LOI Central

After a league season like no other, Finn Harps avoid the drop, Shelbourne face into an anxious playoff against Longford and Sligo somehow finish fourth, despite losing half of their games, and are very likely to be playing European football next season. Dan has the week off but sends in his appraisal of each of the Premier Division teams' campaign, with Pat Fenlon in the house to talk about what...

Management is a big theme of this week's show. Drogheda manager Tim Clancy joins us after leading his side to promotion and explains the 24/7 commitment of dealing with the role and trying to fit real life around it. Alan Reynolds talks about his own transition and reflects on his dramatic year that started at Waterford, veered to Dundalk and has brought him to the Ireland U21 backroom team workin...

Shamrock Rovers are champions and we are joined by their manager Stephen Bradley for a wide ranging chat about Rovers plans for the future, the lessons of the recent past, Jack Byrne, the overall direction of Irish football and much more (22:00). We also look ahead to Dundalk's big date with Arsenal with the help of Lilywhites midfielder Greg Sloggett (1:23:30) and hear from the Drogheda camp afte...

We talk to Joe on this week's show, with Cork City legend and former assistant boss Joe Gamble following up on his request for a right to reply to last week's pod (35:00). He explains the struggles faced by himself and Neale Fenn, the budgetary complications, recruitment lessons and the logic behind Daire O'Connor's abrupt exit. Prior to that, we look ahead to Dundalk's big European date with Mold...

There's a Wicklow theme to this week's show with Arklow's Daire O'Connor giving us the lowdown on his abrupt exit from Cork City, his relationship with Neale Fenn and his plans for the future (10:55). We then hear from Bray Wanderers boss Gary Cronin on their promotion charge, his early season fears, and the process of rebuilding the club after a turbulent era(52:00). The lads also discuss Rovers'...

We're bringing people back together on this week's show as former team-mates Robbie Benson and Stephen Folan reflect on days gone by at Dundalk and their current missions with St Patrick's Athletic and Finn Harps respectively. Stephen travelled around the world in 2020 whereas Robbie was stuck at home during lockdown but they were both grateful for the return of the League of Ireland for their own...

‘We didn’t start this year with plans of interviewing a Faroese football expert come September but this is 2020 and we look ahead to Dundalk’s big date with Ki Klaksvik with the help of Kasper Neesgaard who tells us what we can expect from the underdogs (19:00). Daniel Kelly gives us a flavour of the mood in the Dundalk camp (11:30). We then go back in time and also look to the future with the hel...

It’s a Graham themed show this week with two for the price of one. Graham Gartland and Graham Cummins crossed paths in Scotland and they are reunited on the show to discuss their careers in football, European experiences, the Scottish culture, adjusting to becoming an older player and all of the challenges that come with it. We also discuss Cork’s struggles, Rovers ambitions, Dundalk’s European op...

It’s a role reversal this week as Johnny is on the working beat and Dan is traversing the country ahead of a historic Europa League tie in Tallaght. We hear from Stephen Bradley, Jack Byrne and Graham Burke ahead of Shamrock Rovers v AC Milan and Italian based Irishman Mark Doyle gives us the lowdown on the guests. We also discuss Dundalk’s European date in Andorra, John Sheridan’s Waterford farew...

This surreal season is another twist in the lengthy League of Ireland careers of our two guests, both of whom have been around the block New Galway United manager John Caulfield joins the show to discuss his fresh start, the end of his Cork City adventure and coping with the likes of Johnny Ward. Ronan Finn discusses a hard fought derby win, the experience he hopes to bring to the title-run in and...

After a week with a news cycle dominated by European ties, Stephen Kenny's new dawn and bizarre goings on at Dundalk, we welcome two guests with some experience of all of the above. Mark Rossiter and Ciaran Kilduff discuss the Kenny factor, what Dundalk have lost, and how the Shamrock Rovers players will feel about their AC Milan opportunity. Killer also discusses life at Shelbourne and shared exp...

We're back after a week of high drama and Paul Corry joins Johnny and Dan to pick through Dundalk's journey from Perth to Italy, the lessons of the European results so far and what we can expect from Rovers and Bohs tomorrow. Dan talks with Andre Wright about Bohs' trip to Hungary, Johnny wrestles with his emotions around John Caulfield's Galway arrival and we hear snippets from the League of Irel...

