2015 Dundalk F.C. season
# 2015 Dundalk F.C. season

Dundalk entered the 2015 season as the reigning League Champions from 2014, having won the title for the first time since 1995, and were also the League Cup holders. 2015 was Stephen Kenny's third season at the club as manager. It was Dundalk's seventh consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 80th in all, and their 89th in the League of Ireland.

## Season summary

The new season's curtain raiser - the President's Cup - was played on 28 February in Oriel Park between Dundalk and St Patrick's Athletic - the winners of the FAI Cup the previous year. Dundalk won on a 2-1 scoreline - their first success in the competition. The 33 round League programme commenced on 6 March 2015, and was completed on 30 October 2015. Dundalk retained the title for the first time in their history, sealing it with three games to spare. They subsequently won the 2015 FAI Cup Final with a 1-0 victory over Cork City after extra time. An opportunity to win the club's first domestic Treble was passed up when a largely reserve side lost the League Cup semi-final in a penalty shoot-out. However they also won the Leinster Senior Cup, defeating Shamrock Rovers 3-1 in the final. The trophy haul for the year made the 2015 season the most successful in their history.

In Europe they were knocked out at the first hurdle, losing to BATE Borisov in the Champions League second qualifying round when, after scoring an away goal in a 2-1 defeat, they were unable to score the goal in Oriel Park that would have sent them through to the next round.

### First-Team Squad (2015)

Sources:

| Squad No. | Name | Date of Birth | Position | Debut season | League appearances | Goals |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Gary Rogers | 25 September 1981 | GK | 2015 | 31 | 0 |
| 2 | Sean Gannon | 11 July 1991 | DF | 2014 | 32 | 1 |
| 3 | Brian Gartland | 4 November 1986 | DF | 2013 | 27 | 6 |
| 4 | Andy Boyle | 7 March 1991 | DF | 2013 | 33 | 1 |
| 5 | Chris Shields | 27 December 1990 | MF | 2012 | 30 | 0 |
| 6 | Stephen O'Donnell | 15 January 1986 | MF | 2013 | 24 | 2 |
| 7 | Daryl Horgan | 10 August 1992 | MF | 2014 | 33 | 9 |
| 8 | John Mountney | 22 February 1993 | MF | 2012 | 33 | 3 |
| 9 | David McMillan | 14 December 1988 | FW | 2014 | 33 | 12 |
| 10 | Ronan Finn | 21 December 1987 | MF | 2015 | 33 | 5 |
| 11 | Kurtis Byrne | 9 April 1990 | FW | 2013 | 14 | 0 |
| 12 | Shane Grimes | 9 March 1987 | DF | 2005 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | Dane Massey | 17 April 1988 | DF | 2013 | 32 | 4 |
| 15 | Paddy Barrett | 22 July 1993 | DF | 2015 | 11 | 0 |
| 16 | Ciarán Kilduff | 29 September 1988 | FW | 2015 | 12 | 4 |
| 17 | Richie Towell | 17 July 1991 | MF | 2013 | 32 | 25 |
| 19 | Sean Maguire | 1 May 1994 | FW | 2015 | 6 | 0 |
| 21 | Darren Meenan | 1 October 1991 | MF | 2013 | 28 | 3 |
| 22 | Gabriel Sava | 15 September 1986 | GK | 2014 | 3 | 0 |
| 28 | Georgie Poynton | 8 September 1997 | MF | 2013 | 2 | 0 |

## Competitions

### President's Cup

Source:

### Premier Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 33 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 78 | 23 | +55 | 78 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Cork City | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 57 | 25 | +32 | 67 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 56 | 27 | +29 | 65 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | St Patrick's Athletic | 33 | 18 | 4 | 11 | 52 | 34 | +18 | 58 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Bohemians | 33 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 53 | |
| 6 | Longford Town | 33 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 39 | |
| 7 | Derry City | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 35 | |
| 8 | Bray Wanderers | 33 | 9 | 6 | 18 | 27 | 51 | −24 | 33 | |
| 9 | Sligo Rovers | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 39 | 55 | −16 | 31 | |
| 10 | Galway United | 33 | 9 | 4 | 20 | 39 | 61 | −22 | 31 | |
| 11 | Limerick (R) | 33 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 46 | 73 | −27 | 29 | Qualification to Relegation play-offs |
| 12 | Drogheda United (R) | 33 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 32 | 62 | −30 | 28 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |

* ↑ Dundalk qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015 FAI Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

### FAI Cup

Source:

### League Cup

Source:

### Leinster Senior Cup

Source:

### Europe

**Champions League**

Source:

**Champions League**

**Second qualifying round**

BATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.

## Awards

### Player of the Month

| Month | Nationality | Player |
| - | - | - |
| March | Ireland | David McMillan |
| April | Ireland | Richie Towell |
| May | Ireland | Daryl Horgan |
| September | Ireland | Richie Towell |
| November | Ireland | Richie Towell |

### PFAI Player of the Year

| Player | Reference |
| - | - |
| Richie Towell | |

### FAI League of Ireland Player of the Year

| Player | Reference |
| - | - |
| Richie Towell | |

### SWAI Personality of the Year

| Person | Reference |
| - | - |
| Richie Towell | |

### RTÉ Sports Team of the Year

| Team | Reference |
| - | - |
| Dundalk F.C. | |
