St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional Irish association football club based in

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchi ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, that plays in the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

. Founded in May 1929, they played originally in

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park () is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since ...

but they moved to their current ground of

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

in 1939. St Patrick's Athletic have won many trophies in Irish Club Football, including eight League Titles, the fifth most in Irish Football, as well as five

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

s and four League Cups. The club graduated through the ranks of the Leinster Senior League and duly took their place in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

in 1951, and won the Championship at their first attempt. The club's glory years came in the 1950s and 1990s when they won 6 of their 8 league titles. The club also have the record for never having been

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

from the Premier Division. The club play in red and white colours and their nicknames include the ''Saints'', ''Supersaints'' and ''Pats''. The Saints also have a lot of Dublin Derby games with the likes of Shelbourne,

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

, and

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

History

Leinster Senior League years

During the late 1940s and 1950s, St Pats played in the Leinster Senior League. During this period they won the league title on six occasions. This included four successive titles between 1947 and 1948 and 1950–51. In 1947–48 St Pats completed a treble after also winning both the

FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup (), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate association football clubs from the ...

and Leinster Senior Cup. The 1948–49 season would see St Pats win a Leinster Senior League / FAI Intermediate Cup double. In 1950–51 a young

Shay Gibbons Shay Gibbons (19 May 1929 – 9 June 2006) was a Republic of Ireland international footballer who played for several League of Ireland clubs in the 1950s, most notably St Patrick's Athletic. He was League of Ireland Top Scorer on three occas ...

helped St Pats win the Leinster Senior League title for the fourth time. After St Pats first team joined the League of Ireland in 1951–52, their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

won two further Leinster Senior League titles in 1955–56 and 1956–57.

1950–1960

Entering the League of Ireland

In 1951–52 the club was admitted, along with Cork side

Evergreen United Cork Celtic F.C., originally Evergreen United F.C., was an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1951 and 1979 and played their home games at Turners Cross. In 1974, they were League of Ireland champio ...

, to the

. St Pats made an immediate impact, winning the league championship at their first attempt. Two more league championship successes followed in 1954–55 and 1955–56. The club had to wait until 1959 before their first

success, repeating the feat in 1961. Despite several appearances in the final since 1961, it took the Saints till 2014 to win their third Many of the Pats players of that golden era are still recalled fondly today—Ginger O'Rourke, Harry Boland ('The Legend', 1926–2000), Jimmy 'Timber' Cummins (a cousin of one of the founders—Bart Cummins) Jimmy 'Growler' Cummins (a brother of Bart Cummins) Irish international

, Ronnie Whelan Snr. and Willie Peyton are players who contributed greatly during this era.

1960–1980

St Pats struggled throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s with only the odd cup final or young star emerging to brighten things for long-suffering Pats fans. Among those players to emerge was Noel Campbell. Campbell spent a number of years with St Pats (gaining the first of his Irish caps) before moving to

SC Fortuna Köln SC Fortuna Köln is a German association football club based in the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. History The club was formed as on 21 February 1948 through the merger of three local sides: Victoria Köln 1911 (one of two clubs to ...

where he would play 8 seasons. Perhaps the brightest star to play for St Pats was Paul McGrath. McGrath was signed by Saints manager Charlie Walker from junior side Dalkey United. Within a year he had won the PFAI Player of the Year award and earned himself a move to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. The World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks also played one match for St Pats, making him by far the brightest star to turn out for the club in 1977.

1980–1990

The appointment of Brian Kerr as manager in 1986 was a major turning point in the fortunes of the club. Kerr worked on limited resources to create a team capable of challenging the best. At the end of the 1988–89 season, St Pats left

for what the board of directors called "a short time" while redevelopment work was done. 1989 saw a joint St Patrick's Athletic &

side play a friendly against the Libya national team in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

, drawing 1–1 in what was a highly controversial friendly during

Colonel Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...

's reign as leader of Libya. The year 1990 saw the Saints draw 0–0 with the

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

national team in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

and another 0–0 draw with the

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

national football team in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, while in April of the following year they beat

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

2–1 at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

, leaving the club with an undefeated record against international sides and without conceding a goal.

1990–1999

Playing in

Harold's Cross Harold's Cross () is an affluent urban village and inner suburb on the south side of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in the postal district List of Dublin postal districts, D6W. The River Poddle runs through it, though largely in an underg ...

, Kerr's blend of young players ( Paul Osam,

Curtis Fleming Curtis Fleming (born 8 October 1968) is an Irish professional football manager and former player, who is the assistant head coach of League One club Charlton Athletic. Fleming played right back and won international honours for the Republic o ...

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland title ...

John McDonnell John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington ...

) and experienced campaigners disregarded by other clubs ( Damian Byrne,

Dave Henderson David Lee Henderson (July 21, 1958 – December 27, 2015), nicknamed "Hendu", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletic ...

) won the club's first league championship in 34 years on Easter Monday 1990. Most Irish football commentators expected the young Saints to dominate Irish football for some time. A series of takeover attempts saw the club thrust into turmoil and Kerr was forced to break up the team. In the summer of 1992, the club were hours away from extinction before a group of local investors raised £82,000 to save the club. Having spent four years in Harold's Cross the club returned to a new look Richmond Park in 1993, their spiritual home in Dublin's Inchicore. Brian Kerr began the task of creating a winning setup once again. With the aid of a newly appointed Chief executive, and former player,

Pat Dolan Patrick Dolan (born 20 September 1967) is an Irish former football player, manager, and executive. He is also a former soccer analyst on RTÉ Sport. He is a FIFA-registered players' agent and has represented a number of players based in the En ...

and by the club's new chairman, Tim O'Flaherty, the league trophy returned to Richmond Park in 1996. A new generation of footballing heroes emerged in Pats colours with greats such as

Eddie Gormley Eddie Gormley (born 23 October 1968) is an Irish football coach and former player who manages Cabinteely. Early career Educated at Cabinteely Community School where he played for the School Junior & Senior teams, and also playing schoolboy fo ...

