2011 Shamrock Rovers F.C. season

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Shamrock Rovers F.C.
2011 season
ChairmanJonathan Roche [1]
ManagerMichael O'Neill[1]
StadiumTallaght Stadium
League of IrelandChampions
FAI CupQuarter-finals
League of Ireland CupSecond Round
Leinster Senior CupQuarter-finals
Setanta Sports CupChampions
Champions LeagueThird qualifying round
Europa LeagueGroup stages
Top goalscorerLeague:
Gary Twigg (15)
All:
Billy Dennehy (16)
Highest home attendance8,500 (15 December vs Tottenham Hotspur, Europa League)
Lowest home attendance785 (22 March vs Lisburn Distillery, Setanta Sports Cup)
Average home league attendance4,032
← 2010
2012 →

The 2011 Shamrock Rovers F.C. season was the club's 90th season competing in the League of Ireland and their 5th consecutive season in the top-flight of Irish football. It was also their most successful season in their history. Rovers played a record number of 56 games in the whole 2011 season.

Shamrock Rovers began the season with a 2–0 win over Dundalk in the Leinster Senior Cup at Oriel Park on 22 February. Their first league game, at home, also against Dundalk, ended in a 3–1 win. Rovers were defending League of Ireland champions and in 2011 won the club's 17th league title, becoming champions after a 2–1 win away at UCD. Rovers finished four points ahead of nearest rivals Sligo Rovers.

Furthermore, Shamrock Rovers competed in the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. After beating Flora Tallinn Rovers were knocked out by FC Copenhagen, and entered the Europa League qualifiers. They defeated Partizan Belgrade to qualify for the group stages, the first Irish club to do so. They played in a group with Rubin Kazan, PAOK and Tottenham Hotspur.

Shamrock Rovers also won the All-Ireland tournament, the Setanta Sports Cup, beating Dundalk in the final at Tallaght. But they went out of the FAI Cup to Sligo Rovers in the quarter-final and the League of Ireland Cup to St Patrick's Athletic. Rovers entered the domestic tournaments in the Third and Second Round as a result of being a League of Ireland club.

Squad[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Richard Brush
2 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Patrick Sullivan
3 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Enda Stevens
4 DF Scotland SCO Craig Sives
5 DF England ENG Dan Murray (Captain)
6 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Stephen Rice
7 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Gary McCabe
8 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Stephen O'Donnell
9 FW Scotland SCO Gary Twigg
10 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Karl Sheppard
11 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Ciarán Kilduff
13 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Pat Flynn
14 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Dean Kelly
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Paddy Kavanagh
16 GK Jamaica JAM Ryan Thompson
17 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Ken Oman
18 MF Northern Ireland NIR Chris Turner
19 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Gary O'Neill
20 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Billy Dennehy
21 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Ronan Finn
22 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Conor McCormack
23 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Sean Gannon
24 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Karl Moore
25 GK Republic of Ireland IRL Craig Hyland
26 DF Scotland SCO Jim Paterson
27 MF England ENG Rohan Ricketts

Technical staff[edit]

Current Staff
  • Manager: Michael O'Neill
  • Assistant Manager/Coach: Jim Magilton
  • Goalkeeping Coach: Tim Dalton
  • Physiotherapist: Ferghal Kerin
  • Club Sports Scientist: Padraic Phibbs
  • Coaching Assistant: Andy Myler
  • Head of Youth Development: Stephen Fennell

Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

Shamrock Rovers began their pre-season on 1 February against non-league side, Killarney Celtic at Celtic Park. Surprisingly, Killarney Celtic started off positively with a goal in the opening ten minutes of the game. Killarney kept this lead until the 53rd minute when Ciarán Kilduff scored a goal to equalize. From then on Rovers began to get into the game. In the 77th minute, Anthony Murphy put Rovers into the lead with a terrific goal. Followed by this, Stephen O'Donnell and Karl Sheppard both scored with Billy Dennehy scoring twice on the 79th and 86th minute, resulting in the game ending 6–1 to Shamrock Rovers.[2]

Rovers next pre-season game was against First Division side, Cork City on 4 February in Musgrave Park. Just like in the last game, Rovers conceded a goal in the 30th minute. But, Rovers fought back and just after the break, Gary McCabe scored a goal to level both sides. Then on the 75th minute, Patrick Kavanagh scored the winning goal, thus the game ended with Rovers winning 2–1.

Three days later, Rovers played against Celtic XI at Tallaght Stadium. This game was a highly anticipated game due to the high profile of Celtic. The game started off well for Rovers who did not concede a goal in the first half, like in the two previous games. But, in the 55th minute, Daryl Murphy fired past Alan Mannus to put Celtic in the lead. 3 minutes later, Graham Carey scored a goal to win the game for Celtic XI. This was Rovers first defeat this season.

On 13 February, Rovers played their next pre-season friendly against First Division side, Monaghan United in front of a crowd of just 400. Just before the break, Rovers were brought down to 10 men when Dean Kelly was sent off. Then, just 3 minutes before the end of the game, Conor McCormack was sent off. The game ended in a draw. A lot of chances for Rovers made the game very frustrating for Rovers. The man of the match was Dan Murray.

Two days later, Rovers played against IFA Premiership side, Cliftonville. In just under 1 minute, Gary Twigg opened the scoring for Rovers. This lead lasted until 15 minutes into the game, when Eamon Seydak put Cliftonville on level terms with Rovers. After the break, Rovers went on a goal frenzy, with goals from Ciarán Kilduff, Enda Stevens, Karl Sheppard and Gary McCabe to put Rovers ahead. Cliftonville got a consolation goal in the 85th minute to end the game in a 5–2 win to Rovers.

  Win   Draw   Loss

1 February Killarney Celtic 1–6 Shamrock Rovers Celtic Park, Killarney
19:30 IST Pa McGrath 10' (Report) Ciarán Kilduff 53'
Anthony Murphy 77'
Billy Dennehy 79', 86'
Stephen O'Donnell 89'
Karl Sheppard 91'
4 February Cork City 1–2 Shamrock Rovers Musgrave Park, Cork
19:45 IST Vincent Escudé-Candau 30' (Report) Gary McCabe 46'
Patrick Kavanagh 75'
7 February Shamrock Rovers 0–2 Celtic XI Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST (Report) Daryl Murphy 55'
Graham Carey 58'		 Referee: Damien Hancock
13 February Shamrock Rovers 0–0 Monaghan United Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST Dean Kelly Red card 47'
Conor McCormack Red card 87'		 (Report) Attendance: 400
Referee: Richie Winter
15 February Cliftonville 2–5 Shamrock Rovers Solitude, Belfast
19:45 IST Eamon Seydak 15'
Rory Donnelly 85'		 (Report) Gary Twigg 1'
Ciarán Kilduff 49'
Enda Stevens 55'
Karl Sheppard 68'
Gary McCabe 75'
18 February Shelbourne 1–0 Shamrock Rovers Tolka Park, Dublin
19:30 IST Stephen Paisley 39' (Report) Referee: Damien Hancock
25 February Shamrock Rovers 2–0 Waterford United Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Gary McCabe 35'
Gary Twigg 49'		 (Report) Referee: Neil Doyle
23 November Malmö FF 2–0 Shamrock Rovers Swedbank Stadion, Malmö
19:00 IST Hamad 42'
Nilsson 62'		 (Report)

Domestic competitions[edit]

League of Ireland[edit]

Main article: 2011 League of Ireland

The fixtures for the 2011 season was announced on 23 December 2010, and revealed that Rovers would begin their league campaign against Dundalk at Tallaght Stadium on 4 March 2011.

