Dundalk set to begin and end the year against UCD

Dundalk FC will open their 2023 SSE Airtricity League campaign against UCD on Friday, February 17th at Oriel Park, with a 7.45pm kick-off time pencilled in for that date.

Hoping for an improvement on last season’s third-place finish, Stephen O’Donnell’s side begin their season with a home match against The Students, who only avoided relegation by virtue of a 1-0 play-off success over Waterford at Richmond Park a month ago.

The Lilywhites defeated UCD twice at home in 2022, the first of which was a 2-0 win in April, before following that up with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the beginning of July.  

However, The Students took four points off Dundalk on their home patch, coming from behind to draw 2-2 in June, and done the same to dramatically win 3-2 in September.

The full fixture list, released last week, sees The Lilywhites travel to Dalymount Park for their first away match of the campaign against Bohemians on Friday, February 24th.

Dalymount is also where Dundalk played their first fixture on the road in 2022, coming from behind twice to rescue a 2-2 draw, while goalkeeper Tadgh Ryan’s own goal was all that separated the teams when they faced each other again at the same venue in August.

The first Louth derby of the year is currently scheduled to take place on St Patrick’s Day at Head in the Game Park, with a 7.45pm kick-off, although The Democrat understands logistics surrounding the time and date of that fixture could result in a rearrangement.

Dundalk were twice beaten 1-0 in Drogheda last term, but recorded respective 4-1 and 2-0 wins at Oriel, where the sides will face each other once again on Friday, April 28th.

A first dual with champions Shamrock Rovers takes place on Friday, March 31st at Oriel, where the teams played out a scoreless draw almost exactly a year beforehand, before Robbie Benson’s late goal secured what was a memorable 1-0 win for Dundalk in June.

And no fewer than six of Dundalk’s fixtures have been scheduled to be played on Monday nights, with three of those taking place away from home, where an old rivalry with Cork City will be rekindled at Turner’s Cross on April 10th, while The Lilywhites also face further Monday trips to UCD and Derry City on May 1st and 15th respectively.

Dundalk are due to finish the campaign in the same fashion they open it, with a home encounter against UCD on Friday, November 3rd – a game that also kicks off at 7.45pm.

As was the case in 2022, all games next year will be streamed live on LOITV, with the option to purchase season passes set to return after the concept was controversially scrapped by the FAI last term, meaning supporters were charged €7 to watch each game.

On the pitch, Dundalk have been dealt a hammer blow, with news emerging that transfer target Ben McCormack has penned a new one-year contract with St Patrick’s Athletic.

The Lilywhites were hopeful of tying down a deal to bring the 19-year-old midfielder to Oriel but have missed out on a player that was handed his debut by O’Donnell in 2020.

With options this side of the channel limited, the Dundalk head coach has been exploring the UK market, with a view to formally adding fresh faces to his squad after January 1st.

One player that won’t be considered, however, is former loanee Steven Bradley, who has departed Hibernian to move permanently to fellow Scottish Premiership side Livingston, where it is understood the 20-year-old winger had been training for several weeks.