Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce the signing of Welsh Underage International Cameron Evans who last played for Swansea City until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Evans, 21, also spent a season on loan at Waterford in 2021, appearing 35 times for The Blues so he comes as no stranger to The League of Ireland.

The defender made his Senior debut for Swansea in an FA Cup game against Stevenage in 2021 and moved on loan to Waterford soon after, gaining experience at Senior Level which the defender says has stood him well:

‘’I am happy to be here at Sligo Rovers.

‘’My experience at Waterford was a good one because I was playing games. I played 35 times for them and even though the season ended up differently than we had wanted, I still enjoyed my time in Ireland so when the chance came to come back I jumped at it.

‘’From playing against Sligo Rovers a couple of times I know the type of football club I am coming into and I can’t wait to get started.

‘’John has shown great faith in me and I am looking to pay that back and make an impression here and keep the team going in the right direction for the rest of the season’’.

Manager John Russell is delighted with the latest addition to his squad:

‘’I am delighted we’ve secured the signing of Cameron Evans.

‘’He is a player who has come up through the Swansea Academy and is a Welsh Underage International.

‘’Cameron had experience in our league before where he impressed during a loan spell at Waterford.

‘’He is a young ambitious player who will bring a lot of quality to our team. We’re all looking forward to working with him’’.

Evans is expected to be part of the Rovers squad on Sunday for the first time as we take on St Patrick’s Athletic in Inchicore in The SSE Airtricity League.

Rovers currently lie just one point off Pats with a game in hand.

Sligo Rovers can confirm defender Garry Buckley has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury which will see him out for the rest of the 2022 season and also a large part of 2023.

The injury occurred in last week’s defeat to Viking FK in The Europa Conference League Third Round Qualifier First-Leg in Stavanger in a challenge with an opponent.

Buckley arrived at Rovers ahead of the 2020 season from Cork City and appeared mostly as a midfielder in his first season at the club.

Since then, he has made the move back to the centre of defence and has impressed on many occasions becoming one of the stand-out defenders in the league, signing a contract extension in 2021 to keep him at The Showgrounds until the end of 2023.

The injury comes at an important time in the season as we continue in Europe and look ahead to the remaining games of our League season and Buckley will prove a big loss to John Russell’s squad.

The club will help Garry over the coming months and support him off the field and we look forward to seeing him in the Bit O’ Red shirt again next season.

John Russell:

‘’We’re all devastated for Garry.

‘’He is a leader within our group and a player of immense quality so we will miss him on the pitch for the rest of this season.

‘’As a club we will do everything to support him on his road to recovery.

‘’It’s a tough moment right now for Garry but I know he will come back fitter and stronger and the fans can look forward to seeing him back on the pitch at some point in 2023’’.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce the signing of Eanna Clancy on professional terms until the end of the 2024 season.

Clancy has been a regular at Academy level in recent years after signing for Rovers from Sligo/Leitrim club Manorhamilton Rangers.

The 18 year-old made his Bit O’ Red debut against UCD recently, coming on for Shane Blaney before making his full debut in last week’s FAI Cup match against Wexford FC at The Showgrounds.

Clancy has been a consistent performer at Academy level in recent seasons, coming through our Under 17 and 19 sides before signing as a professional for the first time today.

It brings to eight, the number of players currently in the First Team Men’s squad that have developed through our underage system to sign professional terms at the club. Other former players such as Johnny Kenny, John Mahon and Edward McGinty have also been through the same player pathway and have now been transferred to other clubs having made their name in the Rovers’ senior set up.

Bit O’ Red Manager John Russell expressed his delight at Eanna’s signing:

‘’I am delighted that Eanna has signed his first professional contract at the club.

‘’It’s a proud moment for him and his family.

”Eanna is an Irish Schools International and a player of huge potential.

‘’He has already made two first team appearances and is a player I know will improve and develop within our first team environment’’.

With over 120 players currently playing in our Academy, at both male and female levels, it shows these players that there is a proven pathway at the club with Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady and all Academy coaches producing and developing talent and First Team Manager’s John Russell and Steve Feeney bearing the fruits of this with good quality young players coming through to their squads.

After signing his first professional contract today, Clancy told of his happiness to get the deal done:

‘’I am very happy to have signed for the club today. It is my first professional contract and it is something that I have worked hard for in the last few years.

‘’It is a great club here and it just goes to show that if you work hard and do well in our youth teams that you’ll be given a chance to progress and make it with the seniors.

