2019 Dundalk F.C. season
# 2019 Dundalk F.C. season

Dundalk entered the 2019 season as the reigning League Champions and FAI Cup holders from 2018. They had a new management team of Vinny Perth and the returning John Gill, after Stephen Kenny (the manager since 2013) had resigned to accept the Republic of Ireland U-21 manager's role. The 2019 season was Dundalk's 11th consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 84th in all, and their 93rd in the League of Ireland.

## Season summary

The new season's curtain raiser - the President's Cup - was played on 9 February in Turners Cross (stadium) between Dundalk and Cork City, the runners-up in both league and cup the previous year. Dundalk won on a 2-1 scoreline. The 36 round League programme commenced on 15 February 2019, and was completed on 25 October 2019. Dundalk retained their title with four games to spare, sealing the title in Oriel Park with a 3–2 victory over Shamrock Rovers on 23 September 2019. They had already won the League Cup, defeating Derry City on penalties in the Brandywell nine days earlier. Chasing a domestic Treble, they were defeated 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 (All-Ireland) – bringing the trophy haul in Perth's rookie season to four.

In Europe Dundalk entered the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. After being seeded in the draw, they faced Riga, drawing the home leg in Oriel Park 0-0. The away leg in Riga was the club's 70th match in European football, which also finished 0-0. After extra-time failed to separate the sides, they won 5–4 in a sudden-death penalty shootout – their first in Europe, becoming the first Irish side to win a tie in that manner. They were knocked out in the second qualifying round by Qarabağ when a 1–1 home draw was followed by a 3–0 defeat away in Baku, which saw them receive a bye into the Europa League Third qualifying round. Their interest in Europe for the season ended there, with a 4-1 aggregate defeat to Slovan Bratislava. Both Qarabağ and Slovan subsequently reached the group stage of the Europa League.

### First-Team Squad (2019)

Sources:

| Squad No. | Name | Date of Birth | Position | Debut season | League appearances | Goals |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Gary Rogers | 25 September 1981 | GK | 2015 | 35 | 0 |
| 2 | Seán Gannon | 11 July 1991 | DF | 2014 | 33 | 1 |
| 3 | Brian Gartland | 4 November 1986 | DF | 2013 | 22 | 2 |
| 4 | Seán Hoare | 15 March 1994 | DF | 2017 | 28 | 4 |
| 5 | Chris Shields | 27 December 1990 | MF | 2012 | 29 | 0 |
| 6 | Jordan Flores | 4 October 1995 | MF | 2019 | 16 | 1 |
| 7 | Michael Duffy | 28 July 1994 | MF | 2017 | 34 | 12 |
| 8 | John Mountney | 22 February 1993 | MF | 2012 | 23 | 6 |
| 9 | Patrick Hoban | 28 July 1991 | FW | 2013 | 34 | 13 |
| 10 | Jamie McGrath | 30 September 1996 | MF | 2017 | 26 | 2 |
| 11 | Patrick McEleney | 26 September 1992 | MF | 2016 | 24 | 2 |
| 12 | Georgie Kelly | 12 November 1996 | FW | 2018 | 29 | 8 |
| 14 | Dane Massey | 17 April 1988 | DF | 2013 | 23 | 2 |
| 15 | Stephen Folan | 14 January 1992 | DF | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Seán Murray | 11 October 1993 | MF | 2019 | 25 | 3 |
| 17 | Cameron Dummigan | 2 June 1996 | DF | 2019 | 14 | 1 |
| 18 | Robbie Benson | 7 May 1992 | MF | 2016 | 13 | 1 |
| 20 | Aaron McCarey | 14 January 1992 | GK | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | Daniel Cleary | 9 March 1996 | DF | 2018 | 23 | 2 |
| 22 | Joe McKee | 31 October 1992 | MF | 2019 | 5 | 0 |
| 27 | Daniel Kelly | 21 May 1996 | MF | 2019 | 33 | 9 |
| 28 | Lido Lotefa | 18 April 2000 | FW | 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| 29 | Dylan Hand | 15 March 1999 | DF | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Ross Treacy | 26 September 1998 | GK | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Dean Jarvis | 1 June 1992 | DF | 2018 | 19 | 1 |
| 44 | Andy Boyle | 7 March 1991 | DF | 2013 | 8 | 1 |

## Competitions

### President's Cup

Source:

### Premier Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 36 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 73 | 18 | +55 | 86 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Shamrock Rovers | 36 | 23 | 6 | 7 | 62 | 21 | +41 | 75 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Bohemians | 36 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 47 | 28 | +19 | 60 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Derry City | 36 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 56 | 34 | +22 | 57 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | St Patrick's Athletic | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 52 | |

* ↑ Loan signing, loan completed in May.
* ↑ Since the winners of the 2019 FAI Cup (Shamrock Rovers) qualified for European competition based on their league position, the final spot awarded to the Cup winner passed to the next best-placed team i.e fourth-placed team.

### FAI Cup

Source:

### League Cup

Source:

### Champions Cup

Source:

Dundalk won 7–1 on aggregate.

### Leinster Senior Cup

Source:

### Europe

**Champions League**

**First qualifying round**

0–0 on aggregate. Dundalk won 5–4 on penalties.

**Champions League**

**Second qualifying round**

Qarabağ won 4–1 on aggregate.

## Awards

### Player of the Month

| Month | Player |
| - | - |
| May | Sean Gannon |
| August | Daniel Cleary |
| September | Michael Duffy |

### SWAI Personality of the Year

| Person | Reference |
| - | - |
| Vinny Perth | |

### SWAI Goalkeeper of the Year

| Person | Reference |
| - | - |
| Gary Rogers | |
