Sligo Rovers

Beginnings

Sligo Rovers Football Club was formed on 17 September 1928 as a result of an amalgamation of two junior sides, Sligo Town and Sligo Blues. Their first game was a 9–1 victory against Ballyshannon, a team from County Donegal in Ulster, on 23 September 1928 in the qualifying round of the Connacht Cup. The club, elected to the League of Ireland in 1934, hails from Sligo and play their home matches at the Showgrounds and have done so ever since their inception. The home colours are red with white sleeve uppers, with red shorts and socks while the away colours are white with black sides, white shorts and socks. The third alternative kit is navy with red sleeve uppers, navy shorts and navy socks with a red upper part.

1928–1940: Early success

The club started well by winning the FAI Junior Cup in their first season, beating Grangegorman in the final at the Showgrounds 3–0. The following season also brought silverware in the shape of the Connacht Junior Cup with Rovers beating Galway in the final 1–0 after a replay. At the beginning of the 1931–32 season the club successfully applied to join the Dublin-based Sunday Alliance League and won their first game at this level by beating Windy Arbour 4–2 at the Showgrounds and went on to win the league, finishing four points ahead of Westland Sligo. After this success the club moved up another level the following season by joining the Leinster Senior League and played their first game away to UCD in August 1932 and won 4–2. The club performed well in their first season at this level eventually finishing third as Brideville won the league. This season also saw The Bit O' Red make their first appearance in the FAI Cup, winning in the first round against Brideville 3–1 before going out to Shelbourne in the next round 5–2. The next year, the club won the Leinster Senior League in only their second year at this level by beating Distillery in a play-off at Tolka Park 3–2 after the teams had finished the league level on points. The team also won the Intermediate Cup, winning 5–1 against Waterford side Tramore Rookies in the final at Dalymount Park, as well as the Metropolitan Cup, beating Queens Park 3–0 in the final at Tolka Park to secure a remarkable treble for the young club.

Following this achievement the club was elected to the Free State League on 28 June 1934 along with Waterford as both Shelbourne and Cork Bohemians resigned from the league. Scotsman Bob Preston, ex-Heart of Midlothian, Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United player, managed the team in their first season at the highest level of Irish football with the first game being a 3–1 defeat in the Shield at the Iveagh Grounds in Dublin against St. James Gate. Tommy Callaghan scored Rovers' goal. The team finished third in that season with Gerry McDaid finishing as top scorer. During this season local Paddy Monaghan won two caps for the Irish national team and is still the only man to have achieved this while at the club.

The 1936–37 season began in spectacular fashion with Sligo winning their first 11 games and they clinched their first league title by beating Cork 4–3 with two games of the season remaining. Trainer and captain that year was Jimmy Surgeoner in his only season at the club. Top scorer was Englishman Harry Litherland whose record of 19 league goals that season was surpassed by Eoin Doyle in 2011 season scoring 20 league goals. The club also won the Dublin City Cup this year beating Dundalk in the final. Two years later, in 1939, the club reached their first FAI Cup final by beating Dundalk 2–1 in the semi-final. A crowd of 30,601 went to Dalymount Park to see Rovers take on Shelbourne in the final which ended in a 1–1 draw. The replay was held at Dalymount Park 10 days later on 3 May with 28,369 in attendance to see the Dublin side record a 1–0 victory thanks to an early goal. The club were also runners-up in the league that year finishing nine points behind winners Shamrock Rovers making it another good season for the club.

The following season once again saw the club come close to winning a trophy on two occasions. First was a 3–2 defeat to Bohs in a play-off for the shield after the two sides finished level on points. Also that year the club reached its second consecutive FAI Cup final with Shamrock Rovers providing the opposition in front of a crowd of 38,500 on 21 April. Unfortunately for Rovers, it was Shams who ran out 3–0 winners. Despite this success the club decided that because of The Emergency the club could no longer compete in the league and withdrew from football.

Dixie Dean

Before the cup campaign of 1939 the club's committee decided they needed a big name to fill the vacant centre-forward position. They got in touch with some contacts in England, one of whom was the manager of Everton who suggested that Dixie Dean, who was at Notts County at the time, could be available. Although coming to the end of his career Dean was still one of the biggest names in football due to his goalscoring feats during his time at Everton where he is still the club's all-time leading scorer and also holds the record for having scored the highest number of league goals in a single season – 60 in 1927–28. Despite rejecting Rovers' initial offer the club's improved second offer was accepted by Dean and a massive coup was pulled off by the club. A huge crowd turned up at Sligo Railway Station to give Dean a hero's welcome. Dean duly scored on his debut, a game against Shelbourne in the Showgrounds on 29 January and went on to score nine more in his seven league appearances for the club, including five in a single game against Waterford. He also scored in the FAI cup final of that year in the 1–1 draw with Shelbourne though the replay would be lost 1–0. Dean's runners-up medal was stolen after the game but he did however have it returned to him seven years later when he was back in England. Dean returned to Ireland in 1978 to see Sligo Rovers play in the FAI Cup final of that year.