlow, Luke McNicholas, Eanna Clancy, Aidan Keena and Max Mata all signed until 2024 or 2025 respectively.
Winger Fabrice Hartmann remains at the club on loan from RB Leipzig, a deal that is due to expire on June 30th 2023.
Greg Bolger, David Cawley, Richard Brush and Will Fitzgerald all re-signed for the club after their contracts were due to expire at the end of the 2022 season.
Garry Buckley and Mark Byrne are due to remain sidelined until at least May or June after both sustaining ACL injuries in 2022.
The full 2023 squad so far is listed below:
Goalkeepers:
Luke McNicholas, Conor Walsh, Richard Brush
Defenders:
Johan Brannefalk, Daniel Lafferty, James Finnerty, Nando Pijnaker, Eanna Clancy, Garry Buckley.
Midfielders:
Greg Bolger, Will Fitzgerald, Niall Morahan, Lukas Browning, David Cawley, Kailin Barlow, Mark Byrne, Karl O’ Sullivan, Frank Liivak, Fabrice Hartmann
Attackers:
Aidan Keena, Max Mata, Cillian Heaney
A series of pre-season friendlies will be announced shortly with two home games expected at The Showgrounds in early February.
There will be an opportunity for our Super Reds to meet the team at our annual Super Red open day at The Showgrounds. At this event they can meet the squad, join in some games with them and have an opportunity to capture memories of the day with aurographs and photographs.
Super Red Season Ticket: https://srfcdirect.com/season-tickets-2023/
Season Tickets 2023: https://srfcdirect.com/season-tickets-2023/
The best way to purchase your Season Tickets is online via the link above.
We are thrilled to announce the re-signing of defender Sarah Kiernan until at least the end of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division.
Kiernan joined Rovers Under 17 Women’s team in 2018 when the team was first formed and has come through the academy and become a regular in our Senior side in 2022.
The Grange native came through Benbulben FC’s academy, who compete in the local Sligo/Leitrim Youths league before signing for Rovers four years ago.
Manager Steve Feeney is delighted to have Kiernan back on board:
‘’I am very happy to see Sarah re-sign with us today.
‘’Sarah become an important part of the side after breaking into the team coming through the Academy.
‘’In particular, her defensive skills added to her set-piece delivery, she is a real asset.
‘’We are looking forward to working with her again in 2023’’.
Sarah will join up with her fellow Bit O’ Red team-mates in early January when the side return to The Showgrounds for pre-season training.
Sarah is delighted to be back on board again for 2023:
‘’I’m delighted to have re-signed for the 2023 season.
‘’We had a really good first season and, we hope to push on this season.
‘’I’m grateful to Steve, the Management and previous Academy Managers for helping me get to this stage.’’
The team host Shamrock Rovers on the opening day at The Showgrounds on March 4th 2023. Kick off this season will be 5pm for all home matches as opposed to last season’s kick off time of 2pm.
Season Tickets go on sale for just €50 in January.
We are thrilled to announce the re-signing of left-sided defender Amy Hyndman until at least the end of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division.
Amy joined Rovers from Athlone Town ahead of the 2022 season and made a number of appearances throughout the year, mostly as a left-back.
The Grange native came through Benbulben FC’s academy, who compete in the local Sligo/Leitrim Youths league before signing for Sion Swifts in Northern Ireland, where she played for two seasons.
Hyndman represented her college Letterkenny IT in the 2018/2019 Intervarsities and won the Regional Futsal Finals in 2019/2020.
Manager Steve Feeney is delighted with the last recruit.
‘’Amy put in some great performances last season for us.
‘’She has mostly played left-full but she can play higher up as well so it’s good to have her versatility in the squad.
‘’She came through Benbulben’s Academy and it’s brilliant for them that they can produce these players who can have the goal of coming in and playing at a national level’’.
Amy will join up with her fellow Bit O’ Red team-mates in just over two weeks when they return for pre-season training.
She is delighted to be back on board again for 2023:
‘’I’m delighted to re-sign with Rovers for the 2023 season.
‘’We showed last season that we can compete in the Women’s National League and, I look forward to pushing on further from what we built last year in our first ever season’’.
The team host Shamrock Rovers on the opening day at The Showgrounds on March 4th 2023. Kick off this season will be 5pm for all home matches as opposed to last season’s kick off time of 2pm.
Season Tickets go on sale for just €50 in January.
Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that striker Lauren McLellan has re-signed for the club today ahead of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division season.
McLellan joined the Bit O’ Red earlier this year and will now go into her second season with the club in the new year.
Lauren bagged her first competitive goal in a 1-1 draw against Treaty United at The Showgrounds toward the end of last season.
Manager Steve Feeney is pleased with this latest addition:
“I’m thrilled to see Lauren sign back with us for next season.
“She is another good young player and that’s something we want to continue and help develop these players and help them progress their careers.
“We are looking forward to working with her again next season”
McLellan is also a student at our partners ATU Sligo and is part of the Senior Women’s squad competing in the Third Level League and Cups.
Lauren played with Manulla, Castlebar Celtic and Knock/Kiltimagh United in Mayo previously and is one of a number of Mayo natives in Steve Feeney’s squad.
She is happy to re-sign with the club for 2023:
”I’m delighted to re-sign for Sligo Rovers for next season and very grateful I am in the management’s plans.
”Last year we proved we can compete in this League and I have no doubt Steve and the management team will push us to our potential again next season.
