2011 Shamrock Rovers F.C. season

The 2011 Shamrock Rovers F.C. season is the club's 90th season competing in the League of Ireland and their 5th consecutive season in the top-flight of Irish football.

Shamrock Rovers began the season with a 2-0 win over Dundalk in the Leinster Senior Cup at Oriel Park on 22 February. Their first leage game, at home, also against Dundalk, ended in a 3-1 win. Rovers were defending League of Ireland champions and in 2011 won the club's 17th league title, becoming champions after a 2-1 win away at UCD. Rovers finished four points ahead of nearest rivals Sligo Rovers.

Furthermore, Shamrock Rovers competed in the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. After beating Flora Tallinn Rovers were knocked out by FC Copenhagen, and entered the Europa League qualifiers. They defeated Partizan Belgrade to qualify for the group stages, the first Irish club to do so. They played in a group with Rubin Kazan, PAOK and Tottenham Hotspur.

Shamrock Rovers also won the All-Ireland tournament, the Setanta Sports Cup, beating Dundalk in the final at Tallaght. But they went out of the FAI Cup to Sligo Rovers in the quarter final and the League of Ireland Cup to St Patrick's Athletic. Rovers entered the domestic tournaments in the Third and Second Round as a result of being a League of Ireland club and enter the qualifying rounds of the European competitions.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Technical staff

Pre-season and friendlies

Shamrock Rovers began their pre-season on 1 February against non-league side, Killarney Celtic at Celtic Park. Surprisingly, Killarney Celtic started off positively with a goal in the opening ten minutes of the game. Killarney kept this lead until the 53rd minute when Ciarán Kilduff scored a goal to equalize. From then on Rovers began to get into the game. In the 77th minute, Anthony Murphy put Rovers into the lead with a terrific goal. Followed by this, Stephen O'Donnell and Karl Sheppard both scored with Billy Dennehy scoring twice on the 79th and 86th minute, resulting in the game ending 6-1 to Shamrock Rovers.

Rovers next pre-season game was against First Division side, Cork City on 4 February in Musgrave Park. Just like in the last game, Rovers conceded a goal in the 30th minute. But, Rovers fought back and just after the break, Gary McCabe scored a goal to level both sides. Then on the 75th minute, Patrick Kavanagh scored the winning goal, thus the game ended with Rovers winning 2-1.

Three days later, Rovers played against Celtic XI at Tallaght Stadium. This game was an highy anticipated game due to the high profile of Celtic. The game started off well for Rovers who did not concede a goal in the first half, like in the two previous games. But, in the 55th minute, Daryl Murphy fired past Alan Mannus to put Celtic in the lead. 3 minutes later, Graham Carey scored a goal to win the game for Celtic XI. This was Rovers first defeat this season.

On the 13 February, Rovers played their next pre-season friendly against First Division side, Monaghan United in front of a crowd of just 400. Just before the break, Rovers were brought down to 10 men when Dean Kelly was sent off. Then, just 3 minutes before the end of the game, Conor McCormack was sent off. The game ended in a draw. A lot of chances for Rovers made the game very frustrating for Rovers. The man of the match was Dan Murray.

Two days later, Rovers played against IFA Premiership side, Cliftonville. In just under 1 minute, Gary Twigg opened the scoring for Rovers. This lead lasted until 15 minutes into the game, when Eamon Seydak put Cliftonville on level terms with Rovers. After the break, Rovers went on a goal frenzy, with goals from Ciarán Kilduff, Enda Stevens, Karl Sheppard and Gary McCabe to put Rovers ahead. Cliftonville got a consolation goal in the 85th minute to end the game in a 5-2 win to Rovers.

      Win       Draw       Loss

League of Ireland

The fixtures for the 2011 season was announced on 23 December 2010, and revealed that Rovers would begin their league campaign against Dundalk at Tallaght Stadium on 4 March 2011.

All of the opening games for the League of Ireland started at the same time, so no team would get an early-head start in the title race. Dundalk started the game off positively with a goal in the 44th minute from Jason Byrne. But, two minutes later, Gary McCabe scored on his league debut for Rovers. In the second half, Shamrock Rovers dominated the game. In under 10 minutes, Rovers topscorer Gary Twigg scored twice to win the game for Shamrock Rovers. The 3-1 win put Rovers into third place in the league table at the end of the first round of league games.

