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.NameDate of BirthPositionDebut seasonLeague appearancesGoals1 25 September 1981 GK 2015 31 02 11 July 1991 DF 2014 32 13 4 November 1986 DF 2013 27 64 7 March 1991 DF 2013 33 15 27 December 1990 MF 2012 30 06 15 January 1986 MF 2013 24 27 10 August 1992 MF 2014 33 98 22 February 1993 MF 2012 33 39 14 December 1988 FW 2014 33 1210 21 December 1987 MF 2015 33 511 9 April 1990 FW 2013 14 012 Shane Grimes 9 March 1987 DF 2005 4 014 17 April 1988 DF 2013 32 415 22 July 1993 DF 2015 11 016 29 September 1988 FW 2015 12 417 17 July 1991 MF 2013 32 2519 1 May 1994 FW 2015 6 021 Darren Meenan 1 October 1991 MF 2013 28 322 15 September 1986 GK 2014 3 028 8 September 1997 MF 2013 2 0
Competitions President's Cup Source:
Premier Division
FAI Cup Source: Second round
Third round
Quarter Final
Semi-final
Final
League Cup Source: Second round
Quarter Final
Semi-final
Leinster Senior Cup Source: Fourth round
Quarter Final
Semi-final
Final
Europe Champions League Source: Second qualifying round
BATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.
Awards Player of the Month MonthNationalityPlayerReference March David McMillan April Richie Towell May Daryl Horgan September Richie Towell November Richie Towell
PFAI Player of the Year PlayerReference Richie Towell
FAI League of Ireland Player of the Year PlayerReference Richie Towell
SWAI Personality of the Year PersonReference Richie Towell
RTÉ Sports Team of the Year TeamReference Dundalk F.C.
References