All of the opening games for the League of Ireland started at the same time, so no team would get an early-head start in the title race. Dundalk started the game off positively with a goal in the 44th minute from Jason Byrne. But, two minutes later, Gary McCabe scored on his league debut for Rovers. In the second half, Shamrock Rovers dominated the game. In under 10 minutes, Rovers topscorer Gary Twigg scored twice to win the game for Shamrock Rovers. The 3–1 win put Rovers into third place in the league table at the end of the first round of league games.

Rovers next match came the following Saturday, away to Sligo Rovers. Shamrock Rovers started off well and in the 6th minute, Gary McCabe scored from a rebound against his former club. Shamrock Rovers remained dominant for the rest game and defended all that Sligo Rovers had to give. This win made it two out of two wins for Shamrock Rovers.

4 March Round 1 Shamrock Rovers 3–1 Dundalk Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:35 IWT Gary McCabe 45+2'
Gary Twigg 50' 55'		 (Report) Jason Byrne 44' (pen) Attendance: 5,263
Referee: Alan Kelly
12 March Round 2 Sligo Rovers 0–1 Shamrock Rovers The Showgrounds, Sligo
19:45 IWT (Report) Gary McCabe 6' Attendance: 4,200
Referee: Derek Tomney
18 March Round 3 Shamrock Rovers 2–0 St Patrick's Athletic Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IWT Chris Turner 11'
Ken Oman 81'		 (Report) Attendance: 5,913
Referee: Tom Connolly
25 March Round 4 Derry City 0–0 Shamrock Rovers Brandywell Stadium, Derry
19:45 IWT (Report) Referee: Richie Winter
1 April Round 5 Drogheda United 0–4 Shamrock Rovers Hunky Dorys Park, Drogheda
19:45 IST (Report) Gary Twigg 28' 56'
Ciaran Kilduff 50'
Billy Dennehy 73'		 Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Neil Doyle
8 April Round 6 Shamrock Rovers 0–1 Bray Wanderers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST (Report) Danny O'Connor 6' Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Derek Tomney
15 April Round 7 Bohemians 1–1 Shamrock Rovers Dalymount Park, Dublin
19:35 IST Keith Buckley 72' (Report) Gary McCabe Red card 80'
Ronan Finn 93'		 Attendance: 3,100
Referee: Anthony Buttimer
22 April Round 8 Shamrock Rovers 3–1 UCD Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Karl Sheppard 69'
Ronan Finn 73'
Billy Dennehy 83'		 (Report) Robbie Benson 82' Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Neil Doyle
29 April Round 9 Galway United 0–1 Shamrock Rovers Terryland Park, Galway
19:35 IST (Report) Karl Sheppard 7' Attendance: 1,165
Referee: Paul Tuite
2 May Round 10 Dundalk 1–1 Shamrock Rovers Oriel Park, Dundalk
14:00 IST Jason Byrne 37' (Report) Karl Sheppard 16' Attendance: 2,250
Referee: Derek Tomney
6 May Round 11 Shamrock Rovers 1–0 Sligo Rovers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Karl Sheppard 35'
Ken Oman Red card 81'		 (Report) Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Anthony Buttimer
9 May Round 12 St Patrick's Athletic 0–0 Shamrock Rovers Richmond Park, Dublin
20:05 IST (Report) Referee: Damien Hancock
13 May Round 13 Shamrock Rovers postponed Derry City Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20 May Round 14 Shamrock Rovers 3–0 Drogheda United Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Craig Sives 49'
Gary Twigg 56' 61'		 (Report) Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Padraig Sutton
26 May Round 15 Bray Wanderers 1–0 Shamrock Rovers Carlisle Grounds, Bray
19:45 IST Jake Kelly 64' (Report) Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Anthony Buttimer
30 May Round 16 Shamrock Rovers 1–0 Bohemians Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:05 IST Karl Sheppard 42' (Report) Aidan Price Red card 52' Referee: Alan Kelly
10 June Round 17 UCD 1–6 Shamrock Rovers UCD Bowl, Dublin
19:45 IST Michael Leahy Red card 43'
Darren Meenan 88'		 (Report) Gary Twigg 33' 41'
Karl Sheppard 51'
Billy Dennehy 77'
Ciarán Kilduff 87' 93'		 Attendance: 1,225
Referee: Graham Kelly
13 June Round 13 Shamrock Rovers 1–1 Derry City Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Gary McCabe 25' (Report) Éamon Zayed 64' Attendance: 3,200
Referee: Richie Winter
17 June Round 18 Shamrock Rovers 4–0 Galway United Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Stephen Rice 15'
Gary McCabe 48'
Gary Twigg 66'
Billy Dennehy 90'		 (Report) Attendance: 2,459
Referee: Padraig Sutton
21 June Round 19 Shamrock Rovers 2–2 Dundalk Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Chris Turner 79'
Billy Dennehy 92'		 (Report) Mark Griffin 23' 60' Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Alan Kelly
24 June Round 20 Sligo Rovers 2–0 Shamrock Rovers The Showgrounds, Sligo
19:35 IST Gavin Peers 38'
Eoin Doyle 91'		 (Report)
3 July Round 21 Shamrock Rovers 1–0 St Patrick's Athletic Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
14:00 IST Gary Twigg 53' (Report) Referee: Dave McKeown
8 July Round 22 Derry City 1–0 Shamrock Rovers Brandywell Stadium, Derry
19:35 IST Daniel Lafferty 52' (Report) Attendance: 2,600
Referee: Damien Hancock
15 July Round 23 Drogheda United 0–1 Shamrock Rovers Hunky Dorys Park, Drogheda
19:45 IST (Report) Gary Twigg 94' Referee: Neil Doyle
22 July Round 24 Shamrock Rovers postponed Bray Wanderers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
5 August Round 25 Bohemians 0–1 Shamrock Rovers Dalymount Park, Dublin
19:05 IST (Report) Gary Twigg 66' Attendance: 2,784
Referee: Damien Hancock
12 August Round 26 Shamrock Rovers 6–0 UCD Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Gary Twigg 62'
Dan Murray 65'
Billy Dennehy 67'
Gary O'Neill 69'
Ciarán Kilduff 84'
Thomas Boyle 92' (own goal)		 (Report) Attendance: 2,943
Referee: Paul Tuite
21 August Round 27 Galway United 2–3 Shamrock Rovers Terryland Park, Galway
18:30 IST Mikey Gilmore 33'
Eric Browne 46'		 (Report) Ronan Finn 16'
Craig Sives 51'
Ciarán Kilduff 57'		 Referee: Alan Kelly
3 September Round 28 Dundalk 1–2 Shamrock Rovers Oriel Park, Dundalk
17:30 IST Mark Quigley 93' (Report) Billy Dennehy 58'
Stephen O'Donnell 74' (pen)		 Referee: Richie Winter
9 September Round 29 Shamrock Rovers 1–2 Sligo Rovers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IWT Pat Sullivan Yellow card 62' Yellow-red card
Gary Twigg 62'
Pat Flynn Red card 89'		 (Report) John Russell 80'
John Dillon 91'		 Attendance: 4,000 approx.
Referee: Damien Hancock
12 September Round 30 St Patrick's Athletic 1–1 Shamrock Rovers Richmond Park, Dublin
20:00 IST Stephen O'Donnell 19' (Report) Danny North 68' Referee: Neil Doyle
23 September Round 31 Shamrock Rovers postponed Derry City Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
25 September Round 24 Shamrock Rovers 5–2 Bray Wanderers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
15:00 IST Gary McCabe 44'
Rohan Ricketts 49'
Gary McCabe 57'
Ronan Finn 68'
Gary Twigg 91'		 (Report) Jake Kelly 26'
Shane O'ConnorRed card 35'
Jake Kelly 92'		 Attendance: 3,500 (est.)
Referee: Richie Winter
2 October Round 32 Shamrock Rovers 4–0 Drogheda United Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
14:00 IST Karl Sheppard 23'
Ciarán Kilduff 41'
Billy Dennehy 70' (pen)
Gary O'Neill 81'		 (Report) Attendance: 2,500 (est.)
Referee: Tom Connolly
5 October Round 33 Shamrock Rovers 1–1 Bohemians Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:05 IST Dan Murray 32' (Report) Aidan Downes Yellow card 44' Yellow-red card
Glenn Cronin 60'		 Attendance: 4,082
Referee: Derek Tomney
9 October Round 34 Bray Wanderers 1–2 Shamrock Rovers Carlisle Grounds, Bray
19:45 IST Gary Dempsey 64' (Report) Karl Sheppard 7' 89' Attendance: 3,500 (est.)
Referee: Dave McKeown
13 October Round 31 Shamrock Rovers 1–0 Derry City Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:05 IST Rohan Ricketts 50' (Report) Attendance: 3,500 (est.)
Referee: Alan Kelly
25 October Round 35 UCD 1–2 Shamrock Rovers UCD Bowl, Dublin
19:05 IST Robbie Benson 71'
Darren Meenan Yellow card 80' Yellow-red card		 (Report) Ken Oman 68'
Craig Sives Yellow card 47' Yellow-red card
Dean Kelly 94'		 Attendance: 2,552
Referee: Neil Doyle
28 October Round 36 Shamrock Rovers 4–0 Galway United Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:45 IST Chris Turner 29'
Billy Dennehy 37'
Karl Sheppard 65'
Ronan Finn 83'		 (Report) Rory Gartlan Red card 64' Attendance: 5,200
Referee: Anthony Buttimer