, Paul Osam and Ricky O'Flaherty together with exciting young stars such as

Colin Hawkins Colin Joseph Hawkins (born 17 August 1977) is an Irish retired footballer and current manager of Shamrock Rovers B. Hawkins was a central defender with Shamrock Rovers along with a number of other clubs in the League of Ireland and cross-chann ...

and

Trevor Molloy Trevor Molloy (born 14 April 1977 in Dublin) is an Irish former professional footballer. He played in the League of Ireland for Shamrock Rovers (2 seasons), Athlone Town, St Patrick's Athletic (2 seasons), Bohemians and Shelbourne. He also pla ...

thousands flocked to Inchicore for Friday nights under the floodlights in Richmond Park. When Kerr resigned to take up the Director of Coaching job with the FAI, the good work was continued by

and then

Liam Buckley Liam Buckley (born 14 April 1960), is an Irish former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland national team. Playing career Buckley began his League of Ireland career wi ...

installed as manager. The glory continued as further league championships were secured in 1998 and 1999 which led to European qualification and a creditable 0–0 draw with the famous

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

, the club lost the return leg in Tolka Park, Dublin but the away draw was a major boost for Irish football against such a famous club in the world game. The club, however, suffered a humiliating setback in the same competition one year later when they lost 10–0 on aggregate to

Zimbru Chişinău Zimbru is the Romanian word for the European bison. Zimbru may also refer to: * FC Zimbru Chișinău, a football club from Moldova * FC Zimbru-2 Chișinău, the second team of the club mentioned above * Zimbru Stadium, the official stadium of the ...

2000–2004

Into the new century, the success continued. St Pats won the Leinster Senior Cup in 2000/01. Controversy dogged the club in the 2001/02 season due to player registration irregularities. The club had 9 points deducted due to fielding an ineligible player (Paul Marney) in their first 3 games of the season, but this decision was revoked upon arbitration, on 22 March 2002. They then had 15 points deducted for playing Charles Mbabazi Livingstone in the first 5 matches of the season in spite of not having registered him until 12 September 2001. An FAI arbitration panel rejected the Saints' appeal against the point deduction and Shelbourne finished the season as league champions. St Pats disagreed with the decision so much that they claim they won the league in 2001–02, as they would have beaten Shelbourne to the title without the points deduction. St. Patrick's however finished third and would take their place in the following season's

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

. That season also saw St Patrick's come close to merging with fellow League of Ireland club St. Francis. This move was greeted with anger by club supporters and although St. Francis went out of business (and therefore the league) the merger never happened. New club chairman Andrew O'Callaghan was appointed in the summer of 2002 and has worked to modernize the club and face the new challenges of

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

licensing and ground development. St Pats made Irish footballing history in 2002 by becoming the first club to progress in the

with a victory over Croatian team

NK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Supersport HNL, of which they have been members ...

over two legs—the club were eventually knocked out of the competition only on away goals to

KAA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (; English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Gent or by their nickname ' (), is a Belgian professional sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football tea ...

of Belgium.

Johnny McDonnell Reign (2004–2009)

The club marked its 75th anniversary in 2004, also in 2004, a change of management happened with former favourite Johnny McDonnell taking over the helm at the club. In 2005 the club were forced to investigate the idea of sharing a new stadium in

Tallaght Tallaght ( ; , ) is a southwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The central village area was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to th ...

with

in order to comply with the FAI's wish for Dublin clubs to ground share. The move was met with furious protests by the club's supporters and a group of concerned fans formed a committee under the banner of 'Pats 4 Richmond' . The committee was set up at a public meeting called in the Red Cow Hotel by lifelong supporters and former Director Dermot O'Hara. At this first meeting a committee was elected and a letter was draughted and delivered by hand the following day to the Clubs Board of Directors by newly elected Chairman of Pats 4 Richmond Dermot O'Hara. The letter contained demands for the Club to cease all negotiations regarding any move to Tallaght and to declare its intention to stay in Inchicore and commit itself to the development of Richmond Park as the Clubs permanent home and to cease all further negotiations regarding their planned move to Tallaght. Momentum quickly gathered for the Pats 4 Richmond campaign as the media and many other clubs in the league came in behind the fans demands to save their spiritual home in Inchicore. Subsequent public meetings were help in St Michaels Community Centre on a monthly basis and the pressure was mounting on the Club. At these highly charged meetings fans were briefed on the progress of the campaign. A petition was launched and over 5,0000 signatures were collected demanding the club cease any further plans to sell Richmond Park or to join a groundshare with Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght. Finally in July the Club relented and signalled their commitment to stay in Richmond Park. A lot of this was down to the fact that a new owner Garrett Kelliher had just bought the Club and would make a commitment to develop a proper stadium in Inchicore. Garrett Kelliher began this project by purchasing the Richmond House pub (also known as McDowell's) for use as an official clubhouse. To date the club is still in negotiations with the local council to construct a new stadium in Inchicore. The club lost yet another FAI Cup Final in December 2006 and their hunt for their third victory in the elusive competition continues. In early 2007 the club was purchased by a wealthy property magnate Garrett Kelleher. After a number of months of negotiations, Kelleher finally announced himself as Chairman of St Patrick's Athletic on 19 July 2007. One of his first acts on taking over St Pats was to appoint ex-manager Brian Kerr as director of football. It was widely reported in Irish newspapers that Kelleher was preparing to spend €50;million on upgrading St Pats' Richmond Park home.
During the 2007 season Pats were neck and neck with

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

for the title, but Pats slipped away and

eventually finished up as champions.
It was the same again for the 2008 season with Pats battling up the top with

for the title. Also, this year Pats were in Europe because their second-place finish in 2007 allowed them to qualify for the

2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K. (football), F ...

. During their European run St Pats progressed through two rounds of the UEFA Cup beating JFK Olimps Riga and Elfsborg but the run came to an end when they lost to

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

in the First Round proper. Pats also lost out to

for the league title.