Rovers next match came the following Saturday, away to Sligo Rovers. Shamrock Rovers started off well and in the 6th minute, Gary McCabe scored from a rebound against his former club. Shamrock Rovers remained dominant for the rest game and defended all that Sligo Rovers had to give. This win made it two out of two wins for Shamrock Rovers.

FAI Cup

Shamrock Rovers entered the 2011 FAI Cup at the Third Round stage, the draw being made on 9 May 2011. Rovers were drawn with First Division side, Athlone Town with the match to be taking place at Tallaght Stadium.

League of Ireland Cup

As one of the top two ranked teams in Pool 3, Shamrock Rovers received a bye to the Second Round of the 2011 League of Ireland Cup. The draw for the Second Round took place on 30 March 2011, and gave Shamrock Rovers an away tie against Dublin rivals, St Patrick's Athletic.

The match was played on 25 April and was one of the most highly awaited matches of that stage due to the rivalry of the 2 clubs. Rovers started of well with a goal from Dean Kelly in the 58th minute. But, just as Rovers were about to celebrate a memorable victory, St. Pat's equalised with a goal from Danny North in the 88th minute. The teams were forced to play into extra-time, but both teams could not edge each other out, thus forcing a penalty-shootout. During the penalty-shootout, Rovers only scored one penalty, while St. Pat's scored three penalties by John Flood, Stephen Bradley and Evan McMillan. St. Patrick's Athletic won the game, resulting in the elimination of Rovers from the League of Ireland Cup. This was one of the worst results for Rovers in three years in this competition.

Leinster Senior Cup

Shamrock Rovers began their campaign in the Leinster Senior League in the Fourth Round. The draw for the fourth round took place on 20 January 2011. Rovers were drawn with Dundalk in an away tie.

The match was played on 22 February at Oriel Park. Both teams displayed good performances, early on. But in the 35th minute, Gary O'Neill grabbed a goal to put Rovers in front. From, then on it looked like Dundalk were going to mount a comeback with chances from Mark Quigley. In the second half, they continued to put pressure on the Rovers defense. But, in the 78th minute, a goal from Stephen O'Donnell ended Dundalk's chances of winning the game. Rovers won the match 2-0 and were heading into the Quarter-Finals of the Leinster Senior Cup.

The draw for the Quarter-finals took place on 16 March. Rovers were drawn with old Dublin rivals, Bohemians in another away tie. In the last round, Bohemians had been drawn with Sporting Fingal, but received a bye, when Sporting Fingal went out of existence due to funding issues.

The highly anticipated match took place on 4 July at Dalymount Park. The first half was an entertaining battle between both sides and in the 43rd minute, Dean Kelly scored to put Rovers ahead. Early on in the second half, Ryan McEvoy scored to level the tie. After many good chances from both sides, the match was forced to enter into Extra time. In the 124th minute of extra time, Kevin Feely got a goal to put Bohemians ahead. This goal was enough to separate the sides and thus, eliminated Shamrock Rovers from the competition.

Setanta Sports Cup

As winners of the 2010 League of Ireland, Shamrock Rovers received a bye into the 2011 Setanta Sports Cup. The Quarter-Finals Draw placed Shamrock Rovers against IFA Premiership side Lisburn Distillery.

The first leg took place on 14 March at the New Grosvenor Stadium in Ballyskeagh. Rovers easily defeated Lisburn with goals from Karl Sheppard, Ciarán Kilduff and Dean Kelly to put Rovers 3-0 up on aggregate.

The second leg took place on 22 March at Tallaght Stadium. The game ended 4-2 putting Rovers through on aggregate (7-2). Lisburn started off well with a goal from Liggett in the 14th minute. But, from then on Rovers dominated the game with goals from Kilduff, Rice and Kavanagh putting the game beyond doubt. Lisburn managed to get a consolation goal in the 57th minute, when Liggett scored his second goal of the game. The match ended with Rovers winning 7-2 on aggregate.

