Local teams prepare for the new League of Ireland season

The league of Ireland season has just kicked off for the local teams in the Dublin 7 and 8 area – Bohemians were away to Cork City at Turner’s Cross while St Patrick’s Athletic hosted Derry City in Richmond Park.

Bohemians have recruited well this transfer window, bringing back ex-captain Keith Buckley. “ It’s great to bring him back, it’s someone we missed over the last year and he’s a real leader for us on and off the pitch”, a fan of the club said. Another significant return to the club was the return of Paddy Kirk.

In attack, Bohemians brought in James Akintunde, Dean Williams and Dylan Connolly to their ranks, hoping to find a goal scorer after struggling last season. Connolly joined on a multi-year deal from Morecambe.

The Phibsboro side also added a couple of loan signings with Kacper Radkowski joining from Slask Wroclaw to help bolster Bohemians’ defence and Jay Benn from Lincoln City until the end of June.

Goalkeeper Luke Dennison joined from Longford Town as a backup to James Talbot. A big loss for Bohemians was winger Liam Burt who left in the summer as a free agent as the Scottish man joined rivals Shamrock Rovers, as the Hoops look for their fourth league title in a row.

St Patrick’s Athletic, on the other hand, lost a key player in the changing room after captain Ian Bermingham announced his retirement from the game last season. Tim Clancy has recruited well and brought in a lot of new faces with the likes of Tommy Longrean from UCD and Dutch centre half Noah Lewis, who will be a big boost at the back after the departure of Paddy Barrett to Shelbourne.

A big singing for the club was Jake Mulraney travelling from Atlanta United in the US to Inchicore. The pacy winger will look to get off to a good start in the league and fans are thrilled with the signing. “It’s a fantastic signing and great to finally get it confirmed”, one fan said.

Estonian international Valdislav Kreida has also been brought in on loan from Flora Tallin with the midfielder looking to become a starter for them this season. Conor Carty also joined on loan from Bolton to link up with Eoin Doyle upfront.

Both clubs will be looking to improve from last season after St Patrick’s Athletic finished fourth in the league and qualified for Europe next season, while Bohemians finished sixth and 15 points off a European spot. New Bohs manager Declan Devine will be looking to get back into Europe.

Fans of both clubs seem very optimistic going into the new season with both hoping for a better season than last year.

A Pats fan said, “I hope that we can kick on from last season, we have recruited well and think we can push the likes of Rovers and Derry and also give a good account for ourselves in Europe.”

A Bohemians fan said: “I think we will be looking at finishing in the European places, Devine has recruited well in the off-season and I hope we can start the season well and improve on last season.”

Both teams have sold a lot of season tickets with St Patrick’s Athletic recording a record number of sales and Bohemians selling hundreds of memberships for the upcoming season.

2023 League of Ireland fixture list released – Irish Mirror Online