2016 Dundalk F.C. season

Dundalk entered the 2016 season as the reigning League Champions and FAI Cup holders from 2014, having won the 'Double' for the first time since 1987–88. 2016 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.

Dundalk

2016 season
President’s Cup, FAI Cup, Leinster Senior Cup & League of Ireland Champions trophy on display in Oriel Park in 2015
Manager	Stephen Kenny
Stadium	Oriel Park, Dundalk Tallaght Stadium, Dublin (UEFA matches) Aviva Stadium, Dublin (v. Legia Warsaw)
Premier Division	1st (champions)
FAI Cup	Runners-up
League of Ireland Cup	Second round
President's Cup	Runners-up
Leinster Senior Cup	Quarter-final
UEFA Champions League	Play-off round
UEFA Europa League	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: David McMillan (16) All: David McMillan (21)
Highest home attendance	30,417 vs. Warsaw
Lowest home attendance	TBD
Average home league attendance	2,717 (league games)[1]
Home colours Away colours
← 2015 2017 →

Season summary

After dominating domestically throughout the season, a third league title in a row was sealed with two games to spare in 2016,^[2] A chance at a 'Double Double' was spurned, however, when they lost in the FAI Cup Final to a goal scored in the last minute of extra time by Cork City F.C.^[3]

Dundalk forward David McMillan in action in the 2016–17 Europa League.

The 2016–17 Champions League saw the club qualify for the Champions League play-off round, after they first defeated FH of Iceland,^[4] then came from a goal down in the tie to defeat BATE 3–0 in Tallaght Stadium,^[5] winning through 3–1 on aggregate. Dundalk drew Legia Warsaw, with the first leg played in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in front of a crowd of 30,417.^[6] They suffered a 2–0 defeat in the home leg, but shocked Legia in the return leg by taking a 1–0 lead through Robbie Benson's volley. With Dundalk pushing for the equaliser that would have taken the tie to extra-time, Legia scored on the break, and won the tie 3–1 on aggregate.^[7]

Defeat in the play-off round meant that the club qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, only the second Irish team to have done so. A draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands,^[8] followed by a victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght Stadium,^[9] were the first points earned by an Irish club at this stage of a European competition – both the equaliser in Alkmaar and the winning goal in Tallaght being scored by Ciarán Kilduff. In the third match they took the lead in Tallaght against Zenit St Petersburg, and were 20 minutes from topping the table, before eventually losing 2–1.^[10] In a campaign that would run from 13 July to 8 December, five weeks beyond the end of the domestic season, Dundalk failed to pick up any more points in the remaining matches. But they had attracted considerable attention.^[11][12]

Squad

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  IRL Gary Rogers 2 DF  IRL Sean Gannon 3 DF  IRL Brian Gartland 4 DF  IRL Andy Boyle (vice-captain) 5 MF  IRL Chris Shields 6 MF  IRL Stephen O'Donnell (captain) 7 MF  IRL Daryl Horgan 8 MF  IRL John Mountney 9 FW  IRL David McMillan 10 MF  IRL Ronan Finn 11 FW  IRL Patrick McEleney 12 DF  IRL Shane Grimes 14 DF  IRL Dane Massey

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  IRL Paddy Barrett 16 FW  IRL Ciarán Kilduff 17 MF  IRL George Poynton 18 MF  IRL Robbie Benson 19 MF  NIR Dean Shiels 20 FW  IRL Ciarán O'Connor 21 MF  NIR Darren Meenan 22 GK  ROU Gabriel Sava 24 DF  IRL Alan Keane 26 FW  IRL Michael O'Connor 27 GK  IRL Ben Kelly 28 MF  IRL Keith Dalton 29 MF  IRL Carlton Ubaezuono

