Dundalk entered the 2014 season having finished as runners-up in 2013. 2014 was Stephen Kenny's second season at the club as manager. It was Dundalk's sixth consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 79th in all, and their 88th in the League of Ireland.
Season summary Before the League programme got underway, Dundalk were defeated by St Patrick's Athletic in the fourth round of the Leinster Senior Cup. The 33 round League programme commenced on 7 March 2014, and they were surprisingly beaten 4–1 away to Drogheda United on the opening night. But they quickly reached the top of the table and, as the season progressed, and with defending champions St Patrick's Athletic falling away, Dundalk and Cork City were left to compete for the title. On the final night of the season, Dundalk defeated Cork 2–0 in Oriel Park to win the title – their tenth, and first since 1994–95.
In the remaining cup competitions, they reached the final of the 2014 Setanta Sports Cup – losing to Sligo Rovers 1–0 in a rain-drenched match. They won the 2014 League of Ireland Cup final with a 3–2 victory over Shamrock Rovers in Oriel Park, thereby winning the club's first League and League Cup double. The League Cup win came five days after Rovers had defeated Dundalk in the 2014 FAI Cup quarter-final, which had gone to a replay.
In Europe they were knocked out at the second hurdle, losing to Hajduk Split in the Europa League second qualifying round. Having comfortably defeated Jeunesse Esch 5–1 on aggregate in the first qualifying round, they lost the first leg of the second qualifying round 2–0 in Oriel. But they recovered from going a goal down in Split to take a 2–1 lead, just falling short of the third away goal that would have won the tie.
First-Team Squad (2014) Sources:
NameDate of birthPositionDebut seasonLeague appearancesGoals 25 September 1981 GK 2009 33 0 11 July 1991 DF 2014 33 2 4 November 1986 DF 2013 30 8 7 March 1991 DF 2013 32 2 27 December 1990 MF 2012 28 0 15 January 1986 MF 2013 12 2 10 August 1992 MF 2014 33 5 22 February 1993 MF 2012 21 2 14 December 1988 FW 2014 23 7 23 October 1984 MF 2014 23 0 9 April 1990 FW 2013 31 7 17 April 1988 DF 2013 33 2 17 July 1991 MF 2013 33 11 28 July 1991 FW 2013 32 20 Darren Meenan 1 October 1991 MF 2013 32 3 19 October 1989 FW 2014 11 0 27 May 1983 DF 2013 6 0 Mark Griffin 16 June 1991 FW 2008 10 0 8 September 1997 MF 2013 0 0 15 September 1986 GK 2014 0 0
Competitions Premier Division Source:
League table
FAI Cup Source: Second round
Third round
Quarter Final
Quarter Final Replay
League Cup Source: Second round
Quarter Final
Semi-final
Final
Setanta Cup Source: Quarter Final First Leg
Quarter Final Second Leg
Dundalk won 4–3 on aggregate.
Semi-final first leg
Semi-final second Leg
Dundalk won 3–1 on aggregate.
Final
Leinster Senior Cup Source: Fourth round
Europe Europa League Source: First qualifying round
Dundalk won 5–1 on aggregate. Second qualifying round
Hajduk Split won 3–2 on aggregate.
Awards Player of the Month MonthNationalityPlayerReference May Daryl Horgan July Richie Towell September Dane Massey October Patrick Hoban
SWAI Personality of the Year PersonReference Stephen Kenny
References