League table[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Shamrock Rovers (C) 36 23 8 5 69 24 +45 77 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Sligo Rovers 36 22 7 7 73 19 +54 73 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round[a]
3 Derry City 36 18 14 4 63 23 +40 68 Banned from 2012–13 European competitions[b]
4 St Patrick's Athletic 36 17 12 7 62 35 +27 63 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
5 Bohemians 36 17 9 10 39 27 +12 60
6 Bray Wanderers 36 15 6 15 53 50 +3 51
7 Dundalk 36 11 11 14 50 53 −3 44
8 UCD 36 10 4 22 42 80 −38 34
9 Drogheda United 36 7 4 25 32 77 −45 25
10 Galway United[c] 36 1 3 32 20 115 −95 6 Qualification to Relegation play-off
Source: [3][4][5][6]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Sligo Rovers qualified for the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round after winning the 2011 FAI Cup Final.
  2. ^ Derry City were banned from European competitions for three seasons after going into liquidation.
  3. ^ Galway United were originally relegated but subsequently withdrew from the league.

Results summary[edit]

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
36 23 8 5 69 24  +45 77 13 3 2 43 11  +32 10 5 3 26 13  +13

Last updated: 29 October 2011.
Source: extratime.ie

Results by round[edit]

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536
GroundHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHHHAHAAHAHAAHAHHAHAH
ResultWWWDWLDWWDWDDWLWWWDLWLWWWWWWLDWDWWWW
Position211111111111111111121223322123221111
Updated to match(es) played on 29 October 2011. Source: 2011 League of Ireland
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

FAI Cup[edit]

Main article: 2011 FAI Cup

Shamrock Rovers, along with the other 20 League of Ireland clubs, entered the 2011 FAI Cup in the third round,[7] the draw for which was made on 9 May 2011. Rovers were drawn at home with First Division side Athlone Town.[8] Goals from Gary McCabe, Chris Turner, Dean Kelly and Billy Dennehy gave Rovers a 4–0 victory and ensured their place in the next round.[9] A replay was required to determine the winner of the fourth round tie between Rovers and UCD after the first match ended in a 2–2 draw.[10] Having played Partizan Belgrade away in the Europa League just 4 days previously, manager O'Neill decided to alter his starting line-up.[10] After a goalless first half which contained chances for both sides,[10] Rovers took the lead through Karl Sheppard in the 61st minute. Ciarán Kilduff doubled Rovers' advantage, but Samir Belhout pulled a goal back for the away side.[10] Pat Flynn, Rovers' captain on the night,[10] was then sent off in the 80th minute for a cynical block on a UCD player as the last man.[10] UCD scored from the resulting free-kick to earn a replay at their home ground.[10] The draw for the quarter-finals was made before the replay; the winner would face either Sligo Rovers or Monaghan United, who had also drawn their fourth round tie.[11] The replay was a much more one-sided affair as Rovers won 6–0, with Billy Dennehy scoring a hat-trick.[12]