Non-competitive

Preseason friendlies

Dundalk v Cliftonville

2 February 2016	Dundalk	4–1	Cliftonville	Dundalk
19:45		Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

Dundalk v Waterford United

9 February 2016	Dundalk	8–1	Waterford United	Dundalk
19:45		Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

Limerick v Dundalk

13 February 2016	Limerick	0–2	Dundalk	Limerick
19:45		Report		Stadium: Markets Field

Dundalk v UCD

16 February 2016	Dundalk	2–0	UCD	Dundalk
19:45		Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

Competitive

League of Ireland

Main article: 2016 League of Ireland Premier Division

Bray Wanderers v Dundalk

5 March 2016 1	Bray Wanderers	1–3	Dundalk	Bray
				Stadium: Carlisle Grounds

Dundalk v Finn Harps

11 March 2016 2	Dundalk	3–0	Finn Harps	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Wexford Youths v Dundalk

14 March 2016 3	Wexford Youths	1–2	Dundalk	Crossabeg
				Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park

Dundalk v Cork City

18 March 2016 4	Dundalk	0–1	Cork City	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

St Patrick's Athletic v Dundalk

24 March 2016 5	St Patrick's Athletic	0–4	Dundalk	Inchicore
				Stadium: Richmond Park

Dundalk v Derry City

1 April 2016 6	Dundalk	1–1	Derry City	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Longford Town v Dundalk

9 April 2016 7	Longford Town	0–4	Dundalk	Longford
				Stadium: Strokestown Road

Dundalk v Sligo Rovers

15 April 2016 8	Dundalk	1–0	Sligo Rovers	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk

22 April 2016 9	Shamrock Rovers	0–2	Dundalk	Tallaght
				Stadium: Tallaght Stadium

Bohemians v Dundalk

29 April 2016 10	Bohemians	0–2	Dundalk	Phibsborough
				Stadium: Dalymount Park

Dundalk v Galway United

6 May 2016 11	Dundalk	2–1	Galway United	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Dundalk v Bray Wanderers

10 May 2016 12	Dundalk	1–0	Bray Wanderers	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Finn Harps v Dundalk

13 May 2016 13	Finn Harps	0–7	Dundalk	Ballybofey
				Stadium: Finn Park

Dundalk v Wexford Youths

29 May 2016 14	Dundalk	3–2	Wexford Youths	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Cork City v Dundalk

3 June 2016 15	Cork City	1–0	Dundalk	Cork
				Stadium: Turners Cross

Dundalk v St Patrick's Athletic

24 June 2016 16	Dundalk	2–0	St Patrick's Athletic	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Derry City v Dundalk

1 July 2016 17	Derry City	0–5	Dundalk	Derry
				Stadium: Brandywell Stadium

Dundalk v Longford Town

5 July 2016 18	Dundalk	4–3	Longford Town	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Galway United v Dundalk

5 August 2016 19	Galway United	1–0	Dundalk	Galway
				Stadium: Eamonn Deacy Park

Bray Wanderers v Dundalk

10 August 2016 20	Bray Wanderers	2–1	Dundalk	Bray
				Stadium: Carlisle Grounds

Wexford Youths v Dundalk

26 August 2016 21	Wexford Youths	0–1	Dundalk	Crossabeg
				Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park

Bohemians v Dundalk

2 September 2016 22	Bohemians	1–2	Dundalk	Phibsborough
				Stadium: Dalymount Park

Sligo Rovers v Dundalk

6 September 2016 23	Sligo Rovers	0–1	Dundalk	Sligo
				Stadium: The Showgrounds

Dundalk v Finn Harps

12 September 2016 24	Dundalk	2–0	Finn Harps	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers

20 September 2016 25	Dundalk	1–1	Shamrock Rovers	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Dundalk v Derry City

26 September 2016 26	Dundalk	3–1	Derry City	Dundalk
				Stadium: Oriel Park

Dundalk v Sligo Rovers

7 October 2016 27	Dundalk	0–3	Sligo Rovers	Dundalk
		Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

Dundalk v Cork City

12 October 2016 28	Dundalk	2–1	Cork City	Dundalk
		Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk

15 October 2016 29	Shamrock Rovers	0–3	Dundalk	Tallaght
		Report		Stadium: Tallaght Stadium

Longford Town v Dundalk

17 October 2016 30	Longford Town	0–3	Dundalk	Longford
		Report		Stadium: Strokestown Road

Dundalk v Bohemians

23 October 2016 31	Dundalk	2–1	Bohemians	Dundalk
		Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

St Patrick's Athletic v Dundalk

25 October 2016 32	St Patrick's Athletic	5–2	Dundalk	Inchicore
				Stadium: Richmond Park

Dundalk v Galway United

28 October 2016 33	Dundalk	4–1	Galway United	Dundalk
		Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

FAI Cup

Main article: 2016 FAI Cup

Dundalk v Shelbourne

20 May 2016 Second round	Dundalk	2–0	Shelbourne	Dundalk
	Horgan 21' Kilduff 85'	Report	Kehoe  72'	Stadium: Oriel Park Attendance: 1,750 Referee: Robert Rogers

Dundalk v Crumlin United

19 August 2016 Third round	Dundalk	5–0	Crumlin United	Dundalk
19:45	Shields 8', 79' Barrett 25' Shiels 44' O'Connor 74'	Report		Stadium: Oriel Park

UCD v Dundalk

9 September 2016 Quarterfinals	UCD	0–1	Dundalk	Dublin
19:45		Report	Kilduff 66'	Stadium: UCD Bowl

Dundalk v Derry City

2 October 2016 Semifinals	Dundalk	2-2	Derry City	Dundalk
13:45	Dean Shiels, Ciaran Kilduff	Report	Rory Patterson, Ronan Curtis	Stadium: Oriel Park Attendance: 3,283 Referee: Graham Kelly

