Shamrock Rovers have been officially crowned champions
Shamrock Rovers win the League title
Shamrock Rovers have been officially crowned champions following a 1-0 victory at home to Galway United in Tallaght Stadium last night.
The title makes Rovers champions five times out of the last six seasons with Damien Duff’s Shelbourne the only team preventing them from a clean sweep last year.
The goal came courtesy of a Dylan Watts free kick just after the 70th minute of the game as it looked destined to be a nil all draw with both sides failing to make use of a plethora of half chances throughout the first half of the game.
A draw would still have been enough to lift the title for Rovers however.
The side have been the unofficial champions since the derby victory against Bohemians last month and it would have taken them to lose all of their remaining games of the season along with Derry to win all of their games by multiple goals in order for the title to go to anywhere other than Tallaght.
Still Rovers made the process more difficult than it needed to be and picked up three consecutive defeats in the league before finally getting the job done against Galway on Wednesday evening.
Stephen Bradley spoke on the league win after the match and the somewhat patchy form leading up to it.
“We’ve known in the dressing room for some time that it’s been done and the little edge came off.
‘You’ve seen teams win one and fall away, win two and fall away, so to win it four times and then lose a fifth with five minutes to go..
‘To go and do what they’ve done is pretty special. It takes talent to win but character to keep winning.”
The season is not over for Rovers however as they look towards the upcoming FAI Cup Final with Cork Sunday, November 9th.
“Our aim is to win a domestic Double, that was our aim from the first day of pre-season. “We’ve got one of them, and I believe we can do the other too. It’s there for us.
‘We’ve got to enjoy the celebration but next week is huge for us.”
The win ensures that Rovers will receive the €125,000 awarded to the winners of the Premier Division.
This sum however is paltry in comparison to the lucrative earnings on offer in European football.
The real reward financially will be seeding via the Champions Path to a possible UEFA Conference League or even higher division place next season which would bring in further millions for the club.