”Hopefully we get off to a great start with our first home game against Shamrock Rovers”.
McLellan and her team-mates return to pre-season training in January ahead of the first game of the season at home to Shamrock Rovers on March 4th 2023.
Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that defender Nando Pijnaker will join the club for the 2023 season after the club have concluded a permanent transfer for the New Zealand International from his parent club Rio Ave in the Portuguese Premier Division.
The highly sought after 23-year-old spent the 2022 season on loan at The Showgrounds from Rio Ave and impressed throughout the season with many top-class performances at both right and left side centre back.
Pijnaker is currently a New Zealand Senior International having made 11 caps so far for the All Whites including starting in their recent World Cup Qualifying campaign.
Nando made the move to Europe from New Zealand by joining Swedish side Torslanda IK from Eastern Suburbs. He then joined Swedish giants Grasshopper before completing a move to Portuguese top tier side Rio Ave in 2020.
John Russell and Bit O’ Red officials made Nando a priority signing and the confirmation that the transfer is now concluded having reached agreement with Rio Ave is a welcome boost ahead of the 2023 season which starts in February with a home game against Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds.
Rovers Manager Russell is thrilled to have Nando for 2023:
‘’I’m delighted Nando has agreed to sign on a permanent deal. I’d like to thank his agent Bruno Meirelles and his former club Rio Ave for their cooperation in getting this deal done.
‘’Nando is a player of immense quality. He is a current International and he has all the attributes to play at the highest level.
‘’He is a top professional and someone who is very driven and always willing to listen and learn. I feel he can take his game to another level in 2023.
‘’I’m sure the fans will be excited to see Nando back at The Showgrounds’’.
Living in the heart of Sligo Town, Nando has made the switch to Sligo with ease and has settled in well to life in the North-West.
Pijnaker says he is delighted to get the deal done:
‘’I am delighted to be back at The Showgrounds for next season.
‘’I have really enjoyed my time in Sligo so far and I was keen to come back here on a permanent basis.
‘’I wish to thank everyone at Rio Ave for helping me in my career and I am looking forward to my future here at The Showgrounds.
‘’The supporters and the town in general have been so welcoming to me and made me feel at home’’.
Nando and his Sligo Rovers team-mates return to pre-season training in two weeks before a seven-week pre-season training programme.
Season Tickets are available right up to kick off on the opening day and they are best available online at www.srfcdirect.com
It is expected that the opening game of the season will be an all-ticket game with a huge crowd set to come to get behind John Russell and the team.
We are thrilled to announce that goalkeeper Amy Mahon has re-signed for the club ahead of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division season.
Mahon impressed since breaking into the team in 2022 and has been a regular in Steve Feeney’s starting XI ever since.
The Mayo native originally joined the club back in 2020 for our Women’s Under 17 squad before the season was halted due to COVID.
She returned before the start of the 2022 season and is back now until at least the end of 2023.
Manager Steve Feeney:
‘’It is great to have Amy back with us again for another season.
‘’When Kristen Sample got injured last season in unfortunate circumstances, Amy stepped in and was a real positive from the season, showing what she’s made of.
‘’Her penalty save against Wexford Youths at The Showgrounds was a real stand-out moment last season and we’re looking forward to helping her develop more next season’’.
Mahon is also a student at our partners ATU Sligo and is part of their Senior Women’s squad alongside many of her Bit O’ Red team-mates.
Amy has stated her delight at re-signing today:
‘’I’m delighted to re-sign with Rovers for next season.
‘’We had a really good first season and, we hope to build on last season’s results and really compete in the League again in 2023.
‘’I’m really looking forward to our first game against Shamrock Rovers at home, it will be a good battle for both teams in front of the fans at The Showgrounds’’.
Amy and her Sligo Rovers team-mates return to pre-season in January and will be just seven weeks away from the opening game against Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds on March 4th.
Season tickets for the Women’s team go on sale in January from just €50, which gives you access to every kick of the ball in 2023.
We are thrilled to announce that midfielder Katie Melly has re-signed for the Bit O’ Red until at least the end of the 2023 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division season.
Melly, from Sligo Town joined the club ahead of our debut season in 2022 and studied Health Science and Physical Activity at our partners ATU Sligo.
Katie played her youth football with local team Strand Celtic and represented Sligo/Leitrim Youths at underage level as well as the Connacht Schools team.
At the age of 16, she joined Castlebar Celtic who were competing in the Women’s National League at the time.
Sligo Rovers Manager Steve Feeney is delighted with his latest addition:
‘’I am thrilled to see Katie with us again next season.
‘’She is from Sligo and knows what it means to represent the club.
‘’She shows great pride anytime she pulls on the Rovers jersey and, she has proven to be an important player for us so far.
‘’We are looking forward to working with her again and helping her development here at the club’’.
Melly wore the number 13 jersey last season and made many appearances throughout the season.
The midfielder is thrilled at today’s announcement:
‘’I am delighted to res-ign for Sligo Rovers today.
‘’Last season was a great introduction to the Women’s National League. This season will produce new challenges for us and, we are looking forward to push on in the New Year.
‘’Sligo Rovers are a great club and the staff have created a fantastic environment to allow us to excel at this level’’.
Melly and her Bit O’ Red team-mates return to pre-season in three weeks as Steve Feeney begins preparations for the side’s second season in the Women’s Premier Division.
Season Tickets are due out in early January and are priced at €50. You can get one for half-price if you have a Men’s Season Ticket.