Jeff Kenna season: European run and domestic struggle (2009)

For the 2009 season Pats replaced Johnny McDonnell with

Jeff Kenna Jeffrey Jude Kenna (born 27 August 1970) is an Irish football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a defender from 1989 until 2009, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City. He was ...

in January 2009. He didn't have the best of starts with a 3–0 home defeat to his former club

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

. He was immediately put under pressure when a bad run of results put them into a relegation battle. Despite the poor league form, once again Pats had another European run in the Europa League again progressing through two rounds of the Europa League, thus becoming only the second League of Ireland club (after Cork City in 2004 and 2005) to achieve such progress in two consecutive European campaigns. Pats this time won games against Valletta FC and Russian Premier League side Krylia Sovetov to reach the play-off round where they were defeated by

FC Steaua București Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of th ...

. In September 2009 with Pats struggling, Kenna resigned and was replaced for two games by Maurice O'Driscoll. Pete Mahon then took over until the end of the season and avoided relegation, winning two must-win games in the final two weeks of the season, away to

and at home to

rivals

Pete Mahon years (2009–2011)

Pete Mahon was appointed as manager for the 2010 season with John Gill as his assistant. The Super Saints reached their first

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football (soccer), football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from ...

final, where they met local rivals

after overcoming

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

6–2 over two legs. They lost the final at the

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

1–0, however. The Saints were knocked out of the

by archrivals

in a semi-final replay at

, after knocking

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

, Belgrove and Sporting Fingal out. They were near the top of the table for the majority of the season; however, fell off somewhat near the end and finished in mid-table. The demise of Sporting Fingal saw the Saints take their European place for the 2011 season. Mahon led a successful

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

campaign, knocking out

Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja (, ), commonly known as ÍBV, is an Icelandic multi-sports district association from Vestmannaeyjar off the south coast of Iceland. It was founded in 1903 as Knattspyrnufélag Vestmannaeyja by Björgúlfur Ólafss ...

from

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

FC Shakhter Karagandy Football Club Shakhter (), commonly referred to as FC Shakhter Karagandy ( ), is a professional football club based in Karagandy, Kazakhstan. They have been members of the Kazakhstan Premier League since its foundation in 1992, but fell of to t ...

from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

before eventually being knocked out in the third qualifying round by Ukrainian side

FC Karpaty Lviv Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. In 2020–21 the club was reorganized and changed owner. During that period there existed two clubs with the same name, one at professional level competitio ...

. The Saints won the 2011 Leinster Senior Cup after beating

rivals

2–0 at

. The Saints' bid to end their 50-year drought of winning the

came to an end, after knocking Crumlin United,

Waterford United Waterford Football Club formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930. Originally the ...

and

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

out, the Saints faced old rivals Shelbourne in the semi-final. The Saints drew 1–1 at

Tolka Park Tolka Park () is an Ireland, Irish association football ground located in the Northside Dublin, north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, Dublin, Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Irelan ...

, failing to make use of their one-man advantage for the whole second half. The game went to a replay at Richmond Park and things were going well when David McMillan opened the scoring for the Saints, but goalkeeper Gary Rogers was extremely harshly sent off early on and Shels went on to win, 3–1. Similar to the 2010 season, the Saints were near the top of the table for the most part of the season in 2011, but their title challenge petered out towards the end of the season and the Saints finished fourth meaning they would participate in

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualifiers in the 2012 season.

Return of Liam Buckley: Return of success (2012–2018)

The Saints decided not to renew manager Pete Mahon's contract for the 2012 season, appointing former player and manager

to the job, giving him a two-year contract with former player and assistant manager at the club, Trevor Croly as his assistant. Buckley refurbished the squad by bringing in fourteen and getting rid of sixteen. Among the new signings were six

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

players, notably Chris Forrester, Christy Fagan, and

Ger O'Brien Gerard O'Brien (born 2 July 1984) is an Irish former professional footballer who played in the League of Ireland as a defender. He is the current Director of Football at St Patrick's Athletic, who he spent 5 seasons playing with. His former c ...

. Meanwhile, six of those not retained by Pats went in the opposite direction, an indication of the change in circumstances at both clubs. Buckley immediately introduced a more attractive brand of football than was witnessed under Mahon, whose sides had generally punched above their weight but ultimately lacked the quality to seriously challenge for the title. Pats started the season off well with the team playing wonderful football and being unbeaten in its first six games, which included the game against

which they demonstrated their wonderful football brilliantly in a 5–1 win over their fierce rivals. Buckley took the reins of the club knowing of the European expectations at the club and he didn't disappoint, managing his side to a third qualifying-round place after knocking both

and

NK Široki Brijeg Nogometni klub Široki Brijeg () is a professional association football club from the city of Široki Brijeg, that is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, Široki Brijeg plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina and plays ...

out after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, to earn a tie with German powerhouse

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

, who knocked the Saints out in the third qualifying round. Buckley's side finished 3rd in

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

, 6 points off champions

. He also guided his side to the 2012 FAI Cup Final, the club's first game at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

, but lost 3–2 in

to Derry City and extending the Saints'

-winning drought to 52 years. The Saints then endured a tumultuous pre-season, losing Sean O'Connor, James Chambers, and Barry Murphy, as well as Buckley's number two, Trevor Croly, to rivals

. Crucially, though, Pats held on to a number of other players who had been strongly linked with Rovers, including Chris Forrester and Ian Bermingham, and added some quality to the first XI in the form of

Killian Brennan Killian Brennan (born 31 January 1984) is an Irish retired footballer who played as a midfielder in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Career Early career Noted for his wing play and ability to fire in accurate crosses, Brennan was signe ...

(who would go on to win both the

PFAI Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Irish Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer the Lea ...

and FAI National League Player of the Year awards), and

Conan Byrne Conan Byrne (born 10 July 1985) is an Irish retired Association football, footballer. Byrne began his career with University College Dublin A.F.C., UCD, with whom he played three seasons. He later spent six seasons with St Patrick's Athletic F ...