The draw for the Semi-Finals took place on 23 March in Belfast. Shamrock Rovers could have drawn IFA Premiership side Cliftonville or League of Ireland sides Dundalk. Rovers were drawn with Sligo Rovers. This would be a rematch of the 2010 FAI Cup Final in which Sligo Rovers had defeated Shamrock Rovers on penalties.

The first leg took place on 11 April at the Showgrounds. A high tempo performance from Rovers ensured that they took a lead into the second leg. Goals from Ronan Finn and Karl Sheppard resulted in the game ending 2-0 to Shamrock Rovers.

The second leg took place on 19 April at Tallaght Stadium. Within 4 minutes, Sligo Rovers were back in the tie with a goal from Eoin Doyle. But, 4 minutes later a goal from Karl Sheppard put the game back into the favour Rovers. Another goal from Billy Dennehy put the game beyond doubt with the result being Shamrock Rovers 4 - 1 Sligo Rovers and a place for Rovers in the 2011 Setanta Sports Cup final, their first Setanta Sports Cup final appearance.

Rovers opponents were fellow League of Ireland side, Dundalk. They beat Cliftonville 5-2 on aggregate (including a 2-1 home win in the second leg) to reach their first Setanta Sports Cup final.

The final took place at Tallaght Stadium on 14 May. Despite the game taking place in their home stadium Rovers were technically the away team following the drawing of lots. Rovers won the final 2-0. Gary O'Neill put Rovers ahead through a volley from just inside the box. The game looked like it was going to finish 1-0 to Rovers, when Billy Dennehy scored in the 93rd minute to secure the game for Rovers. This was the first piece of silverware of the season for Shamrock Rovers.

Shamrock Rovers won 7-2 on aggregate

Shamrock Rovers won 4−1 on aggregate

UEFA Champions League

Shamrock Rovers began their UEFA Champions League campaign in the Second qualifying round after winning the 2010 League of Ireland. The draw for the second qualifying round of the Champions League was made in Nyon, Switzerland on 20 June 2011. As one of the League Champions based in Western Europe, the club was seeded in Group 3. This meant that they would not be drawn with teams such as Maccabi Haifa or Sturm Graz from Eastern and Central Europe. However, they could still be drawn with teams such as Skonto and IFA Premiership champions Linfield F.C.. The draw eventually paired Rovers with Estonian champions Flora Tallinn. Both legs of the second qualifying round were broadcast on Setanta Ireland.

Rovers played the first leg on 12 July at Tallaght Stadium. The game ended 1 - 0 to Shamrock Rovers, making it a historic win as it was the first time Rovers had won a Champions League match. Chris Turner scored the winning goal to put Rovers ahead just after the half hour mark.

Rovers travelled to A. Le Coq Arena in Estonia for the second leg on 19 July. The game ended in a stalemate with the game ending 0-0. This still was enough for Rovers to progress to the next stage of the competition.

The draw for the Third qualifying round took place on 15 July. As winners in the second qualifying round, they were placed in the Champions Route section of the draw. This meant they could draw teams such as Dinamo Zagreb, Bate Borisov, of Croatia and Belarus respectively, and Scottish champions Rangers. Rovers were drawn with Danish champions F.C. Copenhagen, who had appeared in the group stages of the champions league, last season.

As per draw, Copenhagen were supposed to play against Rovers at the Parken Stadium, but Copenhagen made an offer to Rovers to play the first match in Tallaght, which would give Rovers a better chance at getting a capacity crowd. Rovers refused, thus the match was scheduled as normal to be played at Copenhagen's home ground.

The first leg took place on 27 July. The match was broadcast live on Setanta Ireland. The match resulted in a 1-0 victory for F.C. Copenhagen. Copenhagen went ahead after only 4 minutes when Ottesen kicked the ball past Rover's goalkeeper Ryan Thompson into the net. Rovers had many chances later on in the game, but failed to capitalize.

The return leg was held on 2 August at Tallaght live on RTÉ Two. Rovers went into the game with only needing to score one goal to get through to the next phase. This soon became unlikely when N'Doye got a goal just before the break. Still, Rovers did not falter and continued to attack Copenhagen's defence, coming close on many occasions. Finally in the 73rd minute, Christian Bolaños scored to put Copenhagen ahead with 3-0 on aggregate, thus ending Rovers journey in the Champions League for this season.

