Dundalk entered the 1994–95 season coming off a poor 1993–94, in which a general decline on and off the pitch reached a nadir – when they had missed out on the "Top Six" round-robin format that decided the title. They had also gone out early in both the FAI Cup and the League of Ireland Cup. Manager Dermot Keely was entering his first full season in charge, having replaced Turlough O'Connor early the previous season. It was Dundalk's 69th consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football.
Season summary In pre-season, veteran Gino Lawless was awarded a testimonial, and Manchester United were the visitors. In front of a packed Oriel Park, Dundalk took a 2–0 lead, and Eddie van Boxtel saved an Eric Cantona penalty, before United ran out 4–2 winners. Manager Dermot Keely, a Jim McLaughlin protege who had won the Double in 1978–79 as a player at Oriel, had to rebuild the squad due to its age profile, despite a worsening financial position. Early in the new season, however, the financial issues came to a head, and a number of local businessmen formed a new Interim Company to take the club over, saving it from bankruptcy.
Dundalk had started the season poorly, but a steady improvement in results saw them climb the league table. They reached finals in both the League Cup, (losing 2–1 on aggregate), and the Leinster Senior Cup (losing 2–1), and in the FAI Cup they were defeated in the quarter-final. With seven games to go in the League as many as eight clubs were in contention, but Dundalk were the most consistent, and Keely steered his team to a ninth league title on a final day of drama. They defeated Galway United at home, then, with players and supporters waiting on the pitch to hear the results of Shelbourne's and Derry City's matches, news filtered through that both had failed to win, confirming Dundalk as Champions - their third title in eight seasons. The trophy presented was that won in 1991, as the new trophy lay unopened in Athlone, where Derry City had been favourites to win out on the day. Notably, despite winning the title, nobody at Dundalk won a monthly or end of season award.
First-Team Squad (1994–95) Sources: No.NameYearsLeagueFAI CupLeague CupLeinster CupTotalGoals1 Eddie van Boxtel 1991–1996 19 0 3 1 23 02 1977–1995 10 2 4 4 20 03 James Coll 1989–1995 24 3 6 0 33 04 1994–1996 29 2 4 0 35 25 Mick Doohan 1993–1999 33 3 6 1 43 86 1994–1996 30 3 7 1 41 07 Brian Byrne 1994–1999 27 3 7 2 39 88 Tom McNulty 1984–2000 29 2 4 0 35 29 1992–1997 24 3 7 0 34 710 Stephen Kelly 1993–1996 32 3 7 1 43 1111 Mick Byrne 1994–1996 8 3 0 1 11 712 1994–1995 15 3 4 3 25 013 Matt Britton 1992–1996 20 3 6 4 33 414 1994–1995 13 0 4 2 19 315 Brian Irwin 1991–1995 16 0 5 2 23 416 1993–1996 5 2 2 4 13 017 1994–1995 11 1 4 2 18 618 1994–1995 10 0 3 1 14 919 Peter Withnell 1994–1999 7 0 0 0 7 2
Competitions League Cup Source: Group
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Final
Cork City won 2–1 on aggregate
Leinster Senior Cup Source: First round
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Final
FAI Cup Source: First round
Second round
Quarter-final
Premier Division Source:
League table
References Bibliography
Citations