(who contributed an impressive 9 league goals during the season). St Patrick's Athletic clinched their ninth

title on 13 October 2013 after a 2–0 win against holders

with two games to spare. They lifted the league trophy a week later at home to Derry City on 18 October and two days later played the 2013 Leinster Senior Cup Final against

, losing, 1–0, at

. The 2014 season started off with silverware for the Saints as they beat

1–0 in the inaugural

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's ...

, with

Keith Fahey Keith Declan Fahey (born 15 January 1983) is an Irish former footballer, who played most of his career with League of Ireland side St Patrick's Athletic, as well as English club Birmingham City. He played predominantly as a central midfielder, ...

scoring a brilliant volley into the top corner from 25 yards clinching the trophy. The club crashed out of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

at the first hurdle in the second round, bowing out to

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

. In the first leg, they were denied a famous away win as Legia equalised in injury time to claim a 1–1 draw. An injury-plagued Pats side lost the second leg 5–0 at

, conceding 3 in the last 10 minutes. On 9 September 2014, a team of second-string players and young Saints beat

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of I ...

2–1 away from home to win the 2014 Leinster Senior Cup with Sam Verdon and Jack Bayly scoring. The season ended in a perfect manner for Pats as they won the

after a 53-year wait with a 2–0 win over Derry City at the

, with Christy Fagan immortalising himself with the club's fans by scoring a brace. Fagan also won the 2014 League of Ireland Golden Boot with 20 goals as well as being voted the PFAI Player of the Year for 2014. On 19 September 2015, the Saints won their third

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

, beating

on penalties at

Eamonn Deacy Park Eamonn Deacy Park, formerly known as Terryland Park, is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in the Terryland district of Galway. It is owned by the Galway Football Association and is the home ground of both Galwa ...

following a 0–0 draw after extra time, with young goalkeeper Conor O'Malley saving Andy O'Connell's final spot-kick to win the cup. In 2016 the Saints knocked

Jeunesse Esch Jeunesse Esch (full name ''Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette'') is a professional football club based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

out of the

on away goals before being narrowly beaten 2–1 on aggregate to Dinamo Minsk of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

in the second qualifying round. Pats finished 7th in the 2016 season, meaning they would be without European football for the first time in 7 years for 2017. They did, however, successfully retain their

crown, beating

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

4–1 in the final at the

Markets Field The Markets Field is a UEFA category two stadium in Garryowen, Limerick, Ireland with a capacity of around 3,500. Formerly the home of Limerick FC, it is currently the home ground of Treaty United. The ground has hosted underage internatio ...

with two goals from

and one each for Jamie McGrath and Graham Kelly. The 2017 season was the first in a change of the

layout, meaning the bottom three teams in the Premier Division would be relegated in order to make the league a 10-team division rather than a 12-team one. The season turned out to be a struggle for the Saints and they sat bottom of the table at the halfway point. The mid-season signings including fan favourite

, former

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

midfielder

Owen Garvan Owen William Garvan (born 29 January 1988) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Garvan began his career in his native Ireland where he played for Home Farm as a schoolboy. He earned a move to England with Ipsw ...

and particularly

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

centre back Jordi Balk, proved to be pivotal as the club went on to win 6 of their last 11 games after picking up just 3 wins in their first 21 games of the season. They went into the last day of the season in need of a point away to Derry City, which they earned via a 1–1 draw with a goal from

keeping their record of never having been relegated intact. The following season was a great improvement on the field as Pats sat in a European place at the halfway point in the league but later went on their worst losing streak in the club's history as they lost 8 games in a row, scoring just 3 goals along the way. They then managed to pick up their form, winning 4 out of 6 games but on 22 September 2018 the Saints suffered a 3–1 loss at home to a weakened

side with several of their under-19 side playing among the 11 changes to their previous starting 11. This turned out to be

's last game in charge of the club as it was announced on 25 September that Buckley had left his post by mutual consent after a 7-year spell in charge of the club. Assistant manager to Buckley and former club captain

took caretaker charge for the last 5 games of the season, the first of those being the Leinster Senior Cup Final which they lost on penalties against Shelbourne at

. He also saw out a draw away to champions

and had an aggregate score of 9–0 against

and Derry City as the club ended the season on a high note in 5th place.

The Harry Kenny months (October 2018 – August 2019)

On 24 October 2018 it was announced that Harry Kenny (who had been assistant manager in the 2013 league-winning campaign) would be the new manager of the club, signing a two-year contract. His new signings ahead of the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

were Gary Shaw, David Webster, Ciaran Kelly,

Cian Coleman Cian Coleman (born 1 January 1997) is an Irish professional footballer that plays for League of Ireland First Division club Cobh Ramblers. His previous clubs are Cork City (over 2 spells), Limerick and St Patrick's Athletic. Club career Cork C ...

, Georgie Poynton, Brandon Miele, Michael Drennan, Rhys McCabe and old fan favorite Chris Forrester, stating that his aim was to get the club back competing in European competition. Kenny's first competitive game in charge of the Saints was on 15 February 2019, a 1–0 opening-day victory over league runners-up

, with the game attracting the biggest attendance at a domestic game since October 2010. This was followed by a sell-out against rivals Shamorck Rovers on 8 March. On 25 April 2019 it was announced that the club had been awarded a licence to compete in

action for the 2019–20 campaign ahead of

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, who had finished one place ahead of Pats in fourth place the previous season, but were not awarded a licence due to their club reforming in late 2016 and thus breaking

's 'three-year rule'. Pats drew

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollför ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and were beaten 2–0 at home and 2–1 away, knocking them out at the first hurdle. With the team scoring just 24 goals in 29 games and attendances steadily dropping, fans became restless with Kenny and after a shock cup exit to UCD on 23 August 2019, Kenny resigned by mutual consent the following day.

