Dervin driven to repay faith as Dundalk return to Premier Division

Few Dundalk FC players boast a redemption arc quite like Aodh Dervin’s. Alongside The Lilywhites, the midfielder is back where he believes he belongs — in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

Signed midway through the 2024 season by then-manager Jon Daly, Dervin featured in the final 12 matches of a campaign that ended in relegation, bringing Dundalk’s 16-year stay in the Premier Division to a close.

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By his own admission, the Longford native felt he could have offered more that season. Despite relegation and well-documented financial difficulties at the club, Dervin chose to stay on. His commitment was rewarded when new manager Ciaran Kilduff — who replaced Daly — named him vice-captain.

It was a gamble, and perhaps a last-chance saloon for the 26-year-old, who had previously struggled to settle in the League of Ireland after spells with Longford Town, Shelbourne, and Galway United.

But it proved a gamble worth taking. Dervin became a central figure in Dundalk’s promotion push, capping the campaign by being named the club’s Player of the Year.

Now back in the Premier Division, the fan favourite is determined to do everything in his power to keep Dundalk there. Their 36-game survival bid begins this Friday night with a daunting trip to Tallaght Stadium to face Shamrock Rovers (kick-off, 8pm).

“That was the big thing about staying because I felt that if you go, it’s the easy way out,” he said while speaking at the club’s season launch. “It was an awful year in every sense — the year before — but it wasn’t just the stuff off the pitch. We weren’t good enough on the pitch.

“There was something about the group last year. We all believed. We were a very close group, and we all knew what we wanted, and it was very clear to us, and it was just up to us then. We had a clear plan straight away.

“You don’t really look back too much, but when you’re looking back, you’re like, ‘Jesus, I made the right decision to stay.’ It would have been easy to just say, ‘Oh, leave,’ but I wasn’t good enough that year anyways, and for me to just walk away like that, I wouldn’t have been able to live with it.”

Seven new signings could make their league debuts for Dundalk on Friday, bringing with them much-needed Premier Division experience to complement a core of players, including midfielder Dervin, who already know the club inside out.

“It’s like they’ve been here a long time because they’ve just bedded straight into the group,” Dervin said of the new arrivals. “Obviously, there was still a lot of us from last year, and some moved on, but the lads that came in, they’ve been brilliant. They’ve just taken to it.

“They know about the place, they know about the history of Dundalk, how big it is. Even when you’re told how big it is, I don’t think you realise until you actually come to it, and I think they’re seeing that now.

“There’s a few that are living in town, so they’re seeing it as well, but they’re loving it. They’re settling really quickly, and we’re all just ready to go next Friday.”