Sligo Rovers also won their replay, so they were Rovers' opposition in the quarter-finals. Sligo, who would go on to win the tournament,[13] knocked Rovers out of the competition by winning 1–0.[14] Rovers had the best of the early stages.[14] Karl Sheppard had two good opportunities to score, one of which was cleared off the line by Sligo defender Alan Keane after Sheppard had beaten the goalkeeper.[14] Eoin Doyle scored Sligo's goal shortly afterwards.[14] This was the only goal of the game, although Sligo's Richie Ryan hit the woodwork with a free-kick and both teams had penalty claims turned down.[14]

3 June Third round Shamrock Rovers 4–0 Athlone Town Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Gary McCabe 12'
Chris Turner 46'
Dean Kelly 75'
Billy Dennehy 82'		 (Report) Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Tom Connolly
29 August Fourth round Shamrock Rovers 2–2 UCD Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Karl Sheppard 61'
Ciarán Kilduff 70'
Pat Flynn Red card 80'		 (Report) Samir Belhout 74'
Robbie Creevy 81'		 Attendance: 2,484
Referee: Tom Connolly
5 September Fourth round (replay) UCD 0–6 Shamrock Rovers UCD Bowl, Dublin
19:45 IST Michael Leahy Red card 25' (Report) Billy Dennehy 4', 41', 71'
Chris Turner 18'
Gary McCabe 25' (pen)
Gary O'Neill 91'		 Attendance: 782
Referee: Dave McKeown
19 September Quarter-finals Sligo Rovers 1–0 Shamrock Rovers Showgrounds, Sligo
20:00 IST Eoin Doyle 22' (Report) Attendance: 3,210
Referee: Alan Kelly

League of Ireland Cup[edit]

Main article: 2011 League of Ireland Cup

Shamrock Rovers, along with St Patrick's Athletic in Pool 3, received a bye to the second round of the 2011 League of Ireland Cup,[15] the draw for which was made on 30 March 2011. Shamrock Rovers were given away tie against Dublin rivals St Patrick's Athletic.[16]

The match, which was one of the most highly anticipated matches of the stage due to the rivalry of the 2 clubs, was played on 25 April. Rovers looked to have won the game through a Dean Kelly penalty in the 58th minute[17] but St. Patrick's Athletic equalised with a penalty of their own in the 88th minute, scored by Danny North.[17] The teams were forced to play into extra-time, in which neither side scored, thus forcing a penalty-shootout. Rovers only scored one penalty[17] while St. Patrick's Athletic scored three of their four penalties to win the shoot-out and eliminate Rovers.[17]

25 April Second round St Patrick's Athletic 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–1 p)		 Shamrock Rovers Richmond Park, Dublin
18:00 IST Danny North 88' (Report) Dean Kelly 58' Attendance: 1,293
Referee: Rob Rogers
Penalties
John Flood soccer ball with check mark
Danny North soccer ball with red X
Stephen Bradley soccer ball with check mark
Evan McMillan soccer ball with check mark		 Conor McCormack soccer ball with check mark
Colm Corcoran soccer ball with red X
Pat Flynn soccer ball with red X
Ciarán Kilduff soccer ball with red X

Leinster Senior Cup[edit]

Main article: 2011 Leinster Senior Cup

Shamrock Rovers began their campaign in the Leinster Senior Cup in the fourth round. In the draw for this round, which took place on 20 January, Rovers were paired with Dundalk.[18] The match was played on 22 February at Oriel Park,[19] before the start of the league season.[19] Gary O'Neill scored the opening goal in the 35th minute to put Shamrock Rovers ahead.[19] Dundalk had several opportunities to draw level in the second half,[19] although the game finished 2–0 following Stephen O'Donnell's goal in the 78th minute.[19]

Rovers were given an away tie against Bohemians in the quarter-finals.[20] Bohemians had been due to play Sporting Fingal in the previous round, but received a bye as the opposition club was dissolved.[20]

The highly anticipated match took place on 4 July at Dalymount Park. The first half was an entertaining battle between both sides and in the 43rd minute, Dean Kelly scored to put Rovers ahead. Early on in the second half, Ryan McEvoy scored to level the tie. After many good chances from both sides, the match was forced to enter into Extra time. In the 124th minute of extra time, Kevin Feely got a goal to put Bohemians ahead. This goal was enough to separate the sides and thus, eliminated Shamrock Rovers from the competition.

22 February Fourth round Dundalk 0–2 Shamrock Rovers Oriel Park, Dundalk
19:45 IST (Report) Gary O'Neill 35'
Stephen O'Donnell 78'		 Attendance: 500
Referee: Rob Rogers
4 July Quarter-finals Bohemians 2–1 Shamrock Rovers Dalymount Park, Dublin
19:45 IST Ryan McEvoy 68'
Kevin Feely 124'		 (Report) Dean Kelly 43' Attendance: 800
Referee: Damian Hancock

Setanta Sports Cup[edit]

Main articles: 2011 Setanta Sports Cup and 2011 Setanta Sports Cup Final

Shamrock Rovers competed in the Setanta Cup for the first time this season.[21] As winners of the 2010 League of Ireland, the club received a bye into the quarter-finals,[22] where they played against IFA Premiership side Lisburn Distillery, who had overcome UCD in the first round.[23] The first leg took place on 14 March at the New Grosvenor Stadium in Ballyskeagh. Rovers won the game 3–0 by virtue of goals from Karl Sheppard, Ciarán Kilduff and Dean Kelly.[24] The second leg took place on 22 March and finished 4–2;[25] Rovers progressed to the next round 7–2 on aggregate. Gary Liggett capitalised on Pat Flynn's mistake to give Lisburn an early lead before Kilduff equalised for Rovers.[25] Sheppard had already had a shot cleared off the line before the equaliser.[25] Rovers took the lead through Stephen Rice shortly after the restart only for Liggett to score again to level the game. However, 2 goals from Kavanagh in the final ten minutes ensured a victory for Rovers.[25]

The draw for the semi-finals took place on 23 March in Belfast.[26] Shamrock Rovers were drawn against either Portadown, of Northern Ireland, or Sligo Rovers, of the Republic of Ireland, who had yet to complete their quarter-final tie.[26] Sligo Rovers went on to win the tie, prompting a rematch of the 2010 FAI Cup Final in which Sligo Rovers had defeated Shamrock Rovers on penalties. The first leg took place on 11 April at the Showgrounds, in Sligo. Ronan Finn's long-range goal and Karl Sheppard's header gave Rovers a 2–0 win over the home side, who had John Russell sent off 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute.[27] The second leg took place on 19 April at Tallaght Stadium. Within three minutes, Sligo Rovers were back in the tie with a goal from Eoin Doyle.[28] Their lead lasted only five minutes, however, as a goal from Karl Sheppard levelled the match.[28] Ronan Finn then hit the post before providing the assist for Dennehy's 25th-minute goal which gave Rovers the lead.[28] The game finished 2–1,[28] giving Rovers a 4–1 aggregate victory and a place in their first Setanta Cup final.

