History of Dundalk F.C. (2002–present)
The History of Dundalk Football Club covers the period from the aftermath of the 2001–02 season, when Dundalk had won the FAI Cup, but were also relegated to the League of Ireland First Division, to the end of the most recently completed season. It also includes short articles about some of the events that are an integral part of the club's recent history.
Upheaval (2002–2012)
Despite being relegated again, the 2002 FAI Cup win had restored a confidence in the club that had been absent since the early 1990s. But this confidence was short-lived. The 2002–03 season was a shortened season, which started in July, as the League of Ireland was transitioning to "summer soccer", and the short close season had seen the departure of some key players. Dundalk's reign as Cup holders lasted just 16 weeks, when they were knocked out in the first round of the second FAI Cup tournament to be played that calendar year. They were then outclassed in Europe by Varteks Varazdin in the qualifying round of the 2002–03 UEFA Cup. After a 5–0 defeat in Croatia, the return leg attracted just 410 supporters, who witnessed a 4–0 defeat. The poor form continued into the league, and manager Martin Murray resigned at the end of September, less than six months after the cup final victory.The club turned to former Northern Ireland international and Linfield manager, Trevor Anderson. But results continued to deteriorate and the club slipped further down the table, finishing 10th the following season – 20th in the Irish football pyramid – the club's worst ever season. Anderson eventually resigned, along with a number of board members, after the 2004 season had started as poorly as the previous one had ended. He was replaced by former player Jim Gannon, and a mid-table finish followed. The membership-based 'co-op' ownership model had by now exhausted its funds, and the remaining board members decided to sell the club's training ground, Hiney Park, in the summer of 2005 in order to service debts and pay for work at Oriel Park, including the installation of an artificial pitch, which, it was hoped, would bring in additional revenue. But by the end of the season the club had again finished in mid-table, and the board saw more resignations, with Gannon also quitting.
The co-op was now exhausted, and the members agreed to the club being taken back into private ownership by its CEO, Gerry Matthews. With new investment, Dundalk finished second in 2006 under new manager John Gill, securing a play-off tie against Waterford United. But, even though they won the play-off, they were still denied a place in the 2007 Premier Division, with Galway United selected by the FAI's 2006 IAG Report to be promoted ahead of both Dundalk and Waterford. On the opening night of the 2007 season, Dundalk celebrated their 2,000th League match in the League of Ireland with a 3–2 victory over Finn Harps in Oriel Park. But they could only manage to finish in a play-off position, then lost in the play-off to Finn Harps, who went on to be promoted. The following season they won promotion back to the Premier Division, after yet more final day drama – defeating Kildare County in Kildare, then waiting to hear the result of the match between Shelbourne and Limerick 37. Shelbourne, Dundalk's challengers, conceded an injury time equaliser to send Dundalk up as Champions. Controversially, Gill was let go, however, despite winning the First Division title.
At first, Dundalk consolidated their position back in the Premier Division and qualified for the 2010–11 Europa League. Under Ian Foster, they won the first European match played in Oriel Park since 1991, and lead the league table midway through the 2010 season. The following year, they again went into the summer challenging at the top, and reached the 2011 Setanta Sports Cup final. But after losing the final, and with the playing budget already being restricted, results subsequently deteriorated as the season drew to a close. Financial losses were mounting, and Matthews decided to relinquish control of the club. Foster's contract expired and he was allowed to leave, and they spent the 2012 season rooted in the relegation play-off spot, as the scale of the financial problems threatened to put the club of business altogether. The withdrawal of Monaghan United from the League, however, meant that automatic relegation would be avoided. Matthews put the club up for sale, and, with the assistance of a Supporters Trust, it was taken over by local businessmen Andy Connolly and Paul Brown. They subsequently managed to remain in the top-flight by defeating Waterford United in the play-off.
Stephen Kenny's golden era (2013–2018)
With the takeover complete and the club saved, the new owners turned to Stephen Kenny - out of work since being sacked by Shamrock Rovers - to become the new manager. He set about rebuilding the squad, with only four of the 32 players who made League appearances in 2012 retained. He had a limited budget, so focused on signing unheralded players from outside the top clubs, and players who had been released, for example Richie Towell, who had been released by Celtic, and Stephen O'Donnell, who had considerable success at Shamrock Rovers but was considering leaving the game. When the 2013 season started neither supporters nor pundits were sure what to expect, and Dundalk failed to win any of the first five home matches. But with Kenny's team clicking into gear as his ideas took hold, they rose up the table to the most unlikely of title challenges, eventually finishing second - a defeat to eventual champions St. Patrick's Athletic ultimately costing them the title.Kenny kept the nucleus of the side together and made some more additions for the following season and Dundalk went on a charge to the top of the table, including dishing out a thrashing to defending champions St. Patrick's Athletic in Richmond Park. He went on to guide the club to its first League title since 1995 after final day drama yet again, with Dundalk defeating title rivals Cork City 2–0 in Oriel Park. Dundalk also won that season's League Cup, the club's first League and League Cup Double. The 2015 season saw them dominate, winning the club's third League and FAI Cup Double, losing only one match in the process, three years after the financial and ownership issues that had threatened its existence. A third league title in a row was sealed with two games to spare in 2016, and Kenny's team made history the same season by being the first Irish side to gain a point, and then to win a match, in the group stage of European competition.