Dundalk's Champions League campaign ended abruptly at the first hurdle and Johnny and Dan pick through the bones to ask what their exit says about where the club stands right now and where they go from here. We also have a lengthy chat with Alan Bennett about Cork's upturn in fortunes, the buzz of watching youngsters develop on their potential and the dynamic of being a 38-year-old veteran in a yo...

This may be a year of restricted travel, but there's a global feel to this week's show. Sligo Rovers' South African born New Zealand international Ryan De Vries tells us about Japan, love, life, his roundabout route to The Showgrounds and his uncertain future (54:13). Conor McCormack reflects on almost a decade in the LOI, his Italian adventures and his favourite European experiences ahead of Derr...

We've a busy show after a lively return to action. Dundalk's (sort of) new signing Dave McMillan joins us to discuss returning home from Scotland and opens up on the lessons of his time away and the differences between football in the two countries. Pain loving Gary Deegan talks to Dan in Donegal and we hear from Declan Devine on Derry's up and down resumption. There's also FAI politics fatigue, s...

The LOI is back and LOI Weekly is weekly again. With our new sponsor, Lottoland, coming on board, we're returning to our audio roots for the rest of a season which has turned from a marathon into a sprint. Georgie Kelly joins us to discuss his move from Dundalk to St Pat's and Daire O'Connor (Cork), Rob Cornwall (Bohs) and Luke Byrne (Shelbourne) share their enthusiasm about the short road. Johnny...

We're back for another double header length episode, and two guests who had very different plans in mind at the start of the year. Ruaidhri Higgins joins us after the mid pandemic move from Dundalk's coaching team to Ireland's backroom staff and explains his special relationship with Stephen Kenny, the specifics of his new brief and why he realised early in his career that his top level ambitions...

We're still in limbo about whether the League of Ireland 2020 season will return and the FAI's interim deputy CEO Niall Quinn is central to the attempts to try and make it happen. He joined the lads to discuss the health challenges, the financial risks, and the search for support to remove the concerns of clubs who feel they won't be able to afford a behind closed doors return. We hear about UEFA'...

We're back with another bumper show, longer than your average FAI Cup final with the standard extra-time and penalty shootout, to pass away some lockdown time. Dan explains the thinking behind his Irish Indo list of the top 50 League of Ireland players 2000-2020, with Johnny offering his brief take on each selection before we bring in our special guests. Conan Byrne runs through the results of his...

‘It might be a while before we are on the road again but we were joined for our latest lockdown production by Eoin Doyle who gave us an entertaining account of his journey through the League of Ireland en route to his career in England. Bus trips with Paul Cook and Pat Scully feature heavily and he also explains why plans to move home are on the backburner for now. We also catch up with referees P...

It's the LOI Weekly Easter special which means a feast of words about Stephen Kenny's appointment as Ireland manager. We hear a portion of Kenny's virtual press conference (17:58), break down some of the commentary around what his promotion represents and mull over how things might go before speaking to three people who were given a front seat view for sections of his journey. Alan Murphy reflects...

We don't know what the future holds but we got through the past and the present on this week's show. Dundalk manager Vinny Perth joined us on the line to discuss the challenges presented by the Covid-19 crisis and the encouraging response of the club's owners. He also helped the lads down memory lane as they picked their teams of the 21st century - with terms and conditions that complicated the se...

No make-up, no lingering looks to camera, no Facebook likes. The coronavirus has sent LOI Weekly back to its roots with an audio only Skype special broadcast from designated bunkers around Dublin. We discuss the serious business of what the Covid-19 crisis means for Irish football and the uncertainty over what happens next. We hear Niall Quinn discuss the LOI's position and managers Tim Clancy and...

It's week five and Johnny phones in from Cheltenham, a sporting event that is continuing uninterrupted in spite of Covid-19, but it's unlikely that we will be saying the same about the League of Ireland. Shane Dawson takes the chair to discuss with Dan about what it all means for the league after the first FAI meeting on the subject. We break down what it could all mean. Ger O'Brien joins the lads...

It's episode four. Or episode phwoar as we digest the Jordan Flores wonder strike and a thrilling game in Tallaght that showcased all that is good about the league. Pat Fenlon joins the lads to digest what the game says about Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk and what the gap between the top two and the rest says about the league today. We also discuss pitch battles, politics and Jack Byrne's royal seal...