It was also Rovers' opponents, fellow League of Ireland side Dundalk, first appearance in the final of the competition. They overcame Linfield,[29] Glentoran[30] and Cliftonville,[31] all of Northern Ireland, to reach the final. The final took place at Tallaght Stadium on 14 May. Despite the game taking place in their home stadium, Rovers were technically the away team following the drawing of lots.[21] Rovers won the final 2–0 and claimed their first piece of silverware this season.[32] Gary O'Neill opened the scoring in the second half.[32] Billy Dennehy scored in the 93rd minute to secure the title for Rovers.[32]

14 March Quarter-finals (1st Leg) Lisburn Distillery 0–3 Shamrock Rovers New Grosvenor Stadium, Ballyskeagh
19:45 IST Colm Cooling Red card 78' (Report) Karl Sheppard 35'
Ciarán Kilduff 40'
Dean Kelly 68'
22 March Quarter-finals (2nd leg) Shamrock Rovers 4–2 Lisburn Distillery Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:45 IST Ciaran Kilduff 42'
Stephen Rice 47'
Patrick Kavanagh 82', 89'		 (Report) Gary Liggett 14', 57' Attendance: 785
Referee: Neil Doyle

Shamrock Rovers won 7–2 on aggregate

11 April Semi-finals (1st leg) Sligo Rovers 0–2 Shamrock Rovers Showgrounds, Sligo
19:45 IST John Russell Red card 74' (Report) Ronan Finn 27'
Karl Sheppard 58'
19 April Semi-finals (2nd leg) Shamrock Rovers 2–1 Sligo Rovers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:45 IST Karl Sheppard 8'
Billy Dennehy 25'		 Report Eoin Doyle 3' Referee: Raymond Crangle

Shamrock Rovers won 4–1 on aggregate

14 May Final Dundalk 0–2 Shamrock Rovers Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:15 IST (Report) Gary O'Neill 65'
Billy Dennehy 90+3'		 Attendance: 4,789
Referee: Alan Kelly, Cork

European competitions[edit]

UEFA Champions League[edit]

Main article: 2011–12 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase

Shamrock Rovers began their UEFA Champions League campaign in the second qualifying round after winning the 2010 League of Ireland.[33][34] The draw for this round was made in Nyon, Switzerland on 20 June 2011.[35] As one of the League Champions based in Western Europe, the club was seeded in Group 3.[36] The draw paired Rovers with Estonian champions Flora Tallinn.[37]

Rovers played the first leg on 12 July at Tallaght Stadium.[38] The game ended 1–0 to Shamrock Rovers, which was a historic result as it was the first time Rovers had won a Champions League match.[39] Chris Turner scored the winning goal in the 34th minute, just one minute after Flora Tallinn had missed a penalty.[38] Rovers travelled to A. Le Coq Arena in Estonia for the second leg on 19 July.[40] The game ended 0–0, which was enough for Rovers to progress to the next stage of the competition.[40]

The draw for the third qualifying round took place on 15 July;[41] as winners in the second qualifying round, they were placed in the "Champions Route" section.[42] Rovers were drawn with Danish champions F.C. Copenhagen,[43] who had appeared in the group stages of the competition the previous season.[42] The first leg was played in Denmark, as determined by the draw, despite a request by Copenhagen to switch the order of the home and away legs.[44] The game took place on 27 July and was broadcast live by Setanta Sports.[45] Copenhagen went ahead after 4 minutes when Sölvi Ottesen beat Rovers' goalkeeper Ryan Thompson with a header.[46] Both sides had scoring opportunities[46][47] but the game finished 1–0.[47]

The return leg was held on 2 August and was broadcast live on RTÉ Two.[47] Copenhagen again opened the scoring, through Dame N'Doye, although Chris Turner had earlier hit the crossbar.[48] They scored their second of the game, and third on aggregate, in the 73rd minute through Christian Bolaños.[48] There were no further goals; Rovers' defeat consigned the club to the Europa League play-off round.[49]

12 July Second qualifying round (1st Leg) Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 1–0 Estonia Flora Tallinn Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST Chris Turner 34' (Report) Attendance: 5,026
Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)
19 July Second qualifying round (2nd Leg) Estonia Flora Tallinn 0–0 Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
16:45 IST (Report) Attendance: 2,970
Referee: Dimitar Meckarovski (Macedonia)

Shamrock Rovers won 1–0 on aggregate

27 July Third qualifying round (1st Leg) Denmark F.C. Copenhagen 1–0 Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
19:00 IST Sölvi Ottesen 4' (Report) Attendance: 11,571
Referee: Pavle Radovanović (Montenegro)
2 August Third qualifying round (2nd Leg) Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 0–2 Denmark F.C. Copenhagen Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:45 IST (Report) Dame N'Doye 42'
Christian Bolaños 73'		 Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)

Shamrock Rovers lost 3–0 on aggregate.

UEFA Europa League[edit]

Play-off Phase[edit]

Main article: 2011-12 UEFA Europa League play-off phase

After defeat to F.C. Copenhagen in the Champions League, Rovers went into the Europa League, the secondary European competition. They entered the competition in the play-off round, the draw for which was held on 5 August in Nyon, Switzerland.[50] Rovers were placed as an unseeded team in Pot 1, which meant that they could have faced teams such as Atlético Madrid and Panathinaikos, although the club were eventually drawn against Serbian club Partizan Belgrade.[51] Partizan had also exited the Champions League at the third qualifying round after defeat to Belgian side Genk.[52] In the previous season, Partizan had reached the group stages of the Champions League,[51] so many considered Shamrock Rovers the underdogs.

The first leg, which was broadcast live on RTÉ Two,[53] took place on 18 August at Tallaght Stadium.[54] Rovers started the game with a defensive tactic, but were unable to prevent Nemanja Tomić scoring after only 14 minutes following a dominant opening from the away side.[55] Rovers did improve towards the end of the half, but only after Partizan had wasted several opportunities to increase their lead.[55] Partizan were again the better side in the beginning of the second half,[55] however the introduction of Gary O'Neill brought Shamrock Rovers back into the game as an attacking force.[55] In the 81st minute, Gary McCabe broke through the Partizan defense with the aid of Gary Twigg and scored the equalising goal.[55] Despite further chances for Rovers,[55] the match ended 1–1, leaving the tie in the balance.