In 2017, after the Europa League run, they won the League Cup again, defeating Shamrock Rovers in the final. But the departure of some key players, and a slow start, meant they slipped to runners-up spots in both league and FAI Cup. However the club's European form had attracted interest from abroad, and a consortium of American investors, backed by sports-investors Peak6, completed a takeover in January 2018. Kenny's side reasserted itself in 2018, winning another League and Cup Double – the second under Kenny and fourth in the club's history – breaking points-total and goals scored-total records in the process. In the aftermath, the FAI moved to offer Kenny the Republic of Ireland U-21 manager's role, and he resigned at the end of November in order to accept the position.
After Kenny (2019–present)
Hoping to achieve continuity, and with the majority of the first-team signed to longer-term contracts, the new owners replaced Kenny with his Assistant Manager since 2013, Vinny Perth, as Head Coach, with John Gill returning as First Team Coach. The new management team had immediate success, winning the season opening President's Cup. In the League they fell 13-points behind early leaders Shamrock Rovers in April, which saw Rovers being called "title-winners in waiting", but they overhauled the deficit within weeks, and subsequently won the club's 14th league title with four games to spare. They also won the League Cup by defeating Derry City on penalties in the final, to secure a second League and League Cup Double. Chasing their first domestic Treble, which had only been won once since the introduction of the League of Ireland Cup in 1973–74, they were beaten 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.The anatomy of Dundalk: a history in stubs
L'affaire Carter
In mid-November 1999, Kilkenny City defeated Limerick by 3 goals to 2. Making his debut for Kilkenny in that First Division match was Fran Carter. It subsequently transpired that Carter had been improperly registered, with his signature being forged on the registration form by Kilkenny's manager, Pat Byrne, to ensure it could be submitted on time for Carter to make his debut. They were docked three points for fielding an ineligible player when the forgery was noticed. Kilkenny protested that Byrne had Carter's permission to sign his name for him, and threatened to resort to the law courts to have the punishment rescinded. The Vice-President of the FAI, Milo Corcoran, acting as an arbitrator, ruled that the points deduction should be cancelled and the game replayed instead. No provision for his decision to have the match replayed existed in the League's rules. Furthermore, the decision was made two weeks before the end of the League season, with Dundalk and Kilkenny duelling for the promotion/relegation play-off spot in the First Division. Therefore, Kilkenny were essentially awarded an end-of-season game in hand against a team that were, by that stage, bottom of the table. They won the replayed match, and pipped Dundalk to the play-off spot by one point as a result. Dundalk took a case to the High Court on the basis that the three-point deduction was the prescribed sanction for fielding an ineligible player, whereas Corcoran's decision had no basis in the League's rules. Instead the High Court judge ruled that, as the rules did not state that a player must personally sign his registration form, Carter had been properly registered when Byrne signed Carter's name. Therefore, he had not been ineligible for the original match, and the original 3–2 result should be reinstated. Kilkenny went on to secure promotion by defeating Waterford United in the play-off. However the following season they could only win nine points from 33 matches and were relegated. They eventually resigned from the League in 2008.2006 IAG Report
Dundalk being excluded from the 2007 Premier Division was as a result of the FAI implementing the recommendations of the Independent Assessment Group, which used a point-system consisting of off-field metrics as well as results from the previous five seasons to decide which teams should make up the top-tier. Dundalk were rated joint-eighth for the 'off-field' criteria but suffered on the 'on-field' metric used and failed to make the 12-team cut. Reports in the local and national press described the decision to exclude Dundalk from the Premier Division as "scandalous" and "an injustice".That results from 2002 and 2003 could be used to deny the club promotion to the 2007 Premier Division infuriated many Dundalk supporters and proved to be the final straw for one particularly disgruntled fan, who entered the former headquarters of the Football Association of Ireland at Merrion Square, doused the reception area with petrol and threatened to set it alight. After a tense hour-long stand-off, the situation ended peacefully when the manager, John Gill, spoke with the fan and persuaded him to end his protest. Dundalk's owner, Gerry Matthews, met with the FAI and members of the IAG committee and subsequently acknowledged that the club were "happy to move on". Within three seasons Cork and Drogheda had gone into administration, Longford had been relegated on the back of failing to produce accounts, Derry and Cork had been relegated due to their holding companies going bankrupt, while Galway would subsequently withdraw from the League of Ireland altogether in 2011 due to financial difficulties.