Gone to the Drogs - A First Taste of Irish Football in Drogheda
Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
It was posed by John Lydon of The Sex Pistols after a disastrous gig in which Sid Vicious was an absolute car crash on stage. Only now, as I write my first blog of the 2025/26 season (and my first since April following a lengthy kidney stone battle), it refers to Drogheda United.
Many will have heard the dreadful predicament that fell on Drogheda in light of a cup win in 2024 which meant they'd qualified for the Europa Conference League, only to have that qualification revoked at the last minute by the powers that be. Similarly, Crystal Palace face disqualification, and DAC of Slovakia have already been disqualified pending appeal - and why? Multi-club ownership.
Because of course it's the likes of Drogheda and DAC that are ruining the sport we know and love. It's not the likes of Chelsea or City or the Red Bull clubs who somehow workaround the multi club thing - it's the smaller clubs in Europe who, let's be honest bar Palace, may not even make the league phase.
You can probably gage my stance on the whole issue. In any case, I wanted to celebrate my freedom from kidney stone tyranny and take a first footballing pilgrimage to Ireland. As a man of Irish roots, I have of course been there, albeit some 17 years ago now, and only to Cork where my grandad was from.
Having lost him a year ago now, it felt only right that I would go back for just over a week, starting off in Cork, before heading north to Drogheda for their game against Galway United. Then I'd head further north for a bizarre pre-sesson fixture between Glenavon and German side Erzgebirge Sue (more on that later), as well as a friendly between Cliftonville and Derry City (also more on that later).
I'd end the trip with some Europa Conference League qualifying action between Larne, and Auda of Latvia in Ballymena before flying back to the UK on the Friday - a 6am flight no less, which of course I'm dreading ever so slighly, but certainly a lot less than the prospect of another health issue delaying any plans of joy for the foreseeable.
The crazy part is that these Irish plans only scratch the surface of a generous ten weeks off this summer - I've also got trips to Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia in the pipeline, so stay tuned.
Drogheda United v Galway United - a mini-preview:
Seventeen years is a long time. Frankly it's a ridiculous length of time to go without taking even a short weekend trip to Ireland, as someone who takes great pride in his Irish roots. To think the last time I set foot on the Emerald Isle, a lot of my students weren't even born yet.
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| The beautiful Cobh |
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| University College Cork - a stunning building |
But I guess seventeen summers had other ideas, whether that be lack of funds, alternative trip plans, or work arrangements. Well, 2025 is the year I break that duck, and it certainly won't be the last time I spend some time in Ireland. Though I'd often planned my first Irish football experience to be with Cork City given the family connection, they were away at Shelbourne for this particular weekend, so I had five choices before heading up to Lurgan on Saturday.
Those choices were Drogheda United v Galway United, the aforementioned Shelbourne v Cork City, Derry City v Waterford (managed by former Accrington boss John Coleman incidentally), a Dublin derby between St Patrick's Athletic and Bohemians, or a trip to the north west for Sligo Rovers v Shamrock Rovers on Saturday instead of that aforementioned weird and wonderful Glenavon friendly.
For whatever reason, Drogheda was the standout. Perhaps because I wanted to save Dublin for another time, as well as briefly explore a perhaps lesser known town in Ireland. Perhaps the recent headlines around Drogheda's European woes added to the interest in what is, by all accounts, a fairly stable club as far as Irish football is concerned.
Though the Drogs haven't won the League of Ireland since a 2007 triumph, they've won the FAI Cup on a couple of occasions, namely 2005 and 2024. The latter meant that the Drogs had qualified for the Europa League, meaning European football would come to Sullivan and Lambe Park for the first time since 2014, following a 2nd placed finish in 2012. But of course, you know the rest already...
2024 was far from smooth sailing, however, with Drogheda finishing 9th of 10 teams, meaning they had to overcome a promotion/relegation play off against Bray Wanderers. They did so with a comfortable 3-1 win at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.
Since their return to the top flight in 2021 following a relegation in 2015, the club have generally finished around 7th or 8th, which makes this season's current 4th position look impressive. Only two points separate the Drogs from Bohemians and Derry City above them, with the league already looking incredibly like to return to Shamrock Rovers following Damien Duff's Shelbourne heroics last season.
With eleven draws to their name so far this season, that has arguably been their undoing, especially given that they've only lost five times this season - the lowest number of losses in the league so far. Two of those losses came in June, away to Derry City (3-0) and at home to runaway leaders Shamrock Rovers (1-2), with draws at St Patrick's (0-0), at home to Cork (1-1), and a narrow win at home to Sligo (1-0) indicating a need to pick up some form sooner rather than later if their good season is to be maintained.
