The opening night of the 2024 First Division season is sure to be an eventful one, Cork City and UCD both looking to start on the winning front having dropped down last season.
Athlone Town v Wexford FC, Friday February 16th, Athlone Town Stadium, 7:45pm
Having both featured in the play-offs last season, this opening contest in Lissywollen will be a big opening three points for both teams to begin that journey once more.
The Midlanders have certainly lost a host of players with the likes of Frantz Pierrot and Valerii Dolia departing in the off season. Head Coach Dario Castelo still has a quality squad at his disposal, they will want to make a winning start if they are to fight for promotion again this season.
Another year at the helm for Wexford manager James Keddy, a squad with youth and experience, they are considered a side who will challenge for promotion this season. Thomas Oluwa had a fruitful loan at the club last season and joined permanently in the off season, their attack packed with threat including the ever present Aaron Dobbs.
Bray Wanderers v UCD AFC, Friday February 16th, Carlisle Grounds, 7:45pm
A first time since the 2021 season that UCD will play First Division football, they travel a short journey to Bray looking to make it a short stay.
Narrowly missing out on the play-offs last season, Bray will want to put their hat in the ring to make it this season. Head Coach Ian Ryan has gained and lost in the off season, Shane Griffin and Cristian Magerusan are exciting additions, while the youthful pair of Kieran Cruise and Freddie Turley add an extra dynamic to their squad.
William O’Connor will manage his first game for the students in the First Division and will call upon his most experienced player in Ronan Finn to help steady the ship on night one. UCD have a much changed squad for this season. Mikey McCullagh, Niall Holohan and Dara Kavanagh have all joined from Academy teams in the LOI, hoping to make an impression in this contest.
Cork City v Kerry FC, Friday February 16th, Turners Cross, 7:45pm
Another chapter in the historic Cork and Kerry rivalry will be written on Friday night as Cork City meet Kerry FC for the first time of asking.
Cork had a very short stint in the Premier lasting just a season, while their opponents this evening were in the development stages of applying for senior status they were on course to lifting the 2022 title. Different times in Cork, Tim Clancy is their new manager hoping for a quick turnaround this year.
Kerry are into their second season and will want to be more competitive than the one win and seven draws from last season’s exploits. Conor McCarthy will make history as the youngest manager in League of Ireland, his squad on the younger side of things had a few knocks, Ryan Kelliher, who missed out on both games remains a doubt and will be subject to a fitness test, as will Victor Udeze and Daniel Okwute who picked up knocks in pre-season. Ferdia O’Brien is in line to make his debut as he has recovered from a slight knock during the busy pre-season schedule
Treaty United v Cobh Ramblers, Friday February 16th, Markets Field, 7:45pm
The thrill of a Munster derby will kickstart the season for Treaty United and Cobh Ramblers, Tommy Barrett’s side missing the play-offs last year for the first time in their short history.
Like last season,Treaty will start on home soil, they fell short to Bray shy of 12 months ago and will look for a solid start to make a push for the play-offs. Changes like for most in the Division occurred in the off season, the most notable seeing the club switch to a blue home strip, looking to bring the history of Limerick into the club.
Gary Hunt takes charge for the first time in the League Of Ireland having left his role as First Team Coach with Waterford. Losing Jack Doherty and Charlie Lyons to Cork City is a massive loss, they have new faces in but an old one in Beineon O’Brien-Whitmarsh certainly was a signing Cobh fans were happy with. Cobh had one of their strongest seasons in recent memory last year and will want to better that this time around.
Longford Town v Finn Harps, Saturday February 17th, Bishopsgate, 7:35pm
Saturday evening will see Longford Town and Finn Harps face off, two teams who have failed to rejoin the top flight having been relegated in recent seasons.
The Midlanders dropped down for the 2022 season and while they finished in the promotion places it was not to be, last year they only managed to finish eight as Stephen Henderson will seek improvement in his second year in charge. With Cristian Magerusan having departed the club, they have had to look for new attacking options Dean George, Chris Lyons and the returning Karl Chambers will boost their chances at finding the net.
Having taken over towards the latter stages of last season, Darren Murphy will look to lead Finn Harps towards promotion this year, the Donegal club falling to second bottom in their first season back in the First Division since 2018. Ryan Flood was a key man last year for Harps and did opt to stay on this season, new faces Success Edogun, Chris Lotef, Conor Tourish, Mark Mbuli and David Cawley will want to impress.
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.