Origins of the club Football in
Inchicore dates back to at least 1898. There had been several previous local clubs called St Patrick's and St Patrick's Athletic, as well as clubs associated with the Inchicore railway works, the
Great Southern Railways (also known as the GSR). The more recent of these, GSR FC, started around 1927. They played in the
Athletic Union League at first, with their home ground at
Bluebell, although most of their games from then on were played in the Inchicore Works or "Pond Field" with others at
Richmond Park and
Chapelizod. GSR fielded two teams in 1929–30; an "A" team in the Leinster League Division Two, and a "B" team in the AUL Division One. GSR's B team seems to have been dropped for the following season, 1930–31. It is possible that the demands of senior football were such that they did not want to take on a second team, or perhaps belt-tightening at the recently consolidated company was taking hold. Around this time, GSR were approached by a group of young footballers asking them to take on a second team. These included Pat Dunphy, who gave a first-hand account of the formation of the club in an interview in 1989. Along with six of his fellow teenage friends who worked at the GSR, Pat states that they asked the company to take on a second team of younger players. ''"We were looking for them to take us over and they refused us on a couple of occasions. They (GSR) wouldn't have anything to do with it. They were a big team, we wanted to go in with a smaller team. They were playing in the Leinster League. The GSR team had players around 20 at this time. I was about 16."'' After the GSR had refused to take the new team on, the teenage friends held what would prove to be a historic meeting, which resulted in the founding of the club. ''"The following week we had a meeting down in McDowell's (a pub located on Emmett Road alongside Richmond Park). Mr McDowell was a very decent man and was always very good to us. We decided to go into the bottom league, which was the Intermediate League. I was asked to go down to Parnell Square and look up the people who were running these Leagues. I went down and paid the entrance fee and they sent us word the following week that we'd be in the Intermediate League. The fee was only small - around a guinea (one pound and one shilling) - and we all bunched in to pay."'' The club spent 1929 finding its feet by playing friendly fixtures, with the first ever team photo taken in June 1929, before they began playing competitive games in September 1930, at the 15 acres in the nearby
Phoenix Park.
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 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 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 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, to the
League of Ireland. 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
FAI Cup success, repeating the feat in 1961. Despite several appearances in the final since 1961, it took the Saints till 2014 to win their third 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
Shay Gibbons,
Ronnie Whelan Snr. and Willie Peyton are notable players of 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 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. 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
Richmond Park for what the board of directors called "a short time" while redevelopment work was done. 1989 saw a joint St Patrick's Athletic &
Bohemians side play a friendly against the
Libya national football team in
Tripoli, drawing 1–1 in what was a highly controversial
friendly during
Muammar Gaddafi's reign as leader of Libya. The year 1990 saw the Saints draw 0–0 with the
Tunisia national football team in
Tunis and another 0–0 draw with the
Iran national football team in
Tehran, while in April of the following year they beat
Finland 2–1 at
Dalymount Park, leaving the club with an undefeated record against international sides and without conceding a goal. St. Patrick's however finished third and would take their place in the following season's
Intertoto Cup. 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 licensing and ground development. St Pats made Irish footballing history in 2002 by becoming the first club to progress in the
Intertoto Cup with a victory over Croatian team
NK Rijeka over two legs—the club were eventually knocked out of the competition only on away goals to
KAA Gent of Belgium.
Johnny McDonnell Reign (2004–2009) against
Derry City at
Lansdowne Road. before the
UEFA Cup clash against
Elfsborg in 2008. 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 with
Shamrock Rovers 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 Kelleher had just bought the Club and would make a commitment to develop a proper stadium in Inchicore. Garrett Kelleher 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 for the title, but Pats slipped away and
Drogheda United eventually finished up as champions. It was the same again for the
2008 season with Pats battling up the top with
Bohemians 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. 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 in the First Round proper. Pats also lost out to
Bohemians for the league title.
Jeff Kenna season: European run and domestic struggle (2009) V St Patrick's Athletic F.C. in 2009. For the 2009 season Pats replaced
Johnny McDonnell with
Jeff Kenna in January 2009. He didn't have the best of starts with a 3–0 home defeat to his former club
Galway United. 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. 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
Drogheda United and at home to
Dublin rivals
Shamrock Rovers.