The likes of Shelbourne, St Pats and even their opponents Galway aren't exactly far behind Drogheda. The away side for today's game are also going through a fairly patchy run of form themselves, with only two wins in their last six against Cork (2-1) and St Pats (3-1), though they have had some credible draws against Derry City (1-1) and Shamrock (0-0).
Drogheda United 1-0 Galway United: Snacks, Drogs, and Huge Seagulls
The day started with a few morning trains up from Cork via Dublin following some much needed catching up with my Irish side of the family. It was the perfect couple of days, with a brief traipse around the city, as well as a beautiful trip to Cobh. I even managed to catch of glimpse of Turner's Cross in Cork, as well as St Colman's Park where Cobh Ramblers of the 2nd tier play, and also where a young Roy Keane once plied his trade. I trust I'll be back to watch a game in both stadiums soon enough.
For now though, Drogheda beckoned, and I was looking forward to seeing a different part of Ireland for the very first time. I'd only be spending a night in Drogheda, but I'd planned to finally try a proper Irish Guinness between dropping my bag off and heading to the game, as well as getting some dinner and seeing what Drogheda had to offer.
I was sipping a Guiness fairly quickly after arrival given the inevitably Irish downpour that greeted me - huge shout out to Barlow's Railway Tavern for an excellent first proper Irish Guinness, as well as a lovely atmosphere. I then went to an American chain restaurant called Eddie Rocket's for some lunch, which certainly hit the spot. I hadn't even clocked it was 4th July either!
The accomodation was quite a walk away, but I wanted to get a proper sense of the city, so I walked the full 40-50 minutes to a collection of newbuilds on the edge of town, one of which I would be staying in. It did the job and served the purpose, but I never seem to learn my lesson of booking the cheapest available option without checking the location. There was also something eerie about the housing estate - a corporate emptiness, as if nobody actually spent any time in these buildings.
After some respite and a much needed shower, I gradually made my way toward the stadium, taking in an array of historical sites that seem to be hidden throughout the city. I'd already bought my ticket online with relative ease, though 20 Euro felt a little steep in comparison to some other Eurpean countries. I could only hope the game would be worth that outlay. In any case, I was just excited to be back watching football after a tough few months. 2025/26 was underway and I couldn't be happier at the sound of that first whistle.
As for the game, was it worth the wait? Well, to an extent. The atmopshere from the hosts (and the hundred or so travelling supporters) was superb, with the smell of the pyro in my nostrils, and an irresistably catchy Bob Marley chant still ringing in my ears back at the accomodation. The first half went by without too much going on, bar Galway having the ball in the net early, though it was ruled out for a clear offside.
Galway probably deserved to go in ahead at the break, but it remained goalless. The second half was somewhat more chaotic, as a flock of ravenous seagulls swooped down with such reckless abandon, I'm surprised one of them wasn't hit with the ball (one was very close to being hit). Even Drogheda's opener, a long-throw that fell kindly to Nigerian teenager Dare Kareem, couldn't stop these ravenous seagulls from trying to implement some terrifying kind of pressing game.
It would be fair to say conditions didn't make it a classic, though the Drogs did dominate the second half until the last ten, when Galway tried to force the issue a little more. At this point. Drogheda needed to dig deep, and dig deep they did, securing a huge win that puts them level with Bohemians, who could only draw against St Pats (0-0).
Elsewhere, I felt I should have gone to Derry instead, given that they'd won 7-2. Even watching Cork lose at Shelbourne (3-1) may have been more entertaining. That said, as an introduction to Irish football, it could have been a lot worse.
Perhaps the best part of the occasion was just seeing how many youngsters were in the stadium absolutely loving every minute. It's certainly easy to see why Irish football's stock has arguably never been higher.
Five things you didn't know about...Drogheda
1.) The club were founded in 1919, though the current iteration of it is actually a merger of that original 1919 club and Drogheda FC, founded in 1962. The merger took place in 1975 when the top division was expanded to twelve teams, with the club spending the majority of the 21st Century in the top division.
2.) Though the club won their only league title in 2007, they were close to extinction the following year due to financial issues. They were ultimately saved by various fundraisers, meaning the club could continue, though they did receive a ten point deduction.
3.) What links Drogheda United, Walsall, and Trabzonspor? Well, Walsall and Trabzonspor are both sister clubs to Drogheda, with the Drogs also donning a similar kit to the Turkish side, Whether Walsall and Trabzonspor are connected other than via Drogheda, I'm unsure.
4.) The name Drogheda roughly translates into English as 'bridge of the ford' in refrence to the River Boyne which flows through the town.
5.) There are many famous people from Drogheda, from Eurovision three-time winner Johnny Logan, to former Leeds United free-kick specialist Iain Harte. The town also boasts the likes of Pierce Brosnan, PDC player Keane Barry, Brighton striker Evan Ferguson, Steve Staunton, and a familiar face for any fellow Stevenage fans who read this blog, David McAllister.
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