Derry City v Dundalk

4 October 2016 S/F Replay	Derry City	1-2	Dundalk	Dundalk
19:45	Ronan Curtis	Report	Ciaran Kilduff, Ronan Finn	Stadium: Oriel Park Attendance: 3,000 (estimate) Referee: Dave McKeon

League of Ireland Cup

Main article: 2016 League of Ireland Cup

Dundalk v St Patrick's Athletic

18 April 2016 Second round	Dundalk	0–1 (a.e.t.)	St Patrick's Athletic	Dundalk
19:45			Feely 113'	Stadium: Oriel Park

Leinster Senior Cup

Main article: 2015–16 Leinster Senior Cup

Shelbourne v Dundalk

5 February 2016 Fourth round	Shelbourne	0–2	Dundalk	Drumcondra
19:45				Stadium: Tolka Park

Bohemians v Dundalk

4 April 2016 Quarterfinals	Bohemians	4–3	Dundalk	Phibsborough
19:45	Murphy 31' Byrne 69', 81', 87'	Report	O'Connor 13', 74' Kelly 90'	Stadium: Dalymount Park Attendance: 297 Referee: Michael O'Connor

President's Cup

Main article: 2016 President of Ireland's Cup

Cork City v Dundalk

27 February 2016	Cork City	2–0	Dundalk	Cork
	Holohan 20' McNulty  45+1' Morrissey  53' Bolger  60' Maguire 61'	Report	Shields  12' Boyle  45+1' Gartland  56'  80'	Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 1,850 Referee: Graham Kelly

UEFA Champions League

Main article: 2016–17 UEFA Champions League

Second qualifying round

Dundalk v FH

13 July 2016 (2016-07-13) First leg	Dundalk	1–1	FH	Dundalk, Republic of Ireland
20:45	McMillan 66' Finn  68' O'Donnell  85'	Report	Doumbia  23' Ólafsson  57' Lennon 77' Valdimarsson  81'	Stadium: Oriel Park Attendance: 3,111 Referee: Nikola Popov

FH v Dundalk

20 July 2016 (2016-07-20) Second leg	FH	2–2 (3–3 (a) agg.)	Dundalk	Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
20:45	Hewson 19'  42' Pálsson  48' K. F. Finnbogason 78'	Report	McMillan 52', 62' O'Donnell  64'	Stadium: Kaplakriki Attendance: 1,850 Referee: Paolo Valeri

Third qualifying round

BATE Borisov v Dundalk

26 July 2016 (2016-07-26) First leg	BATE Borisov	1–0	Dundalk	Barysaw, Belarus
20:45	Zhavnerchik  29' Gordeichuk 70'	Report	Finn  64'	Stadium: Borisov Arena Attendance: 11,321 Referee: Yevhen Aranovsky

Dundalk v BATE Borisov

2 August 2016 (2016-08-02) Second leg	Dundalk	3–0 (3–1 agg.)	BATE Borisov	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
20:45	McMillan 44', 59' Barrett  88' Benson 90'	Report	Rodionov  81' Stasevich  89'	Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 4,645 Referee: Jakob Kehlet
Note: Dundalk played their third qualifying round home match at Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, and will play their play-off home match at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, instead of their regular stadium Oriel Park, Dundalk.[13][14]

Play-off round

Dundalk v Legia Warsaw

17 August 2016 (2016-08-17) First leg	Dundalk	0–2	Legia Warsaw	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
20:45	O'Donnell  20' Boyle  55'	Report	Odjidja-Ofoe  44' Nikolić 56' (pen.) Hloušek  69' Prijović 90+4'	Stadium: Aviva Stadium Attendance: 30,417 Referee: Deniz Aytekin

Legia Warsaw v Dundalk

23 August 2016 (2016-08-23) Second leg	Legia Warsaw	1–1 (3–1 agg.)	Dundalk	Warsaw, Poland
20:45		Report		Stadium: Polish Army Stadium

UEFA Europa League

Main article: 2016–17 UEFA Europa League

Group stage

AZ v Dundalk

15 September 2016 (2016-09-15) 1	AZ	1–1	Dundalk	Alkmaar, Netherlands
19:00	Wuytens 61'	Report	Kilduff 89'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 10,003 Referee: Clayton Pisani (Malta)

Dundalk v Maccabi Tel Aviv

29 September 2016 (2016-09-29) 2	Dundalk	1–0	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
21:05	Kilduff 72'	Report		Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 5,543 Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

Dundalk v Zenit St. Petersburg

20 October 2016 (2016-10-20) 3	Dundalk	1–2	Zenit St. Petersburg	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
21:05	Benson 52'	Report	Mak 71' Giuliano 77'	Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)

Zenit St. Petersburg v Dundalk

3 November 2016 (2016-11-03) 4	Zenit St. Petersburg	2–1	Dundalk	Saint Petersburg, Russia
19:00	Giuliano 42', 78'	Report	Horgan 52'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Luca Banti (Italy)

