The SSE Airtricity League is set to return to competitive action as and from 31^st July following a ruling made by the NLEC (National League Executive Committee) today. Shamrock Rovers welcome the opportunity to have our teams back up and fully running with both our Premier and First Division teams having been back in training for the past couple of weeks.

Head Coach Stephen Bradley gave his views following today’s ruling:

“I’m happy that we finally have a date, that we have something to work towards now and happy that we can get football back on.

“Everyone is fit; we have one or two little knocks, impact injuries but nothing serious. Everybody is training hard and looking forward to getting back. Now that we have a date it is great for the players because they are now training with an end in sight.

“We have been training like we would normally and the players have worked extremely hard. We obviously had to change how we approach training in things like making sure that sanitising and temperatures are right but other than that everything has been normal for us.

“We are ready to go, we’re training hard and we are delighted there’s been a date put out (for a restart). We are looking forward to it”

The option chosen by the NLEC is one that Shamrock Rovers have supported and stood by. The club are satisfied with today’s outcome and will begin making preparations for hosting games at Tallaght Stadium.

In the coming days, Shamrock Rovers hope to share more news with our fans detailing match fixtures and updates around fan access to games whether it will be possible to attend in person within Covid restrictions and/or through live match streaming options that may become available.

For now, the good news is that we will be back on July 31st and we look forward to picking up from where we left off in March.

If you would like to register your interest here to get further updates, click here and we will contact you once information on your selected option(s) becomes available.

Statement from NLEC:

The National League Executive Committee has ruled that the SSE Airtricity League will resume from July 31st with two rounds of matches in total, including games played to date, and promotion and relegation as scheduled at the start of the 2020 season. 

Following a meeting at Abbotstown this morning, the NLEC has written to all clubs informing them that it has decided on Option one of the four options available for a resumption of the SSE Airtricity League. This decision has now gone to the Board for approval,

Option one maintains the current position with the League to resume as planned with two rounds of fixtures, 18 in total, and counting results of matches played to date.  One club will be automatically promoted to the Premier Division from the First Division, with one club automatically relegated.

A Play-Off will take place between the ninth placed Premier Division club and the winner of the First Division play-off series involving the teams that finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the First Division. The winner of the Play-Off will play in the Premier Division of the SSE Airtricity League in the 2021 season.

The SSE Airtricity League is set to resume on July 31st and fixtures will be announced in due course.