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 final, where they met local rivals
Bohemians after overcoming
Sligo Rovers 6–2 over two legs. They lost the final at the
Tallaght Stadium 1–0, however. The Saints were knocked out of the
FAI Cup by archrivals
Shamrock Rovers in a semi-final replay at
Richmond Park, after knocking
Dundalk, 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 campaign, knocking out
Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja from
Iceland and
FC Shakhter Karagandy from
Kazakhstan before eventually being knocked out in the third qualifying round by
Ukrainian side
FC Karpaty Lviv. The Saints won the
2011 Leinster Senior Cup after beating
Dublin rivals
Bohemians 2–0 at
Dalymount Park. The Saints' bid to end their 50-year drought of winning the
FAI Cup came to an end, after knocking
Crumlin United,
Waterford United and
Cork City out, the Saints faced old rivals
Shelbourne in the semi-final. The Saints drew 1–1 at
Tolka Park, 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 qualifiers in the 2012 season.
Return of Liam Buckley: Return of success (2012–2018) for the
UEFA Champions League qualifier against
Legia Warsaw in 2014. The Saints decided not to renew manager Pete Mahon's contract for the
2012 season, appointing former player and manager
Liam Buckley 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 players, notably
Chris Forrester,
Christy Fagan, and
Ger O'Brien. 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
Shamrock Rovers 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
Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja and
NK Široki Brijeg out after
extra time, to earn a tie with German powerhouse
Hannover 96, who knocked the Saints out in the third qualifying round. Buckley's side finished 3rd in
the league, 6 points off champions
Sligo Rovers. He also guided his side to the
2012 FAI Cup Final, the club's first game at the
Aviva Stadium, but lost 3–2 in
extra time to
Derry City and extending the Saints'
FAI Cup-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
Shamrock Rovers. 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 (who would go on to win both the
PFAI Players' Player of the Year and FAI National League Player of the Year awards), and
Conan Byrne (who contributed an impressive 9 league goals during the season). St Patrick's Athletic clinched their ninth
League of Ireland title on 13 October 2013 after a 2–0 win against holders
Sligo Rovers 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
Shamrock Rovers, losing, 1–0, at
Richmond Park. The
2014 season started off with silverware for the Saints as they beat
Sligo Rovers 1–0 in the inaugural
President of Ireland's Cup, with
Keith Fahey scoring a brilliant volley into the top corner from 25 yards clinching the trophy. The club crashed out of the
UEFA Champions League at the first hurdle in the second round, bowing out to
Legia Warsaw. 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
Tallaght Stadium, conceding 3 in the last 10 minutes. On 9 September 2014, a team of second-string players and young Saints beat
Longford Town 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
FAI Cup after a 53-year wait with a 2–0 win over
Derry City at the
Aviva Stadium, 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, beating
Galway United on penalties at
Eamonn Deacy Park 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 of
Luxembourg out of the
UEFA Europa League on away goals before being narrowly beaten 2–1 on aggregate to
Dinamo Minsk of
Belarus 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
League of Ireland Cup crown, beating
Limerick 4–1 in
the final at the
Markets Field with two goals from
Conan Byrne and one each for
Jamie McGrath and
Graham Kelly. The
2017 season was the first in a change of the
League of Ireland 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
Killian Brennan, former
Premier League midfielder
Owen Garvan and particularly
Dutch 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
Killian Brennan 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
Bohemians side with several of their under-19 side playing among the 11 changes to their previous starting 11. This turned out to be
Liam Buckley'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
Ger O'Brien 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
Tolka Park. He also saw out a draw away to champions
Dundalk and had an aggregate score of 9–0 against
Limerick 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 were
Gary Shaw,
David Webster,
Ciaran Kelly,
Cian Coleman,
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
Cork City at
Richmond Park, with the game attracting the biggest attendance at a domestic game since October 2010. This was followed by a sell-out against rivals
Shamrock Rovers on 8 March. On 25 April 2019 it was announced that the club had been awarded a licence to compete in
UEFA Europa League action for the
2019–20 campaign ahead of
Waterford, 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
UEFA's 'three-year rule'. Pats drew
IFK Norrköping of