Dundalk v AZ

24 November 2016 (2016-11-24) 5	Dundalk	0–1	AZ	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
21:05	Weghorst 9'	Report		Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 5,500 Referee: István Vad (Hungary)

Maccabi Tel Aviv v Dundalk

8 December 2016 (2016-12-08) 6	Maccabi Tel Aviv	2–1	Dundalk	Netanya, Israel
19:00	Ben Chaim 21' (pen.), Micha 38'	Report	Dasa 27' (o.g.)	Stadium: Netanya Stadium Attendance: 9,891 Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (Austria)

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League of Ireland		FAI Cup		League Cup		Europe
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	IRL	Gary Rogers	36	0	28+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	8+0	0	0+0	0
2	DF	IRL	Sean Gannon	35	0	24+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	9+0	0	0+0	0
3	DF	IRL	Brian Gartland	32	7	27+0	7	1+0	0	0+0	0	4+0	0	0+0	0
4	DF	IRL	Andy Boyle	44	3	31+0	3	1+2	0	0+1	0	9+0	0	0+0	0
5	MF	IRL	Chris Shields	37	0	17+8	0	3+0	0	1+0	0	5+3	0	0+0	0
6	MF	IRL	Stephen O'Donnell	29	1	20+2	1	1+0	0	0+0	0	6+0	0	0+0	0
7	MF	IRL	Daryl Horgan	43	9	30+0	9	1+2	0	0+1	0	9+0	0	0+0	0
8	MF	IRL	John Mountney	40	2	21+8	2	2+0	0	1+0	0	5+3	0	0+0	0
9	FW	IRL	David McMillan	42	21	25+5	16	0+2	0	0+1	0	9+0	5	0+0	0
10	MF	IRL	Ronan Finn	39	8	28+1	7	1+0	1	0+0	0	8+1	0	0+0	0
11	FW	NIR	Patrick McEleney	34	3	17+6	3	0+2	0	0+0	0	8+1	0	0+0	0
12	DF	IRL	Shane Grimes	7	0	2+1	0	3+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
14	DF	IRL	Dane Massey	39	3	29+0	3	0+0	0	1+0	0	9+0	0	0+0	0
15	DF	IRL	Paddy Barrett	24	2	7+7	2	3+0	0	1+0	0	5+1	0	0+0	0
16	FW	IRL	Ciarán Kilduff	31	11	8+11	6	3+0	3	1+0	0	0+8	2	0+0	0
17	MF	IRL	George Poynton	4	0	0+2	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
18	MF	IRL	Robbie Benson	35	5	10+12	2	2+1	0	1+0	0	4+5	3	0+0	0
19	FW	NIR	Dean Shiels	11	1	0+7	0	2+0	1	0+0	0	0+2	0	0+0	0
20	FW	IRL	Ciarán O'Connor	4	0	0+3	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
21	MF	NIR	Darren Meenan	26	1	10+14	1	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
22	GK	ROU	Gabriel Sava	8	0	3+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
24	DF	IRL	Alan Keane	6	0	4+0	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
26	FW	IRL	Michael O'Connor	5	0	0+2	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0

References

1. "EFS Attendances". www.european-football-statistics.co.uk.
2. "Dundalk are crowned the Airtricity League Premier Division champions for the third time in a row". Irish Independent. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
3. "Watch: Drama as Sean Maguire pounces at the death to win FAI Cup for Cork City". Irish Independent. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
4. Crawley, Darren (20 July 2016). "Superb McMillan the difference as Dundalk sparkle in Iceland". The Irish Times – via www.irishtimes.com.
5. McLaughlin, Gavin (2 August 2016). "Dundalk down BATE to progress in Champions League". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
6. "Full Time Summary Play-offs 1st leg – Wednesday 17 August 2016" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
7. McLaughlin, Gavin (23 August 2016). "Brave Dundalk exit Champions League in Poland". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
8. McLaughlin, Gavin (15 September 2016). "Kilduff snatches historic point for 10-man Dundalk". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
9. McLaughlin, Gavin (29 September 2016). "Dundalk claim historic Euro win against Maccabi". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
10. McLaughlin, Gavin (21 October 2016). "Dundalk defeated as Zenit battle back in Tallaght". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
11. Doyle, Paul (10 October 2016). "Dundalk's Stephen Kenny winning friends and trophies with Irish trailblazers". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
12. "Remembering the greatest European run in the history of Irish football". The 42. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
13. "Here's why Dundalk won't be able to play their crunch Champions League qualifier in front of their home fans". independent.ie. Irish Independent. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
14. "Dundalk will play Champions League playoff at Aviva Stadium". irishtimes.com. The Irish Times. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.