‘’There are many other young players who have gone through this Academy and done well with the First Team so I want to do the same and keep progressing and keep improving.

‘’To make my debut lately was really special for me and my family and I look forward to making many more appearances here at Sligo Rovers.

‘’It’s important too for my local club Manor Rangers who have been a great help to me down the years. All the coaches and volunteers out there are so good and so hard working, I am happy that a player like myself can develop and come in and play for such a big club like Sligo Rovers’’.

Eanna will be part of this Thursday’s Europa Conference League squad for our Third Round Qualifying Second-Leg tie with Viking FK at The Showgrounds.

Sunday evening saw 5th place take on 6th in The SSE Airtricity League as Sligo Rovers hosted Bohemians at The Showgrounds.

The Bit O’ Red weren’t long back from Stavanger in Norway following Thursday night’s First-Leg defeat to the Norweigans and manager John Russell was without a host of key players going into the game.

Garry Buckley, Adam McDonnell, Lewis Banks, Colm Horgan and Seamas Keogh all missed out through injury however Greg Bolger returned to make his first start since June having recovered from a heel injury.

Karl O’ Sullivan slotted into the back four and Nando Pijnaker came in beside Shane Blaney at centre back in place of Garry Buckley.

Frank Liivak started on the right and Max Mata was among the subs having played over 90 minutes in total as a substitute in Thursday’s game against Viking.

The game started slowly with no major chances created by either side. Rovers went close through Aidan Keena and the visitors tried their lick on a few occasions but there was nothing to trouble Rovers’ keeper Luke McNicholas.

There were four bookings in the first half with Paddy Kirk and Shane Blaney booked for Rovers and Liam Burt and Declan McDaid being shown a yellow each for Bohs.

John Russell made two half time substitutions with Greg Bolger and David Cawley replaced by Robbie Burton and Max Mata.

This gave Rovers a little more in attack and the hosts started the half the brightest with long periods of possession only for that to be undone on the counter attack as Bohs took the lead through John O’ Sullivan, shooting low past McNicholas on 54 minutes.

Ten minutes later though, Rovers were level. Aidan Keena found space and clipped a lovely through ball to Mata and the New Zealander made no mistake, blasting home into the far corner of the Bohs net.

Two minutes later and Mata was at it again. Will Fitzgerald’s cross from the left was knocked down into Mata’s path and he controlled it on his chest and scored with a strong left footed effort past goalkeeper Tadhg Ryan to give Rovers a deserved lead.

Aidan Keena almost got in on the act with 18 minutes remaining. Great play down the left from Paddy Kirk saw him skip inside his man and run along the end line before finding Keena who’s powerful effort was saved by Ryan.

The visitors tried to push forward and manager Keith Long made a number of changes as the half went on but in the end Rovers saw the game out well and earned a valuable three points on a tough afternoon at The Showgrounds.

Next up is our Europa Conference League Second Leg tie with Viking with the score currently 5-1 to our opponents following the First Leg.

Kick off is 7pm and the game is sold out.

Our Academy teams were in action on Saturday and Sunday with three home games taking place and two teams travelling to Derry and Dublin respectively.

Our Under 14’s played out a 1-1 draw against Derry City on Saturday afternoon, Jamie O’ Malley with the Rovers’ goal.
We wish goalkeeper Gareth Cummins a speedy recovery after picking up an injury in the game.

Also on Saturday, our Under 17 mens team defeated Bohs 2-1 at home thanks to goals from Daniel Kelly and Shea Malone.

Our Under 17 Womens team lost 2-1 to DLR Waves at The Sean Fallon Centre on Saturday evening. Ella Vahey with the only goal.
Sunday saw both Under 19 teams in action. Our Mens team lost 3-0 at home to Galway United at MacSharry Park while our Under 19 Womens team drew 1-1 away to Bohs.

Katie Maguire had given Rovers the lead but the hosts equalised late on.

On Tuesday night our Under 17 men’s team travel to take on Athlone Town at 7pm in Lissywoolen.

#bitored

We host Bohs this evening at 4.45pm at The Showgrounds in The SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

A large support is expected at The Showgrounds with an away end almost sold out and hundreds of home tickets bought online as well as our usual pay on the gate supporters and season ticket holders.

We outline all our Match Night information below:

Turnstiles:

Turnstiles open from 3.30pm. Those who have bought online, please have your ticket ready for our scanners.

Season Ticket holders should also have their season tickets ready to be scanned.