The second leg took place on 25 August at Partizan Stadium.[56] The match was broadcast live on Setanta Ireland.[57] Rovers went into the game needing to score at least one goal to avoid being eliminated from the competition, due to the away goal scored by Partizan Belgrade in the first leg. The team started the game nervously and could have conceded after only 3 minutes but for Vladimir Jovancic shooting wide when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.[58] Vladimir Volkov forced a save from Ryan Thompson in the 28th minute,[59] before the Partizan player put his side in front after 35 minutes.[58] Shortly after the interval, Chris Turner came close to scoring for Rovers when his header hit the post.[58] The breakthrough for Rovers came in the 58th minute - a spectacular volley from Patrick Sullivan put the teams back on level terms again.[58] The match went to extra-time as Partizan were unable to convert several chances.[59] Rovers were fortunate to remain level in the game following Stefan Babović's free-kick which hit the woodwork[58] and a reckless challenge by Ryan Thompson which could have resulted in a penalty to the home side.[59] The winning goal came in the 113th minute of extra time. Ciarán Kilduff's shot was only parried away as far as Karl Sheppard, who was taken down inside the penalty area by the Partizan goalkeeper before he could shoot.[59] Midfielder Stephen O'Donnell converted the penalty. The game ended 2–1 to Shamrock Rovers, with Rovers winning the tie 3–2 on aggregate and qualifying for the group stages of the competition. This was the first time an Irish club had qualified for the group stages of a European competition.[60]

18 August Play-off round (1st Leg) Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 1–1 Serbia Partizan Belgrade Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:45 IST Gary McCabe 81' (Report) Nemanja Tomić 14' Attendance: 4,650
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (Estonia)
25 August Play-off round (2nd Leg) Serbia Partizan Belgrade 1–2 (a.e.t.) Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers Stadion FK Partizan, Belgrade
19:30 IST Vladimir Volkov 35'
Medo Kamara Red card		 (Report) Patrick Sullivan 58'
Stephen O'Donnell 113' (pen)		 Attendance: 13,706
Referee: Ján Valášek (Slovakia)

Shamrock Rovers won 3–2 on aggregate

Group stage[edit]

Main article: 2011–12 UEFA Europa League group stage

The draw for the Europa League Group Stages took place on 26 August in Monaco.[61] Based on the UEFA coefficients, Rovers were placed in Pot 4. This meant that they would be drawn with one team from each other pot. Among the teams which Rovers could have faced were Fulham, Atlético Madrid and Stoke City. The draw eventually paired Rovers with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League, Rubin Kazan of the Russian Premier League and PAOK of the Greek Super League. All matches were broadcast live on TV3.[62]

Rovers' first group stage fixture took place on 15 September against Rubin Kazan.[63] Rubin Kazan started off well with a goal from Obafemi Martins in the 3rd minute.[63] Rovers got into the game after the goal but the away side still dominated possession during the first half.[64] Both sides missed penalties in the match,[63] although goals from Christian Noboa and Gökdeniz Karadeniz in the second half ensured victory for Rubin Kazan.[63]

Rovers then travelled to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur on 29 September.[65] Tottenham started off well with both Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko hitting the woodwork before half-time.[65] Stephen O'Donnell cleared Roman Pavlyuchenko's header off the line to maintain the deadlock at the end of the first half.[65] It was Rovers who took a surprise lead early in the second half. In the 51st minute, Stephen Rice diverted a long-range shot into the net to put Rovers ahead.[65] Their lead did not last long however - in the 60th minute, Pavlyuchenko equalised from a header.[66] One minute later, Defoe scored to put Spurs ahead.[66] Giovani dos Santos completed the scoring in the 65th minute.[66] The match ended in a 3–1 defeat for Rovers.

PAOK were the opponents on 20 October in Thessaloniki, Greece. PAOK took the lead early in the first half through Costin Lazăr's long range strike.[67] Both sides then had chances to score, but it was Shamrock Rovers who scored the next goal - Karl Sheppard headed in a free-kick from Billy Dennehy.[67] However, Rovers suffered another defeat due to another long range goal from Vieirinha.[67] In the return leg in Dublin, PAOK scored three goals in the first half as they comfortably won the game 3–1, and in doing so eliminated Rovers from the competition.[68] Billy Dennehy scored what proved to be only a consolation goal for Rovers from a free kick early in the second half.[68]

Rovers again failed to pick up any points in their fifth group game, an away game against Rubin Kazan. Nelson Haedo Valdez took advantage of poor defending to score his side's first goal.[69] Their lead did not last long, however, as Ken Oman equalised for Rovers two minutes later.[69] Bibras Natcho's goal gave Rubin Kazan the lead at half-time; their lead would have been greater had Dan Murray not cleared Obafemi Martins' effort off the line.[69] Rubin Kazan scored twice in the second half to complete the scoring, although Karl Sheppard did hit the bar late in the game.[69]

The club's European campaign concluded with a 4–0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur; a result that meant that Rovers failed to pick up any points during the group stage.[70] In what was only their second competitive fixture since the end of the domestic season, Rovers had the better of the opening minutes[70] and should have taken the lead after only 2 minutes, but James Paterson's effort was wrongly ruled out for offside.[70] Steven Pienaar's first goal for Tottenham was the first goal of the match.[70] Andros Townsend and Jermain Defoe scored Tottenham's second and third goals respectively. Although Tottenham did score a fourth goal through Harry Kane,[70] it was Rovers who had the best of the second half,[70] while both Jake Livermore and Carlo Cudicini were lucky to avoid red cards after bringing down Rovers players when they were through on goal.[71] This was Michael O'Neill's final match in charge of the club.[72]

Group table[edit]
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Greece PAOK 6 3 3 0 10 6 +4 12
Russia Rubin Kazan 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 11
England Tottenham Hotspur 6 3 1 2 9 4 +5 10
Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 6 0 0 6 4 19 −15 0
Results[edit]
15 September Group Stages (R. 1) Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 0–3 Russia Rubin Kazan Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST (Report) Obafemi Martins 3'
Christian Noboa 50'
Gökdeniz Karadeniz 60'		 Attendance: 6,920
Referee: Zsolt Szabó (Hungary)
29 September Group Stages (R. 2) England Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers White Hart Lane, London
20:05 IST Roman Pavlyuchenko 60'
Jermain Defoe 61'
Giovani dos Santos 65'		 (Report) Stephen Rice 48' Attendance: 34,350
Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)
20 October Group Stages (R. 3) Greece PAOK 2–1 Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki
20:05 IST Costin Lazăr 12'
Vieirinha 63'		 (Report) Karl Sheppard 48' Referee: Tony Asumaa (Finland)
3 November Group Stages (R. 4) Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 1–3 Greece PAOK Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST Billy Dennehy 51' (Report) Dimitris Salpingidis 7' 38'
Giorgos Fotakis 35'		 Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)
30 November Group Stages (R. 5) Russia Rubin Kazan 4–1 Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers Central Stadium, Kazan
18:00 IST Nelson Haedo Valdez 10', 51'
Bibras Natcho 36'
Obafemi Martins 62'		 Report Ken Oman 12' Attendance: 15,740[73]
Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)
15 December Group Stages (R. 6) Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 0–4 England Tottenham Hotspur Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST (Report) Steven Pienaar 29'
Andros Townsend 38'
Jermain Defoe 45'
Harry Kane 90+1'		 Referee: Stephan Studer (Switzerland)