Stephen O'Donnell reign & FAI Cup win (August 2019 – December 2021)

Former

captain Stephen O'Donnell was announced as the head coach on a two-year contract on 31 August 2019, his first job in senior management, following the resignation of Harry Kenny. His brought in his former Arsenal youth and

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

teammate (and former Pats player) Pat Cregg as his assistant. His first game in management came on 6 September 2019 as his Pats side came from behind to win 2−1 away to

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

thanks to goals from

Darragh Markey Darragh Markey (born 23 May 1997) is an Irish professional footballer playing for League of Ireland Premier Division club, Drogheda United, having previously spent six seasons with St Patrick's Athletic, the club he started his professional car ...

and substitute Rhys McCabe. The club finished in 5th place by the end of the season, missing out on a

place but they did however win the

2018–19 Leinster Senior Cup The 2019 Leinster Senior Cup was the 118th staging of the Leinster Football Association's primary competition. It included all Leinster based League of Ireland clubs from the First Division and Premier Division, as well as a selection of inter ...

, beating

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

3–0 in the Fourth Round (under Harry Kenny),

Cabinteely Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Cabinteely was 15,864 as of the 2022 census. Geography Cabinteely lies around t ...

1–0 in the Quarter Final, with Under 19's manager Jamie Moore managing a side made up of Under 15, Under 17 and Under 19's players in the Semi Final (beating Sheriff YC 3–1 away) and Final (beating

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

4–0), as both games were scheduled after the senior team's season had finished. O'Donnell's first pre-season saw him make wholesale changes to the squad, releasing 10 players including some who were still in contract and bringing in 9 new signings; Jason McClelland,

Robbie Benson Robert Benson (born 7 May 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Derry City in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also played for his hometown club, Athlone Town, UCD, St Patrick's Athletic and ...

, Conor Kearns,

Rory Feely Rory Michael Feely (born 3 January 1997) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for League of Ireland Premier Division club Cork City. He previous clubs are St Patrick's Athletic where he started his professional career, Waterford, Bohem ...

, Shane Griffin, Billy King, Dan Ward, Martin Rennie and

Ollie Younger Oliver James Younger (born 14 November 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back. He started his career with Burnley, where he spent time on loan at St Patrick's Athletic, before moving on to Sunderland and Doncaster ...

. The season was hit by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after 4 games and following 4 months of postponements, a decision was made to half the season from 36 games to 18. The season finished in disappointment for Pats as they missed out on European football on the final day of the season, while they had previously been knocked out of the

in the First Round by

. The

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

was a hugely successful one for the club, as they secured a 2nd-place finish, securing

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

football for 2022, as well as winning the 2021 FAI Cup by beating

in a penalty shootout in the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, in front of an

Final record crowd of 37,126.

Tim Clancy spell (December 2021 – May 2023)

On 2 December 2021, just 4 days after the club's 2021 FAI Cup Final win, it was announced that

Tim Clancy Tim Clancy (born 8 June 1984) is an Irish former footballer and manager. During his playing career, Clancy played for Millwall, Weymouth, AFC Hornchurch, Fisher Athletic, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Hibernian, St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone, Sh ...

had joined the club on a 2-year contract to replace the outgoing Stephen O'Donnell, whose controversial departure to

had yet to be confirmed amid a legal battle between the clubs. In late December 2021 a High Court action was filed against O'Donnell by the club. On 26 January 2022, it was announced that the club had sold academy graduate

James Abankwah James Bright Adusei Abankwah (born 16 January 2004) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Udinese. Abankwah is a product of St Patrick's Athletic's youth academy. Club career Early career Abankwah was bor ...

to Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

for an undisclosed fee believed to a record fee paid for a

player, in the region of €800,000 plus add ons. On 2 May 2022, it was announced that the clubs would enter the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League was the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. It was won ...

at the Second Qualifying round, rather than the First, following

's decision to ban Russian clubs from competing in their competitions for the season. Clancy's first taste of managing in European football came with a 1–1 draw at home to

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n side

NŠ Mura Nogometna šola Mura (), commonly referred to as NŠ Mura or simply Mura, is a Slovenian professional football club from Murska Sobota. Founded in 2012, the team currently plays in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of Slovenian football. The ...

. The second leg saw his side advance 6–5 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time. The next round saw Pat's beat

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n side

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

1–0 away before suffering the heartache of a 2–0 loss in the second leg at

following a controversial late penalty. On 2 May 2023, Clancy departed the club by mutual consent with this side in 7th place, 13 games into the 2023 season. Assistant manager

Jon Daly Jonathan Barney Daly (born April 14, 1977), sometimes credited as Jonathan C. Daly, Jon C. Daly, or Jon Daly, is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer best known for his sketch comedy work on the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show''. ...

took charge of the team on an interim basis.

Jon Daly's men – More Cup success (May 2023 – May 2024)

After winning 3 of his 4 games as interim manager, it was announced on 22 May 2023 that

had received the role of manager on a permanent basis, on a contract until the end of 2025. The club's 2023 European campaign was short as they failed at the first hurdle, losing 2–1 away and 3–2 at home to

F91 Dudelange F91 Dudelange (; , ) is a Luxembourgish professional Association football, football club based in Dudelange which plays in the Luxembourg National Division. It was formed in 1991 as a merger between three teams in the town: Alliance Dudelange, ...

, of

. On 12 November 2023, Daly led the club to a fifth

title, as his side won the 2023 FAI Cup Final, beating rivals

3–1 in front of a record breaking

Final crowd of 43,881 at the

. On 1 December 2023, Chris Forrester was named PFAI Player of the Year and

Sam Curtis Sam Curtis (born 1 December 2005) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a right-back or centre-back for club Sheffield United. He began his senior career with League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. He is the ...

was named

PFAI Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Young Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Young Player of the Year, the PFAI Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footb ...

for their stellar performances throughout 2023. On 9 February 2024, Pat's competed in the 2024 President of Ireland's Cup, but were defeated 3–1 by

. In March 2024, ahead of a friendly fixture away to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

Minnesota United Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Th ...

, the club announced American investment group Kenosis Sports Group, including

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

and

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

athletes

Joe Flacco Joseph Vincent Flacco (born January 16, 1985) is an American professional football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Delaware Fightin' Blue ...

, Chad Greenway,

Matt Birk Matthew Robert Birk (born July 23, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Minnesota Vikings. Born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota ...

and

Anders Lee Anders Marcus Lee (born July 3, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey winger and captain of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Lee attended the University of Notre Dame, where he played hockey for the Fighting Ir ...