Sweden 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) against
Bohemians at the
Aviva Stadium. Former
Dundalk 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 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 thanks to goals from
Darragh Markey and substitute
Rhys McCabe. The club finished in 5th place by the end of the season, missing out on a
UEFA Europa League place but they did however win the
2018–19 Leinster Senior Cup, beating
Wexford 3–0 in the Fourth Round (under
Harry Kenny),
Cabinteely 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 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,
Conor Kearns,
Rory Feely, Shane Griffin,
Billy King, Dan Ward,
Martin Rennie and
Ollie Younger. The season was hit by the
COVID-19 pandemic 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
FAI Cup in the First Round by
Finn Harps. The
2021 season was a hugely successful one for the club, as they secured a 2nd-place finish, securing
UEFA Europa Conference League football for 2022, as well as winning the
2021 FAI Cup by beating
Bohemians in a penalty shootout in the
Final, in front of an
Aviva Stadium FAI Cup 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 had joined the club on a 2-year contract to replace the outgoing
Stephen O'Donnell, whose controversial departure to
Dundalk 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 to Italian
Serie A side
Udinese for an undisclosed fee believed to a record fee paid for a
League of Ireland 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 at the Second Qualifying round, rather than the First, following
UEFA'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
Slovenian side
NŠ Mura. 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
Bulgarian side
CSKA Sofia 1–0 away before suffering the heartache of a 2–0 loss in the second leg at
Tallaght Stadium 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 took charge of the team on an interim basis.
Jon Daly's men – More Cup success (May 2023 – May 2024) against
Bohemians at the
Aviva Stadium. After winning 3 of his 4 games as interim manager, it was announced on 22 May 2023 that
Jon Daly 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, of
Luxembourg. On 12 November 2023, Daly led the club to a fifth
FAI Cup title, as his side won the
2023 FAI Cup Final, beating rivals
Bohemians 3–1 in front of a record breaking
FAI Cup Final crowd of 43,881 at the
Aviva Stadium. On 1 December 2023,
Chris Forrester was named
PFAI Player of the Year and
Sam Curtis was named
PFAI Young Player of the Year 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
Shamrock Rovers at
Tallaght Stadium. In March 2024, ahead of a friendly fixture away to
Major League Soccer side
Minnesota United, the club announced American investment group Kenosis Sports Group, including
NFL and
NHL athletes
Joe Flacco,
Chad Greenway,
Matt Birk and
Anders Lee, 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) fixture against
Hegelmann at the
Richmond Park in July 2025. 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 of
Liechtenstein 3–1 in a
UEFA Conference League tie at
Richmond Park, with
Jake Mulraney scoring a brace and captain
Joe Redmond heading home a third goal. A 2–2 draw away to
Vaduz then set up a tie with
Sabah of
Azerbaijan, who Kenny's side beat 1–0 at
Tallaght Stadium In the
UEFA Conference League Play-Off Round, they faced
Turkish side
İstanbul Başakşehir, drawing 0–0 at
Tallaght Stadium before narrowly being beaten 2–0 in the return leg at the
Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium 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
UEFA Conference League football for the following season. On 4 February 2025, the club agreed the transfer of
Mason Melia to
Premier League club
Tottenham Hotspur, commencing on 1 January 2026 for an undisclosed record transfer fee for a
League of Ireland player, reported to be €2 million up front, rising to €4 million with add-ons, plus a 20% sell on clause. The
2025 season saw Pats go on another European run, as their
UEFA Conference League campaign saw them beat
Lithuanian side
Hegelmann 1–0 at home and 2–0 away which become the club's record away victory in Europe, then beating
Estonian club
Nõmme Kalju 1–0 at home then drawing 2–2 away in the second leg after extra time to send them through. The Third Qualifying Round saw them face
Turkish giants
Beşiktaş, in which they found themselves 4–0 down at half time in the first leg at
Tallaght Stadium, then won the second half by a goal, before remarkably taking a 2–0 lead at
Beşiktaş Stadium in the second leg to narrow the aggregate deficit to just 1 goal with 48 minutes of the tie left, before eventually being defeated 3–2 on the night and 7–3 on aggregate. Kenny's first full season with the club proved to be a disappointment overall, despite having the most clean sheets and least goals conceded in the league, they missed out on a European place by finishing in 5th place, lost to bottom of the table
Cork City in the Semi Final of the
FAI Cup and were defeated by
First Division side
Dundalk in the Final of the
Leinster Senior Cup. ==Kits==