Squad statistics[edit]

Appearances/Goals[edit]

No. Pos. Name League Cup Setanta Cup EA Sports Cup Champions League Europa League Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK England Richard Brush 7(0) 0 2(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1(0) 0 10 0 0 0
2 DF Republic of Ireland Patrick Sullivan 32(0) 0 2(0) 0 3(2) 0 0(0) 0 4(0) 0 6(0) 1 49 1 15 1
3 DF Republic of Ireland Enda Stevens 27(1) 0 1(0) 0 4(0) 0 0(0) 0 4(0) 0 5(1) 0 43 0 9 0
4 DF Scotland Craig Sives 19(1) 2 3(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 4(0) 0 5(0) 0 32 2 7 1
5 DF England Dan Murray 32(0) 2 3(1) 0 4(0) 0 0(0) 0 1(1) 0 6(0) 0 46 2 2 0
6 MF Republic of Ireland Stephen Rice 19(9) 1 1(1) 0 5(0) 1 0(0) 0 1(1) 0 5(1) 1 43 3 7 0
7 MF Republic of Ireland Gary McCabe 26(5) 6 4(0) 2 0(2) 0 0(0) 0 1(2) 0 4(1) 1 45 9 7 1
8 MF Republic of Ireland Stephen O'Donnell 7(5) 2 3(0) 0 2(0) 0 0(0) 0 1(1) 0 4(1) 1 24 3 4 0
9 FW Scotland Gary Twigg 24(3) 15 0(1) 0 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 4(0) 0 4(3) 0 40 15 6 0
10 FW Republic of Ireland Karl Sheppard 18(6) 10 1(2) 1 5(0) 3 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 2(1) 1 35 15 4 0
11 FW Republic of Ireland Ciarán Kilduff 8(19) 6 4(0) 1 2(1) 2 1(0) 0 0(2) 0 0(5) 0 42 9 3 0
13 DF Republic of Ireland Pat Flynn 3(4) 0 1(1) 0 2 0 1(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 11 0 4 2
14 FW Republic of Ireland Dean Kelly 5(6) 1 0(1) 1 3(1) 1 1(0) 1 3(1) 0 0(0) 0 21 4 3 0
15 FW Republic of Ireland Paddy Kavanagh 1(6) 0 0(1) 0 2(2) 2 1(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 13 2 1 0
16 GK Jamaica Ryan Thompson 7(0) 0 2(0) 0 2(0) 0 1(0) 0 2(0) 0 5(0) 0 19 0 0 0
17 DF Republic of Ireland Ken Oman 19(1) 2 0(0) 0 4(0) 0 0(0) 0 3(0) 0 1(0) 0 28 2 5 1
18 MF Northern Ireland Chris Turner 15(8) 3 2(1) 2 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 3(0) 1 3(2) 0 34 6 13 0
19 FW Republic of Ireland Gary O'Neill 20(5) 2 3(0) 1 3(0) 1 0(0) 0 0(1) 0 0(1) 0 33 4 1 0
20 MF Republic of Ireland Billy Dennehy 23(12) 9 3(0) 4 2(1) 2 0(0) 0 4(0) 0 5(1) 1 51 16 5 0
21 MF Republic of Ireland Ronan Finn 27(6) 4 1(2) 0 3(1) 1 1(0) 0 4(0) 0 4(1) 0 50 6 3 0
22 MF Republic of Ireland Conor McCormack 18(3) 0 2(0) 0 5(0) 0 1(0) 0 3(1) 0 3(1) 0 37 0 5 0
23 DF Republic of Ireland Sean Gannon 1(0) 0 3(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 4 0 1 0
24 MF Republic of Ireland Karl Moore 1(2) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 3 0 0 0
25 GK Republic of Ireland Craig Hyland 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0 0 0 0
26 DF Scotland Jim Paterson 8(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 2(0) 0 10 0 2 0
27 MF England Rohan Ricketts 7(3) 2 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1(1) 0 13 2 0 0
## MF Republic of Ireland Lorcan Shannon 0(0) 0 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1 0 0 0
## DF Republic of Ireland Jack Memery 0(0) 0 2(0) 0 0(0) 0 1(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 3 0 0 0
## DF Republic of Ireland Mick Doyle 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1(0) 0 1(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 2 0 0 0
## MF Republic of Ireland Sean Byrne 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1 0 0 0
## MF Republic of Ireland Colm Corcoran 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 2 0 0 0
## MF Republic of Ireland Jack Flood 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1 0 1 0
## MF Republic of Ireland Darragh Satelle 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1 0 0 0
## MF Republic of Ireland Paul Connolly 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 0(1) 0 0(0) 0 0(0) 0 1 0 0 0
## GK Northern Ireland Alan Mannus 22(0) 0 0(0) 0 3(0) 0 0(0) 0 2(0) 0 0(0) 0 27 0 1 0

Updated 4 November 2011

Top scorers[edit]

Position Nation Number Name Premier Division Setanta Cup FAI Cup League Cup Champions League Europa League Total
1 Republic of Ireland 20 Billy Dennehy 9 4 2 0 0 1 16
2 Scotland 9 Gary Twigg 15 0 0 0 0 0 15
3 Republic of Ireland 10 Karl Sheppard 10 1 3 0 0 1 15
4 Republic of Ireland 11 Ciarán Kilduff 6 1 2 0 0 0 9
5 Republic of Ireland 7 Gary McCabe 6 2 0 0 0 1 9
6 Republic of Ireland 21 Ronan Finn 5 0 1 0 0 0 6
7 Northern Ireland 18 Chris Turner 3 2 0 0 1 0 6
8 Republic of Ireland 19 Gary O'Neill 2 1 1 0 0 0 4
9 Republic of Ireland 14 Dean Kelly 1 1 1 1 0 0 4
10 Republic of Ireland 8 Stephen O'Donnell 2 0 0 0 0 1 3
11 Republic of Ireland 6 Stephen Rice 1 0 1 0 0 1 3
12 Scotland 4 Craig Sives 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
12 England 5 Dan Murray 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
12 England 27 Rohan Ricketts 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
12 Republic of Ireland 17 Ken Oman 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
16 Republic of Ireland 15 Paddy Kavanagh 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
17 Republic of Ireland 2 Pat Sullivan 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Own Goals 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 69 12 13 1 1 6 102

