The banner unfurled by St Patrick’s Athletic fans on the final day of the 2024 season pulled no punches. “There’s a storm brewing in Dublin 8,” it declared.
The sentiment rang true, though perhaps a little late. The brewing had already finished; opponents were being dragged into the eye of the storm and spat back out again.
For St Pat’s supporters, the 2025 season couldn’t come soon enough. To understand why, we need to rewind to July 2024.
After 25 games, the Saints were eighth in a 10-team league. Relegation felt more likely than resurgence. Stephen Kenny’s appointment as manager had yet to bear fruit.
RM Block
Then something clicked. St Pat’s won 10 and drew one of their last 11 matches to finish third. Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers – eventual champions and runners-up respectively – were among the teams beaten during that blistering run.
Kenny’s team looked reborn and the feeling among fans was unanimous: next year would be special.
It wasn’t.
St Pat’s didn’t fall short in the 2025 title race; they simply never entered it. At least the FAI Cup offered a possible redemption arc.
Saints supporters have a complicated relationship with that trophy. After winning it in 1961, the club failed to win any of their next seven FAI Cup finals. It was Irish football’s answer to Mayo’s Sam Maguire curse.
The hoodoo finally ended in 2014 when two Christy Fagan goals delivered catharsis at the Aviva Stadium.
Further cup wins followed in 2021 and 2023. When the team reached the semi-finals this year, a pleasing biennial pattern seemed to be forming.
Having edged Galway United in the quarter-final, Pat’s were drawn away to Cork City in the semis.
The Leesiders were on the brink of relegation and their fans were planning a protest against the club’s owner. In a dress rehearsal 11 days before the semi-final, St Pat’s put four past Cork City without reply. Optimism was justified.
Five busloads of fans left Inchicore at 3pm on Friday, October 3rd. Banners were packed and singing voices primed. I hadn’t taken the supporters’ bus for years; it’s a younger fan’s realm now.
Two minutes after departure, Born Slippy erupted from the back seats – the Trainspotting anthem of restless youth. If the lads down the back embodied that film’s raw energy, those of us up the front – myself included – were the less-assured sequel.
The mood was buoyant. Half-serious talk of “Cup destiny” drifted through the air between techno, trad and terrace tunes.
During a brief pit stop, a lad I know to say hello to came over and asked how I was. He is 20 – a bit too young to appreciate the club’s last league title win in 2013. The other eight came before he was born.
“You reckon Kenny will start Forrester?” he asked about the stalwart midfielder.
I shrugged. “Not sure, but he should. If he’s fit, Forrester should start.”
I never intended to become the sort of fan who shrugs instead of declares. The process happens quietly over the years; you only notice it beside youth’s certainty.
The game had been under threat from Storm Amy, but by kickoff the clouds parted and a packed Turner’s Cross was generating a brilliant atmosphere.
Around 1,000 Pat’s fans made the journey – a superb turnout, unmatched by the team’s display.
Cork City were sharper from the off. Sean Maguire looked every inch the international forward he once was. He made the biggest contribution to their deserved 3-0 win.
The St Pat’s players applauded the away section at the end and we returned the gesture. If we hadn’t been held back 15 minutes, I’d have slipped away.
St Pat’s subsequently beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 at Richmond Park. It was a rousing performance that briefly rekindled European hopes. Filing out of the ground, a friend’s demeanour caught me by surprise. He almost seemed irritated.
“How can we play so badly against a relegated team and play so well tonight against the best team in the league?”
I didn’t have the answer, other than to suggest he enjoy the win.
The last three games of the season were not easy on the eye. Draws against Bohemians, Waterford and Shelbourne ensured the team finished fifth and failed to qualify for Europe. Striker Mason Melia is off to Tottenham Hotspur and will be missed. Other departures are expected, though not because England will come calling.
The off-season will do supporters good. Unlike 12 months ago, we’re in no rush for next season to arrive.
