Dundalk entered the 2019 season as the reigning League Champions and FAI Cup holders from 2018. They had a new management team of Vinny Perth and the returning John Gill, after Stephen Kenny (the manager since 2013) had resigned to accept the Republic of Ireland U-21 manager's role. The 2019 season was Dundalk's 11th consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 84th in all, and their 93rd in the League of Ireland.
Season summary The new season's curtain raiser - the President's Cup - was played on 9 February in Turners Cross (stadium) between Dundalk and Cork City, the runners-up in both league and cup the previous year. Dundalk won on a 2-1 scoreline. The 36 round League programme commenced on 15 February 2019, and was completed on 25 October 2019. Dundalk retained their title with four games to spare, sealing the title in Oriel Park with a 3–2 victory over Shamrock Rovers on 23 September 2019. They had already won the League Cup, defeating Derry City on penalties in the Brandywell nine days earlier. Chasing a domestic Treble, they were defeated in a penalty shoot-out in the FAI Cup final by Shamrock Rovers. But they ended the season with a comprehensive 7–1 aggregate victory over Northern Irish champions, Linfield, in the inaugural Champions Cup (All-Ireland) – bringing the trophy haul in Perth's rookie season to four.
In Europe Dundalk entered the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. After being seeded in the draw, they faced Riga, drawing the home leg in Oriel Park 0-0. The away leg in Riga was the club's 70th match in European football, which also finished 0-0. After extra-time failed to separate the sides, they won 5–4 in a sudden-death penalty shootout – their first in Europe, becoming the first Irish side to win a tie in that manner. They were knocked out in the second qualifying round by Qarabağ when a 1–1 home draw was followed by a 3–0 defeat away in Baku, which saw them receive a bye into the Europa League Third qualifying round. Their interest in Europe for the season ended there, with a 4-1 aggregate defeat to Slovan Bratislava. Both Qarabağ and Slovan subsequently reached the group stage of the Europa League.
First-Team Squad (2019) Sources:
Squad No.NameDate of BirthPositionDebut seasonLeague appearancesGoals1 25 September 1981 GK 2015 35 02 11 July 1991 DF 2014 33 13 4 November 1986 DF 2013 22 24 15 March 1994 DF 2017 28 45 27 December 1990 MF 2012 29 06 4 October 1995 MF 2019 16 17 28 July 1994 MF 2017 34 128 22 February 1993 MF 2012 23 69 28 July 1991 FW 2013 34 1310 30 September 1996 MF 2017 26 211 26 September 1992 MF 2016 24 212 12 November 1996 FW 2018 29 814 17 April 1988 DF 2013 23 215 Stephen Folan 14 January 1992 DF 2018 0 016 11 October 1993 MF 2019 25 317 2 June 1996 DF 2019 14 118 7 May 1992 MF 2016 13 120 14 January 1992 GK 2019 1 021 Daniel Cleary 9 March 1996 DF 2018 23 222 31 October 1992 MF 2019 5 027 Daniel Kelly 21 May 1996 MF 2019 33 928 Lido Lotefa 18 April 2000 FW 2019 3 029 Dylan Hand 15 March 1999 DF 2019 1 030 Ross Treacy 26 September 1998 GK 2018 0 033 1 June 1992 DF 2018 19 144 7 March 1991 DF 2013 8 1
Competitions President's Cup Source:
Premier Division
FAI Cup Source: First round
Second round
Quarter Final
Semi-final
Final
League Cup Source: Second round
Quarter Final
Semi-final
Final
Champions Cup Source:
Dundalk won 7–1 on aggregate.
Leinster Senior Cup Source: Fourth round
Europe Champions League First qualifying round
0–0 on aggregate. Dundalk won 5–4 on penalties.
Second qualifying round
Qarabağ won 4–1 on aggregate.
Europa League Third qualifying round
Awards Player of the Month MonthPlayerReferenceMay Sean GannonAugust Daniel ClearySeptember Michael Duffy
SWAI Personality of the Year PersonReference Vinny Perth
SWAI Goalkeeper of the Year PersonReference Gary Rogers
References