Includes all competitive matches.
Premier Division scorers appear higher on list when total goals are equal.
Last updated 04/11/11

Disciplinary record[edit]

No. Pos. Nat. Player Notes
7 MF Republic of Ireland McCabe 5 0 1
13 DF Republic of Ireland Flynn 2 0 1
2 DF Republic of Ireland Sullivan 12 1 0
17 DF Republic of Ireland Oman 5 1 0
4 DF Scotland Sives 5 1 0
18 MF Northern Ireland Turner 9 0 0
3 DF Republic of Ireland Stevens 5 0 0
9 FW Scotland Twigg 5 0 0
20 MF Republic of Ireland Dennehy 4 0 0
22 MF Republic of Ireland McCormack 3 0 0
8 MF Republic of Ireland O'Donnell 2 0 0
14 FW Republic of Ireland Kelly 2 0 0
26 DF Scotland Paterson 2 0 0
11 FW Republic of Ireland Kilduff 1 0 0
5 DF England Murray 1 0 0
21 MF Republic of Ireland Finn 1 0 0
15 MF Republic of Ireland Kavanagh 1 0 0
19 FW Republic of Ireland O'Neill 1 0 0
10 FW Republic of Ireland Sheppard 1 0 0
23 DF Republic of Ireland Gannon 1 0 0
## GK Northern Ireland Mannus Left the club in July 1 0 0

Last updated: 29 October 2011
Source: [citation needed]
Only competitive matches
Yellow card = Number of bookings; Second yellow card = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; Red card = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.
Notes: League only

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

Squad No. Position Country Name Age Previous Club Type Transfer window Contract Ends Transfer Fee Reference
16 Goalkeeper Jamaica Ryan Thompson 26 Portland Phoenix United States Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [74]
1 Goalkeeper England Richard Brush 26 Sligo Rovers Republic of Ireland Transfer Summer Dec. 2011 Free [75]
8 Midfielder Republic of Ireland Stephen O'Donnell 25 Galway United Republic of Ireland Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [76]
7 Midfielder Republic of Ireland Gary McCabe 23 Sligo Rovers Republic of Ireland Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [76]
10 Forward Republic of Ireland Karl Sheppard 20 Galway United Republic of Ireland Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [76]
11 Forward Republic of Ireland Ciarán Kilduff 22 UCD Republic of Ireland Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [77]
14 Forward Republic of Ireland Dean Kelly 26 Oldham Athletic England Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [78]
17 Defender Republic of Ireland Ken Oman 29 Bohemians Republic of Ireland Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [79]
19 Forward Republic of Ireland Gary O'Neill 29 Sporting Fingal Republic of Ireland Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [80]
21 Midfielder Republic of Ireland Ronan Finn 23 Sporting Fingal Republic of Ireland Transfer Pre-Season Nov. 2012 Free [74]
22 Midfielder Republic of Ireland Conor McCormack 21 Triestina Italy Transfer Pre-Season Dec. 2011 Free [74]
24 Midfielder Republic of Ireland Karl Moore 22 Galway United Republic of Ireland Transfer Summer Dec. 2011 Free [81]
26 Defender Scotland Jim Paterson 31 Plymouth Argyle England Transfer Summer TBA Free [82]
27 Midfielder England Rohan Ricketts 28 SV Wilhelmshaven Germany Transfer Summer TBA Free [82]

Out[edit]

Player Country Position Transferred To Reference
Alan Mannus Northern Ireland Goalkeeper St Johnstone [83]
Neale Fenn Republic of Ireland Forward Retired
Dessie Baker Republic of Ireland Forward Retired
James Chambers Republic of Ireland Midfielder Hamilton Academical [84]
Aidan Price Republic of Ireland Defender Bohemians
Stephen Bradley Republic of Ireland Midfielder St. Patrick's Athletic [85]
Pat Jennings Jr. England Goalkeeper Glenavon [86]
Aidan Downes Republic of Ireland Midfielder Bohemians
Robert Bayly Republic of Ireland Midfielder Bohemians
Danny Murphy Republic of Ireland Defender Cork City [87]
Thomas Stewart Northern Ireland Forward Partick Thistle

Records[edit]

Rovers played a record number of 56 games in the whole 2011 season.

Overall[edit]

Total Home Away
Games played 56 27 29
Games won 32 17 15
Games drawn 11 5 6
Games lost 13 5 8
Biggest win 6–0 vs UCD & 0–6 vs UCD 6–0 vs UCD 6-0 vs UCD
Biggest loss 0–3 vs FC Rubin Kazan 0–3 vs FC Rubin Kazan 0-2 vs Sligo Rovers
Biggest win (League) 6–0 vs UCD 6–0 vs UCD 4-0 vs Drogheda United
Biggest win (Cup) 6-0 vs UCD 4-0 vs Athlone Town 6-0 vs UCD
Biggest win(Europe) 1-0 vs Flora Tallinn & 2-1(a.e.t.) vs FK Partizan Belgrade 1-0 vs Flora Tallinn 2-1(a.e.t.) vs FK Partizan Belgrade
Biggest loss (League) 0-2 vs Sligo Rovers 0-1 vs Bray Wanderers 0-2 vs Sligo Rovers
Biggest loss (Cup) 0-1 vs Sligo Rovers N/A 0-1 vs Sligo Rovers
Biggest loss (Europe) 0–3 vs FC Rubin Kazan 0–3 vs FC Rubin Kazan 1-3 vs Tottenham Hotspur
Clean sheets 23 12 11
Goals scored 102 58 44
Goals conceded 47 25 22
Goal difference +55 +33 +22
Consecutive Victories 5 5 5
Unbeaten run 8 11 5
Consecutive Defeats 2 1 1
Winless Run 4 4 2
Average GF per game 1.82 2.15 1.52
Average GA per game 0.84 0.93 0.76
Yellow cards 103 41 62
Red cards 6 4 2
Most appearances Republic of Ireland Billy Dennehy (51)
Most minutes played (League) England Dan Murray (2,837)
Top scorer Republic of Ireland Billy Dennehy (16)
Points 77/108 (71.3%) 42/54 (77.78%) 35/54 (64.81%)
Winning rate (League) 63.89% 72.22% 55.56%

Last updated: 4 November 2011
Source: Competitive matches

Leinster Senior Cup Matches not counted for the purposes of this table

References[edit]

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External links[edit]

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