If anyone is looking for a fun bet, the League of Ireland football season is starting (runs from Feb-Oct) and odds are;
https://www.oddschecker.com/football/ireland/premier-division/irish-premier-division/winnerShamrock Rovers 13/10
Derry 4/1
Shelbourne 6/1
St Patrick’s Athletic 6/1
Bohemians 11/1
66/1 bar.
Rovers have won 5 of the last 6 titles, are defending champions and are historically the most successful team in Ireland.
They have however just sold league team of the season left back Josh Holohan to Lincoln for €500k. Money is scarce in League of Ireland and the clubs can’t compete financially on wages with English League One clubs, so the best players get picked off regularly. It appeared they had agreed terms with Hoffenheim for €1.8m plus add ons for their very promising 17 year striker Michael Noonan (he’s the youngest ever Conference League goalscorer at 16yrs 197 days) but apparently he’s pulled the plug on that. He may be waiting until he’s 18 in the summer to join a British side. Brexit has been great for league of Ireland as previously young players were constantly moving to UK at 15/16 yrs but now they can’t until 18 yrs. If Noonan doesn’t go to EU in this window, he’ll be gone in the summer.
Last season Rovers started slowly and didn’t hit the top spot in the league until nearly halfway through but eventually won, beating Derry by 3pts. In 2024, they started slowly and couldn’t catch Shelbourne, finishing 2nd. In 2023 they didn’t win until their 7th match but ended up winning the title.
This slow start is becoming a pattern and may be related to success in Europe. In the season just gone, they qualified for Europa Conference league phase finishing their final game on 18th December, when their last domestic game was the cup final on 9th November.
The previous season they again qualified for Conference league phase. They’re missing over a month of their off season due to Europe. They’re also playing a lot of European games (12 and 14 games in the last 2 years) which they maybe don’t have the strength in depth of squad to be always competitive at home and in Europe.
Derry have finished 2nd to Rovers in 3 of the last 4 years. They just beat Rovers in the Presidents Cup (Community Shield) 1-0 yesterday in the season opener in a feisty affair. They are backed by a wealthy local billionaire benefactor. He’s not pouring money in, it’s slow and steady but they are making strides. It’s generally accepted they have recruited well this window and most fans believe it’s going to be a straight shoot out between the two of them.
I’ll be backing Derry, hoping Rovers have another slow start and maybe hedge on a bet on Rovers later if the prices start to reverse. If not, happy to let the bet on Derry run.
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