Paying cash? Try and have the correct amount ready to hand in to our staff to quicken the process.

Seating:

Seating is first come, first served in all areas of the ground. Seats with names on them must be respected as these are Gold Season Ticket members who have paid for their seat to be reserved all season. Anyone found sitting in a seat that is not theirs will be asked to move.

Security:

Members of our security team will carry out on the spot checks on bags and persons entering the ground. Alcohol and Pyrotechnics are not allowed and will be confiscated on entry. We ask supporters to please help the club in this regard and refrain from attempting to get in with any prohibited items.

CCTV:

CCTV is again in operation throughout the evening using our Brand New state of the art CCTV system. Security personnel and An Garda Siochaina will be monitoring the system and anyone found to be behaving in a way which contravenes our ground rules will be removed and potentially banned from attending future games.

Home and Away Supporters have already been identified this season and further dealt with by the Gardai following anti social behaviour at our games.

Car Parking:

There are limited spaces available at The Showgrounds astro turf car park. This will be closed once full, which is expected to be early in the evening. Supporters should note the club have come to an agreement with Nazareth House for official Match Night use of their grounds which has over 200 parking spaces. There is a charge of €2, with proceeds towards the upkeep of their grounds.

Pitch:

It is an offence to enter the field of play at any stage. This includes children. It is parent/guardian’s responsibility to ensure children do not encroach on the pitch at any time.

We wish to thank all supporters for their support in recent weeks and for the atmosphere created both at home and away.

We thank you for your co-operation

Sligo Rovers return to SSE Airtricity League action tomorrow afternoon with Bohemians visiting The Showgrounds.

It will be the third meeting of the sides this season with Bohs winning both games by one goal at The Showgrounds and Dalymount Park respectively.

The Bit O’ Red come into the game off the back of a tough night in Norway with defeat to Viking FK on Thursday night and Bohs are in good form having beaten Finn Harps in The FAI Cup last weekend at Finn Park.

A large crowd is expected at The Showgrounds with gates opening from 3.30pm.

Manager John Russell:

‘’Tomorrow evening is an important game as we try and close the gap on the teams above us.

‘’We know Bohemians have signed a lot of new players and are always a difficult opponent.

‘’It’s important that we focus on ourselves tomorrow and get back to playing well and imposing our game on the opposition.

‘’We picked up a few knocks in Norway so, we’ll assess a few players before the game.

‘’Garry Buckley will definitely miss out, and will have a scan early next week on his knee. Adam McDonnell will also miss the game but, we hope he will be back soon’’.

In team news, as Russell stated, Rovers are without Garry Buckley who was stretchered off on Thursday night after a nasty looking knee injury. Buckley is expected to be out for some time but, his condition will become clearer in the coming days. Adam McDonnell, who also came off through injury on Thursday is less serious but is also set to miss out tomorrow. Colm Horgan and Seamas Keogh are also long-term absentees.

The game will be the first of three games in seven days for John Russell’s side with Viking visiting The Showgrounds on Thursday for the return leg and a trip to St Patrick’s Athletic to come on Sunday evening in the league in Inchicore.

With Rovers now out of The FAI Cup it’s important to have a strong end of season domestically through the league and there are now thirteen games remaining between now and the final game of the season in November against Bohs in Dalymount Park.

Tickets for tomorrow’s game are priced at €15 for adults, €10 for Elderly and Students/Under 18’s and €5 for Under 12’s.

They can be bought at the turnstiles or online via the link below

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

Bohemian FC advanced to the semi-final of the Women’s FAI Cup with an impressive 3-1 victory against Sligo Rovers at Dalymount Park today.

Bohemian FC started on the front foot and had a shot from Kira Bates-Crosbie on target in the second minute, but Amy Mahon saved.

Abbie Brophy caused a lot of problems on the wing for the Sligo Rovers defence and her creativity kept Amy Mahon busy.

Brophy’s pace was a major issue for the Sligo rearguard and on 14 minutes she raced on to the ball from half-way and just had too much in the tank for the chasing defender. She slotted confidently past Mahon for a deserved lead.

Bohs continued to press and were awarded a penalty for a handball in the 22nd minute which Erica Burke duly converted from the spot.

Sligo Rovers adopted a policy of containment for the remainder of the half, but they were still under a serious amount of pressure and only threatened briefly on a couple of occasions.

However, three minutes from the break Bohemain FC added a third goal when a well-struck cross from Niamh Prior took a deflection off a Sligo Rovers defender to leave the Dublin side 3-0 to the good at the interval.