, as strategic investors into St Patrick's Athletic. On 7 May 2024, it was announced that Daly had been relieved of his duties as manager with the club in 7th place following 7 defeats in their opening 15 games of the 2024 season.

Stephen Kenny era (May 2024 – Present)

On 16 May 2024, the club announced a major coup, by appointing the most recent Republic of Ireland national team manager Stephen Kenny, as their manager on a contract until the end of the 2029 season. On 25 July 2024, Kenny took charge of his first European fixture with the club, beating

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

3–1 in a

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

tie at

, with

Jake Mulraney Jake David Mulraney (born 5 April 1996) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. Born in Dublin, Mulraney has previously played for Ilkeston, Queens Park R ...

scoring a brace and captain Joe Redmond heading home a third goal. A 2–2 draw away to

then set up a tie with

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, who Kenny's side beat 1–0 at

before again winning 1–0 away at the

Bank Respublika Arena Bank Respublika Arena, former Alinja Arena, is a multi-use stadium in Masazır settlement of Absheron, Azerbaijan. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 8,600 people and opened in 2014. References See also *Lis ...

. In the

Play-Off Round, they faced Turkish side

İstanbul Başakşehir Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, drawing 0–0 at

before narrowly being beaten 2–0 in the return leg at the

Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium The Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium () is a football stadium in the Başakşehir district of Istanbul, Turkey. The stadium is named in honour of Turkish footballer and manager Fatih Terim. Opened officially to public on 26 July 2014, the venu ...

through 2 goals in the last 25 minutes while down to 10 men. On 8 October 2024, the club claimed its first trophy under Stephen Kenny when his second string side beat St Mochta's 2–1 in the final of the 2023–24 Leinster Senior Cup. With the club in 8th place in the table going into their game on 1 September 2024, Kenny guided his side to a club record equalling 9 consecutive league victories to secure 3rd place at the end of his first season at the club, securing

football for the following season. On 4 February 2025, the club agreed the transfer of

Mason Melia Mason Melia (born 23 September 2007) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. In January 2026, he will join Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Early life A ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, commencing on 1 January 2026 for an undisclosed record transfer fee for a

player, reported to be €2 million up front, rising to €4 million with add ons, plus a 20% sell on clause.

Kits

Home kits

The club's first kit was a red shirt with a white collar and a white chevron, with white shorts and red socks. Since then they have changed to a kit of a red jersey with white sleeves, white shorts and red socks, rarely changing from this format.

Away kits

The most frequent away colours used by Pats are navy/blue but over the years they have ventured outside of the ordinary.

Third kits

The club have released some dedicated third kits in recent years, while in years that they haven't, they've usually used the previous seasons away kit as a third kit.

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

Fans

Saints fans have widely become known as some of the most active and vocal throughout the country. Throughout the club's history, any period of turmoil was always met with protest by the loyal saints. In 2001, an ultras group called the Shed End Invincibleswere set up, for four years they created huge tifo displays, choreographed chants and created Richmond Park into a fortress. After a period of exile, the ultras group were reignited under new leadership. Since then, their work has been applauded by other fans. Big banners, flares, and smoke screens are a common sight at St Pats matches. Overseas visitors are regularly found at Richmond Park on a match night, including a Norwegian Pats' supporters club. As well as this, the club's supporters share friendships with supporters of clubs like such as

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

from Italy,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

of England, and

of Germany. Fans of these clubs, along with Pats fans, regularly travel to one another's matches. Famous fans include former Irish manager Brian Kerr, American actor

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1962) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor of stage and screen. He first Breakthrough role, gained recognition portraying ...

and ex-Ireland player Glenn Whelan.

Community

The club motto is ''Ní neart go cur le chéile'' (

as Gaeilge ''As Gaeilge'' is the eleventh album by Irish folk and rebel band The Wolfe Tones. The title translates as "In Irish" and the album is entirely recorded in the Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply ...

). It translates to ''No strength without unity''. St Patrick's Athletic is strongly linked with

and the local southwest Dublin community. In 2020 the club used

as a hub for a food bank to provide supplies to the vulnerable. Such is the club's dedication to embedding itself in the community, they employ a full time Community Officer who runs a long list of programmes such as the educational Primary School Community Programme in local schools.

Women's Football

In 1996 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. took over the local women's football team O'Connell Chics. The most notable former player is

Emma Byrne Emma Anne Byrne (born 14 June 1979) is an Irish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. She played for the Republic of Ireland on a record 134 occasions and served as captain of the team. She spent almost 17 years with Arsenal before joini ...

who is the record appearance holder for the Republic of Ireland Women's National Team, with the Saints being Byrne's first senior club. In 2022, club legend Ian Bermingham was appointed as Football Partnership Manager between St Patrick's Athletic and Cherry Orchard and part of the partnership, the club will be progressing with their plans to field a team in the Women's National U17 League from the 2023 season onwards.

Players

First-team squad

Out on loan

Academy

Players from the academy squads that have been named in a first team match day squad in the 2025 season.

Technical staff

Youth structure

The club field an Under-20, an Under-17, an Under-15 and an Under-14 team that compete in the League of Ireland U20 Division,

League of Ireland U17 Division The League of Ireland U17 Division is the under-17 division of the League of Ireland. Like the Premier Division, the First Division and the National U19 League the National U17 League is currently sponsored by SSE Airtricity and as a result it ...

League of Ireland U15 Division League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and League of Ireland U14 Division respectively.

