Dundalk entered the 2018 season as the League Cup holders from 2017, having won that competition and finished as runners-up in both league and FAI Cup. In January the club was taken over by United States–based investors, who had identified the club's European progress as a commercial opportunity. 2018 would turn out to be Stephen Kenny's sixth and final season as manager. He resigned one month after the end of the season to accept the Republic of Ireland U-21 manager's role, and was replaced by his assistant, Vinny Perth for 2019. The 2018 season was Dundalk's 10th consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 83rd in all, and their 92nd in the League of Ireland.
Season summary The new season's curtain raiser – the President's Cup – was played on 11 February in Oriel Park between Dundalk and Cork City – the winners of both league and cup the previous year. Cork City won on a 4-2 scoreline. The 36 round League programme commenced on 16 February 2018, and was completed on 26 October 2018. Dundalk regained their title with three games to spare, sealing the title in Oriel Park in a 1-1 draw with St Patrick's Athletic on 5 October 2018. They went on to win the 2018 FAI Cup with a 2-1 victory over Cork City in the final on 4 November 2018 – the club's fourth League and Cup Double. An opportunity to win the club's first domestic Treble was spurned when a largely reserve side lost the League Cup semi-final away to First Division Cobh Ramblers.
In Europe progress was limited when, after defeating Levadia Tallinn, and holding AEK Larnaca scoreless in Oriel Park, three quickfire first half goals in the away leg in Cyprus in the 2018-19 Europa League second qualifying round ended their interest in that year's competition.
First-Team Squad (2018) Sources: Squad No.NameDate of BirthPositionDebut seasonLeague appearancesGoals1 25 September 1981 GK 2015 34 02 11 July 1991 DF 2014 26 13 4 November 1986 DF 2013 22 14 15 March 1994 DF 2017 27 25 27 December 1990 MF 2012 33 36 15 January 1986 MF 2013 10 07 28 July 1994 MF 2017 36 138 22 February 1993 MF 2012 18 49 28 July 1991 FW 2013 36 2910 30 September 1996 MF 2017 30 211 19 January 1993 MF 2018 16 311 26 September 1992 MF 2016 11 112 23 July 1995 FW 2018 2 013 21 April 1991 MF 2018 7 114 17 April 1988 DF 2013 29 115 Stephen Folan 14 January 1992 DF 2018 9 116 2 May 1995 MF 2017 28 417 8 September 1997 MF 2015 4 018 7 May 1992 MF 2016 32 919 Ronan Murray 12 September 1991 FW 2018 23 321 Daniel Cleary 9 March 1996 DF 2018 26 322 15 September 1986 GK 2014 3 023 1 July 1988 FW 2018 16 230 Ross Treacy 26 September 1998 GK 2018 0 033 1 June 1992 DF 2018 19 045 12 November 1996 FW 2018 7 0
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
Leinster Senior Cup Source: Fourth round
Quarter Final
Semi-final
Europe Europa League First qualifying round
Dundalk won 3–1 on aggregate.
Second qualifying round
AEK Larnaca won 4–0 on aggregate.
Awards Player of the Month MonthPlayerReferencesApril Michael DuffyMay Seán HoareJune Patrick HobanAugust Michael DuffySeptember Chris ShieldsOctober/November Patrick McEleney
PFAI Player of the Year PlayerReference Michael Duffy
PFAI Young Player of the Year PlayerReference Jamie McGrath
FAI League of Ireland Player of the Year PlayerReference Chris Shields
SWAI Personality of the Year PersonReference Stephen Kenny
References