Shamrock Rovers won 1-0 on aggregate

Shamrock Rovers lost 3–0 on aggregate.

UEFA Europa League

Play-off Phase

After failing to defeat F.C. Copenhagen in the Champions League, Rovers went into the Europa League, the secondary competition of Europe. The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August in Nyon, Switzerland. Having been dumped out of the Champions League, Rovers were placed as a unseeded team in Pot 1. This meant that they could be facing teams such as Atlético Madrid and Greek runner-ups Panathinaikos. Rovers were drawn with Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade. Partizan were still reeling from their defeat to Belgian team, Genk. Last season, Partian had reached the group stages of the champions league, so it seemed unlikely that they would be defeated by Rovers, who were considered the underdogs.

The first leg took place on 18 August at Tallaght. The match was broadcast live on RTÉ Two. Rovers started the game with a defensive tactic. But, this turned out unsuccessful when Nemanja Tomić took advantage of the lack of defenders marking him and slotted the ball into the back of the net after only 14 minutes. After that, Rovers began a comeback and created many chances,but failed to capitalize. In the 81st minute, Gary McCabe broke through the Partizan defense and with the aid of Gary Twigg, scored a goal to balance both of the teams out. The match ended 1 - 1 leaving the tie in the balance.

The second leg took place on August 25 at Partizan Stadium. The match was broadcast live on Setanta Ireland. Rovers went into the game needing to score at least one goal to prevent from being eliminated from the competition. The game started as usual with Rovers slow to move up the field. After only 35 minutes, Vladimir Volkov headed the ball into the net. The game looked almost over for Rovers, but Rovers continued to fight back. In the 58th minute, a volley from Patrick Sullivan put both teams back on level terms again. Finally, in the 113th minute of extra time, Midfielder Stephen O'Donnell put Shamrock Rovers ahead through a penalty. The game ended with Rover winning 3-2 on aggregate. This was the first time an Irish club would be entering the Europa League Group Stages.

Shamrock Rovers won 3-2 on aggregate

Group Stage

The draw for the Europa League Group Stages took place on the 26 August in Monaco. Based on the UEFA coefficients, Rovers were placed in Pot 4. This meant that they would be drawn with one team from each other pot. Among the teams which Rovers could have faced included Fulham, Atlético Madrid and Stoke City. The draw eventually paired Rovers with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League, Rubin Kazan of the Russian Premier League and PAOK of the Greek Super League. All matches will be broadcast on TV3.

Rovers first Europa League fixture took place on 15 September against Rubin Kazan. Rubin Kazan started off well with a goal from Obafemi Martins in the 3rd minute. Rovers got into the game after this goal and created many chances. Even though they held most of the possession, they failed to capitalize on chances and goals from Christian Noboa and Gökdeniz Karadeniz ensured the win for Rubin Kazan. The game ended with a defeat for Shamrock Rovers.

Rovers next travelled to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspurs on 29 September. Spurs started off well with both Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko hitting the woodwork. By half-time the match was scoreless with this being mainly due to Rovers defence. In the second half, Rovers began to increasingly attack and in the 51st minute, Stephen Rice scored from a volley to put Rovers ahead. This lead did not last long and in the 60th minute, Pavlyuchenko equalised from a header. One minute later, Defoe scored to put Spurs ahead. Finally, four minutes later, Giovani dos Santos scored to put the game beyond doubt. The match ended in a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham.

Rovers third Europa League fixture will take place on 20 October against PAOK

Squad statistics

Appearances/Goals

As of 04 November 2011

Top scorers

Includes all competitive matches.
Premier Division scorers appear higher on list when total goals are equal.
Last updated 04/11/11

Disciplinary record

Last updated: 29 October 2011
Source:
Only competitive matches

Y = Number of bookings;  YY = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card;  R = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.
Notes: League only

League Table

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Premier League Results summary

Last updated: 29 October 2011
Source: [1]

Results by round

Last updated: 29 October 2011.
Source: Wikipedia article
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Starting XI