NUI Maynooth Scholarship Scheme

Set up in 2010, St Patrick's Athletic have a scholarship scheme in place with

NUI Maynooth Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

. The scheme allows Pats to offer young players the opportunity to play with the club's Youth sides whilst undergoing their third-level studies on a sports scholarship. There is a big St Pats influence in the scheme with the Soccer Development Officer at Maynooth being former Pats defender Barry Prenderville as well as club captain

managing the side to their first-ever

Collingwood Cup The Collingwood Cup is an association football cup competition featuring university teams from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Universities Football Union, and is the oldest surviving all Ireland asso ...

win in 2014, with teammate

Brendan Clarke Brendan Clarke (born 17 September 1985) is an Irish football player who plays for Galway United in the League of Ireland First Division. Club career St Patrick's Athletic Clarke is a goalkeeper and played schoolboy football for local side C ...

as his assistant. The scholarship scheme is a big asset to St Pats, as it helps attract the top young talent in the country to the club ahead of their rivals. The scheme has also been a huge success, with the Saints Under-19s side winning the Dr. Tony O'Neill Cup in 2015 to become the best side in the country, as well as a whole host of players graduating from the Youth Setup into the First Team squad. Among the top players to have come through the Programme are Jake Carroll,

Seán Hoare Seán Hoare (born 15 March 1994) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. Club career St Patrick's Athletic Under 19s Hoare signed with St Patrick's Athl ...

, Jamie McGrath,

, Ciaran Kelly, Paul Rooney and Fuad Sule among others.

Youth Club Affiliations

In 2016, the club opted to disband their own youth teams that played in the Dublin & District Schoolboys Leagues, moving forward into a new model for the League of Ireland Under-19, Under-17 and up-and-coming Under-15s leagues. Pats struck up Affiliations with 4 of Ireland's top schoolboy clubs Crumlin United,

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

, Cherry Orchard and Esker Celtic in the best interest of both clubs and their players/facilities. On 1 March 2016, the Saints announced an Affiliation Agreement with the local side Crumlin United, one of the country's top schoolboy clubs, to improve Pats Youth Setup while also benefiting Crumlin and their young players. On 29 March 2017, the Saints announced an official partnership with

. On 24 May 2017 St Patrick's Athletic announced an official partnership with local

Ballyfermot Ballyfermot () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park. It is bordered by Chapelizod on the north, by Bluebell, Dublin, Bluebell on the south, by Inchicore on the east, ...

side Cherry Orchard. On 13 July 2018 St Patrick's Athletic announced an official partnership with

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...

side Esker Celtic.

Cherry Orchard partnership

In June 2022, it was announced that a new football partnership had been made between Pat's and Cherry Orchard which would see the clubs work together exclusively, with the aim of the partnership to provide players from Cherry Orchard with a pathway to the academy and to senior League of Ireland football for both boys and girls, with Pat's also creating a new full-time Football Partnership Manager role to oversee the partnership.

Former academy players

Players in Bold have senior international caps *

Ryan Burke Ryan Darren Burke (born 23 November 2000) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a left back for League of Ireland First Division club Waterford. He joined English club Birmingham City from St Patrick's Athletic as a 16-year-old and mad ...

* Darragh Burns * Jake Carroll *

Kevin Cornwall Kevin Cornwall (born 16 May 1988) is an Irish footballer who plays for Vanguard University of Southern California. Cornwall plays as a centre forward. Career Cornwall joined St. Patrick's Athletic under 21 squad in the summer of 2006 and quic ...

* Rob Cornwall *

* James Doona * Kevin Doyle *

* Derek Foran *

Luke Heeney Luke Heeney (born 6 February 1999) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or right back for League of Ireland Premier Division club Drogheda United. He previously played for St Patrick's Athletic. Career Youth career Belle ...

* Conor Kane * Cian Kavanagh * Jordan Keegan * Josh Keeley *

Aidan Keena Aidan Keena (born 25 April 1999) is an Irish footballer who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. He has previously played for Heart of Midlothian, Hartlepool United, Queen's Park, Dunfermline ...

Ciarán Kelly Ciarán Kelly may refer to: * Ciarán Kelly (footballer, born 1980) * Ciaran Kelly (footballer, born 1998) {{hndis, Kelly, Ciaran ...

* Stephen Kenny * Kian Leavy * Jamie Lennon *

Darius Lipsiuc Darius Lipsiuc (born 16 September 2005) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Stoke City. Club career St Patrick's Athletic Lipsiuc joined the academy of League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athle ...

* Tommy Lonergan *

Jonathan Lunney Jonathan Lunney (born 2 February 1998) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club Shelbourne. His previous clubs are St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians and Waterford. Career Youth ca ...

Brian Maher Brian Maher is an American politician who is a member of the New York State Assembly from the 101st district. First elected in 2022, he previously served as the Town Supervisor of Montgomery, New York. Career Maher's first elected office was wo ...

* Ian Maher *

* John Martin *

Ben McCormack Ben McCormack (born 4 April 2003) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club Waterford, having previously played for St Patrick's Athletic, where he started his career. Club career ...

* Jamie McGrath *

Luke McNally Luke McNally (born 20 September 1999) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for EFL Championship club Bristol City. Club career Early career Raised in Enfield, County Meath, McNally played for his local club Enf ...

Adam Murphy Adam Murphy (born 8 April 2005) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Bristol City. He previously played for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic, where he started his professional care ...

* Michael Noonan *

* Kevin O'Connor * Conor Pepper *

Ben Quinn Ben Mark Quinn (born 11 November 2004) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Mansfield Town. Club career Born in Dublin, after playing for Cherry Orchard and St Patrick's Athletic, Quinn signed for Scottish club ...

Stephen Quinn Stephen Jude Quinn (born 1 April 1986) is an Irish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town. He has also represented the Republic of Ireland national football team, Repu ...

Kyle Robinson Kyle Robinson (born 8 November 2002) is an Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for League of Ireland First Division club Athlone Town A.F.C., Athlone Town. His previous clubs ...

* Paul Rooney * Fuad Sule * Jake Walker

Honours

Source:

Notable players

Internationals

;

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

internationals ;

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the Airtricity League XI for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of Ireland. For much of its history, the League ...

representatives ; Republic of Ireland B internationals ; Republic of Ireland U23 internationals ; Republic of Ireland U21 internationals ;Other internationals

Award winners

;

; ;

(1997–98) * Mark Quigley (2007) * Chris Forrester (2012) *

(2023) ;SWAI Goalkeeper of the Year *

(2013) ;League of Ireland Player of the Year; *

(1998) * Paul Osam (1999) *

(2013) ;

League of Ireland Player of the Month The League of Ireland Player of the Month is awarded monthly to the best player in the League of Ireland. The winners are selected by Soccer Writers' Ireland, commonly known as the SWI (formerly known as Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland). Wi ...

