Bohemian FC
Colours : Home – Red and black stripes. Away – Green
Home – Dalymount Park
Manager – Owen Heary
Nickname – The Gypsies
2014 odds – 80/1
The fans of Bohemian Football Club are happy that the club still exists. They are the oldest league club in continuous existence in this country.
With a concerted effort from the people behind the scenes at Dalymount and hugely devout supporters they have managed to keep the club afloat.
The budget is the most important thing and surviving in the Premier Division last season was a great achievement and while the die-hard Bohs fan will always want more, the fact that they survived on a shoestring budget was a notable feat. Owen Heary took over towards the end of last season after the club parted ways with the previous manager Aaron Callaghan. Heary hadn’t got the necessary coaching badges to be the official manager so the club appointed Bobby Browne as the club manager with Heary overseeing the coaching.
Heary is one of the most respected and decorated League of Ireland players of all time, with a wealth of experience captaining and winning everything there is to win with Shelbourne and Bohs. He’s a man who commands respect from everyone in the league and he has all the credentials to make a successful transition from player to manager.
They were always going to find it hard to hold on to their better players due to budget constraints and suffered a blow when fans’ favourite Luke Byrne signed for deadly rivals Shamrock Rovers in the close season. However, they have managed to hold on to most of last season’s squad and have made some shrewd acquisitions for next season, notably securing the services of goalscoring legend Jason Byrne from Bray Wanderers.
They’ve also signed Paddy Kavanagh from Derry City. The former Shamrock Rovers player is as good as any player in the league when on form.
The trick for Heary will be to get the best out of Kavanagh and if he succeeds, Bohs have a serious weapon in their arsenal. Aidan Price has also signed back for the Dalymount club and he will bring a great deal of experience and stability to the defence.
Bohs fans will demand that the team is not involved in another nerve shredding relegation scrap and Owen Heary will be at pains to deliver on that. The trophy winning, big spending days of a few years ago are gone for now, but the club are slowly recovering from their crisis and the fans are eagerly looking forward to a new dawn.
Players in – Jason Byrne, Paddy Kavanagh, Aidan Price, Jack Memery, Craig Walsh, Lee Murphy
Did You Know? – Hollywood superstar Samuel L Jackson has declared himself as a big supporter of Bohs
Hopes – They will want to avoid the relegation dogfight this season and will look to have a good cup run.
Player To Watch – Jason Byrne
If they were a big European club: They’d be Valencia. A club who was always there or thereabouts at the business end of the season, had a financial crisis and are slowly recovering and showing signs of a full revival of fortunes.
