The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup, known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland. Organised by the FAI, the competition is currently sponsored by Sports Direct. It was known as the Free State Cup from 1923 to 1936. Shamrock Rovers hold the record of most wins with 25.
Mark Quigley is an Irish former professional footballer who played for Millwall, Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Dundalk, Sligo Rovers and Derry City.
Daniel Jamie North is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Barton Town, where he is also first team manager.
Conor Kenna is a retired Irish footballer who played as a centre back.
Ian Bermingham is an Irish former professional footballer who spent 13 seasons with League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patricks Athletic, where he was club captain and is the all-time appearance record holder. He previously spent two seasons at UCD and a season at Shamrock Rovers.
Seán 'Socky' O'Connor is an Irish former professional footballer who played for St. Patrick's Athletic over two spells, Limerick & Shamrock Rovers over two spells. He is currently coach of League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic and manager of St Patrick's Athletic U19.
The 2010 season is St Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 81st year in existence, and their 59th year in the top division. The previous season the Saints finished 7th, failing to qualify for any European Competition.
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.
Christopher Stephen Forrester is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also previously played for Bohemians, Peterborough United, Aberdeen and the Republic of Ireland under-21's. In March 2016 he was called up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad but has yet to be capped.
The 2013 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 29th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division featured 12 teams. St. Patrick's Athletic were champions, winning their eighth top level League of Ireland title. Dundalk finished as runners-up.
The 2013 season was St. Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 84th year in existence and their 62nd consecutive season in the League of Ireland. It was the second year that Liam Buckley was the team's manager, following replacing Pete Mahon in December 2011. St Pat's finished the season as the 2013 League of Ireland Premier Division champions. They were also Leinster Senior Cup runners up. They also competed in the UEFA Europa League, the FAI Cup, the Setanta Cup and the League of Ireland Cup.
The 2012 season was Dundalk's fourth successive season in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion in 2008. All together, it was the club's 86th season in League of Ireland football. The club was managed by Sean McCaffrey, who was in his first season in charge. The club also competed in the FAI Cup, League of Ireland Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. Dundalk finished the 33-round season in 11th position, requiring them to play a promotion/relegation play-off against Waterford United of the First Division; a tie which they won on aggregate, thus retaining their place in the Premier Division for the 2013 season. Results against Monaghan United F.C. were expunged, after they withdrew from the League mid-season.
The 2014 season was St. Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 85th year in existence and was their 63rd consecutive season in the League of Ireland top division. It was the third year that Liam Buckley is the team's manager, following replacing Pete Mahon in December 2011. The Saints finished the previous season as the 2013 champions. The season was very successful on the field as the Saints began by winning the inaugural President's Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. The biggest triumph of all however was when top scorer Christy Fagan wrote himself into the club's history books by scoring twice in a 2–0 win over Derry City in the 2014 FAI Cup Final, ending a 53-year hoodoo with the cup for the club. Pats also competed in the UEFA Champions League, the Setanta Cup and the League of Ireland Cup.
The 2015 season was St. Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 86th year in existence and was the Supersaint's 64th consecutive season in the top-flight of Irish football. It was the fourth year that Liam Buckley was the team's manager, following replacing Pete Mahon in December 2011. The Saints aimed to retain their FAI Cup, President's Cup and Leinster Senior Cup titles that were won during the 2014 season. Pats also competed in the UEFA Europa League and the EA Sports Cup. The 2015 League of Ireland fixtures were released on 16 December 2014, with the Saints' first game being an away fixture against South Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers on 6 March 2015. The season turned out to be a very disappointing one for players, management and fans alike as the Saints finished of way off the top of the league, only securing European football on the final day, were knocked out of the FAI Cup at the early stages and failed to get past the first hurdle in the Europa League. However they did win the 2015 League of Ireland Cup on penalties versus Galway United on 19 September 2015, completing the set of trophies for manager Liam Buckley, meaning he has won every trophy possible to win with the Saints in the last three seasons. During the season, the team also set a club record winning streak in the league that stretched 9 games, beating the previous record of 8.
The 2016 FAI Senior Challenge Cup, also known as the 2016 FAI Irish Daily Mail Senior Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 96th season of the national Football competition of the Republic of Ireland. The winners of the competition earned a spot in the First qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.
The 2017 season was St. Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 88th year in existence and was the Supersaint's 66th consecutive season in the top-flight of Irish football. It was the sixth year that Liam Buckley is the team's manager, following replacing Pete Mahon in December 2011. With the new change to the League of Ireland structure, 3 clubs were set to be relegated from the Premier Division, which has created an intense relegation between many clubs, including Pats' due to their lower budget than previous years following a poor 2016 season in which they finished 7th in the league, making 2017 the first year in 7 years without European football. The relegation battle went right down to the last day of the season, where Pat's secured the necessary point to stay up following a 1–1 draw away to Derry City.
The 2018 Season was St Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 89th year in existence and was the Supersaints' 67th consecutive season in the top flight of Irish football. It was the seventh year that Liam Buckley is the team's manager, following replacing Pete Mahon in December 2011. Buckley resigned from his post as manager on 25 September with assistant Ger O'Brien taking over for the remainder of the season. It was the first year of the new format of the League of Ireland Premier Division where by there will be 10 teams playing each other four times, twice home and twice away. On 19 December 2017 the fixtures were announced with Pat's down to play champions Cork City on the opening day of the season on 16 February 2018.
The 2019 season was St. Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 90th year in existence and was the Supersaint's 68th consecutive season in the top-flight of Irish football. It was the first season Harry Kenny took charge of the club, following Liam Buckley's spell in charge for the previous seven seasons. The fixtures were announced on 19 December 2018, with the Saints facing Cork City at home on the opening day of the season for the second year in a row, with the Inchicore side set to play champions Dundalk away from home on the final night of the season. Harry Kenny left his post on 24 August following a 3–1 loss away to bottom of the table UCD in the FAI Cup. He was replaced by Stephen O'Donnell on 31 August, his first managerial role. Pats finished 5th in the league and won the Leinster Senior Cup, playing the semi-final and final with their underage sides after the league season had ended for the senior team.
Dundalk entered the 2014 season having finished as runners-up in 2013. 2014 was Stephen Kenny's second season at the club as manager. It was Dundalk's sixth consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 79th in all, and their 88th in the League of Ireland.
Dundalk entered the 1987–88 season as the League Cup holders from 1986–87, having won that competition and finished as runners-up in both league and FAI Cup. 1987–88 was Turlough O'Connor's third season as manager, and was Dundalk's 62nd consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football.