Sligo Rovers resumed the second-half smartly and a fine Lauren Boles strike had them back in contention by the 51st minute.

However, for the remainder it was fairly flat and both sides had half chances, but it’s Bohs that go on to the last four.

Bohemian FC – Rachael Kelly; Katie Burdis, Isobel Finnegan, Lisa Murphy, Kira Bates-Crosbie, Erica Burke, Chloe Darby, Abbie Brophy, Aoife Robinson, Katie Lovely, Niamh Prior. Subs – Freya Roche for Robinson and Ann Marie Byrne for Burdis both 68 mins, Bronagh Kane for Prior 71m, Erin Phelan for Burke 93m.

Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Orna O’Dowd, Gemma McGuinness, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty, Kerri O’Hara, Paula McGrory, Amy Boyle-Carr, Sarah Kiernan, Helen Monaghan. Subs – Emma Hansberry for Monaghan
57 mins, Fiona Doherty for McGrory 70m, Aoife Brennan for Kiernan and Katie Melly for Boyle-Carr 81m.

Referee – Alan Patchell

Academy and First Team player Peter Maguire has joined Ballinamallard United on loan until January 2023.

The defender, from Blacklion joins The Mallard’s ahead of the start of their 2022/23 season.

The journey from Sligo to Ballinamallard has proved a well travelled one with many players playing for both clubs throughout the years.

Jason McCartney and Steve Feeney are probably the more famous examples, with both players spending many seasons with the side from County Fermanagh.

Rovers’ Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady, Christopher Kelly, Ross Taheny, Gary Armstrong, Anthony Elding and Richard Brush are all other examples of players who have played for both clubs.

We wish Peter all the best on his loan spell.

It was a testing night in Stavanger for The Bit O’ Red on Thursday night as John Russell’s side lost 5-1 to Norweigan Premier League outfit Viking FK.

The game was played in front of just over 11,000 supporters with around 60 travelling Rovers fans in section E of the stadium.

Rovers came into the tie having defeated Motherwell 3-0 on aggregate while the Norweigan’s knocked out Czech giants Sparta Prague 2-1 over two leg to progress to the third round.

John Russell continued without injured duo Colm Horgan and Seamas Keogh but welcomed back Greg Bolger to the squad.

There were no changes made to the starting eleven that defeated Motherwell both home and away with David Cawley again leading the side out as team captain.

The game started badly for Rovers as Adam McDonnell picked up a knee injury within 30 seconds and the home side taking the lead two minutes later. Luke McNicholas could only parry a shot into the path of striker Zlatko Tripic who tapped home from close range, much to the delight of the noisy home crowd.

On 8 minutes, it was 2-0. Tripic this time the provider as his cross found Samuel Fridjonsson who took a touch and blasted it into the roof of the net.

Rovers did well after this with Aidan Keena and substitute Max Mata, on for McDonnell, working an opening down the left with Keena shooting just over.

On 19 minutes, Garry Buckley fouled Tripic down the left but unfortunately for Buckley picked up a serious knee injury in the process and had to leave the field on a stretcher.

It was an even half from there on in with Rovers holding their own and going into the break still with plenty to play for.

The second half started with the home side looking to keep the ball and look for an opening. Substitute Mai Traore was causing problems for the Bit O’ Red back four and this threat proved too much when Fridjonsson’s diagonal pass found Tripic at the back post who knocked it down for Traore to score from 10 yards.

It was 4-0 soon after, with the hosts turning on the style playing from front to back with the ball eventually ending up with the impressive Fridjonsson who flicked the ball into the path of substitute Niklas Sandberg who finished brilliantly with his left foot, curling it around McNicholas.

Greg Bolger returned for the first time since early July in place of Keena and Frank Liivak was also introduced for Karl O’ Sullivan as John Russell brought on some fresh legs.

Viking made some changes of their own and youngster Advin Austbo scored ten minutes after coming on, curling a right footed shot past McNicholas into the far corner.

Frank Liivak broke into the home penalty area on 89 minutes and was clipped inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot.

Captain David Cawley grabbed the ball and dispatched his spot kick high into the top right corner to give Rovers a consolation goal before two minutes of added time brought and end to the game.

We host Viking in the second-leg next Thursday night at The Showgrounds at 7pm.

The game is sold out and will be live on Ocean FM and LOI TV.

We wish to thank the loyla Bit O’ Red supporters who made the long journey to Stavanger yesterday and wish them a safe journey home.