Shamrock Rovers celebrate winning the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division after they beat Sligo Rovers at Tallaght Stadium Photos by George Kelly/Shamrock Rovers FC

Champions!

Michael Howley November 5, 2025 2:44 pm

SHAMROCK Rovers closed out their league campaign on somewhat of a whimper with four defeats in their last five games, however they did not need to win having dominated the division since February.

The game against Sligo in Tallaght on Saturday afternoon would see Sligo Rovers run out as 2-1 victors securing themselves a place in next season’s Premier Division in the process.

An extremely impressive feat considering they found themselves rooted to the foot of the table for the first half of the campaign.

The game was essentially a dead rubber match for Rovers after already securing the league title mathematically with a win against Galway United on Wednesday and had won it realistically after a 2-1 victory over Bohemians at the end of September.

Rovers dominance in the league is reflected in their prevalence in this year’s PFAI Team of the Year, these being Roberto Lopes, Josh Honohan, Matt Healy and Graham Bourke. While these players have certainly impressed and it would be fair to say they have been Rover’s main men there are others who are worthy of mention also.

Goalkeeper Ed McGinty has been immense in goal since signing with the club in January.

Josh Bradley celebrates with the trophy

Establishing himself as the number one choice in net for Rovers, McGinty has pulled off memorable saves on countless occasions both in European and domestic matches.

At the other end of the pitch Rory Gaffney, Michael Noonan and Aaron Green have all provided attacking threats for Rovers throughout the season with all contributing with multiple goals to ensure that Graham Bourke was not their only goalscoring option in the attacking third of the pitch.

The likes of Danny Mandriou in midfield provided plenty of assists to the attack along with Jack Byrne who despite leaving the team on somewhat frosty terms with Stephen Bradley towards the latter third of the season still contributed seven assists.

Now with five league championships out of the last six seasons the question remains will Rovers be able to do the same again next year.

While they do have the best facilities and consistent money coming in through their performances in European football, a lot can change in the transfer window and given the performances of their players this year there certainly will be a demand for some of their star men.