;Harry Boland Hall of Fame ;Notes ;St Patrick's Athletic Player of the Year

League of Ireland Top Scorer

Records

*St. Pats Full League Record P 2134 W 896 D 548 L 689 F 3106 A 2734 Pts 2831 ''Statistics are correct up to 4/11/2024''
''Above points tally is the number of points earned in real terms. In most seasons the league used a 'two points for a win', system.''
''If using a straight 'three points for a win, one for a draw', system, St Pats would have earned 3238 points''. *Record League Points Tally 73 in season 1998–99 ''(33 games)'' *Record League Goals Tally 66 in season

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

''(33 games)'' *Record League Victory 8–0 (h) v

(10 December 1967) *Record League Game Winning Streak 9 games in seasons

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

*Record FAI Cup Victory 8–0 (h) v Pike Rovers (21 May

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

) *Record League Cup Victory 5–1 v

(13 October 1985) *Record Leinster Senior Cup Victory 7–0 (h) v Tolka Rovers (9 February

) *Record League Goal scorer

– 108 goals *Record League Goal scorer in one season

– 28 goals in 1954–55 *Record Goal scorer in Europe Christy Fagan – 6 goals *Record Goal scorer in Europe in one season

Declan O'Brien Declan Timothy O'Brien (December 21, 1965 – February 16, 2022) was an American film and television writer and director. He was known as the director of three films in the ''Wrong Turn'' series (2009–2012). Biography His work with Syfy ...

– 4 goals in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

*Record Total Appearances Ian Bermingham – 454 appearances *Record League Appearances Ian Bermingham – 354 appearances *Record FAI Cup Appearances Ian Bermingham – 39 appearances *Record European Appearances Ian Bermingham – 24 appearances *Youngest Player

– 15 years 132 days (31 January

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

in the Leinster Senior Cup) *Youngest League Player

– 15 years 232 days (12 May

in the

) *Youngest Goalscorer

– 15 years 132 days (31 January

in the Leinster Senior Cup) *Youngest League Goalscorer

– 15 years 281 days (30 June

vs UCD) Source:

League of Ireland Placing History

European record

Overview

''As of match played on 28 August 2024''

Matches

;Notes * (a): (

Away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

) * (aet): (

After Extra Time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Tie (draw), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is ...

) * 1R: First round * 2R: Second round * PR: Preliminary round * 1Q: First qualifying round * 2Q: Second qualifying round * 3Q: Third qualifying round * PO: Play-off round

UEFA Club Ranking

Managers

* Selection Committee (1929–54) *

Alex Stevenson Alexander Ernest Stevenson (9 August 1912 – 2 September 1985) was an Irish footballer who played for Rangers and Everton, amongst other teams. As an international, Stevenson also played for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. ...

(1954–58) *

Jimmy Collins James Joseph Collins (January 16, 1870 – March 6, 1943) was an American professional baseball player. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball. In 1945, Collins was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the Boston Beaneater ...

(1958–63) *

Shay Keogh Seamus "Shay" Keogh (6 September 1934 – 13 April 2020) was an Irish footballer who played as a centre half. He was part of the great Shamrock Rovers teams of the 1950s in a side, popularly known as Coad's Colts, that enjoyed many memorable da ...

(1963–65) * George Lax (1965–66) * Gerry Doyle (1966–67) * Peter Farrell (1967–68) *

John Colrain John James Colrain (4 February 1937 – 14 July 1984) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager who played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Clyde F.C., Clyde, Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town and Gle ...

(1968–71) * Jack Burkett (1971–75) * George Richardson (1975–76) *

Barry Bridges Barry John Bridges (born 29 April 1941) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Chelsea, Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers, Millwall and Brighton & Hove Albion and was capped four ti ...

(1976–78) * Ralph O'Flaherty (1978–79) * Charlie Walker (1979–84) *

Eoin Hand Eoin Kevin Joseph Colin Hand (born 30 March 1946) is an Irish former footballer and football manager. As a player, his normal position was centre-half. He works as a television and radio football commentator for RTÉ in Ireland. Playing career ...

(1984–85) * Jimmy Jackson (1985–86) * Brian Kerr (1986–96) *

(1996–98) * Pete Mahon ''(interim)'' (1998) *

(1998–99) *

(1999–03) *

Eamonn Collins Eamonn Anthony Stephen Collins (born 22 October 1965) is an Irish retired footballer and football manager, who is now a players' agent. In his playing career, he was the youngest player ever to turn out in a professional game in England, when ...

(2003–04) *

(1 March 2004 – 10 January 2009) *

(14 January 2009 – 18 September 2009) * Maurice O'Driscoll ''(interim)'' (18 September 2009 – 22 September 2009) * Pete Mahon ''(interim)'' (23 September 2009 – 8 December 2009) * Pete Mahon (9 December 2009 – 1 December 2011) *

(2 December 2011 – 25 September 2018) *

''(interim)'' (25 September 2018 – 26 October 2018) * Harry Kenny (24 October 2018 – 24 August 2019) * Stephen O'Donnell (31 August 2019 – 2 December 2021) *

(2 December 2021 – 2 May 2023) *

''(interim)'' (2 May 2023 – 22 May 2023) *

(22 May 2023 – 7 May 2024) * Seán O'Connor ''(interim)'' (7 May 2024 – 16 May 2024) * Stephen Kenny (16 May 2024 – Present)

Manager records

References

External links

* of St Patricks Athletic FC
SaintsForum.net
(discussion forum for All Saints fans)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patricks Athletic F.C. Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Association football clubs established in 1929 League of Ireland Premier Division clubs 1929 establishments in Ireland Former Leinster Senior League clubs