Sligo Rovers F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Sligo Rovers


fullname = Sligo Rovers Football Club
nickname = Bit O'Red
founded = 1928
ground = Showgrounds,
Sligo,
County Sligo
capacity = 5,500 (2,400 seats)
chairman = flagicon|IRL Michael Toolan
manager = flagicon|ENG Paul Cook
league = Eircom Premier Division
season = 2007
position = 6th
pattern_la1=_red stripes|pattern_b1=_red stripes|pattern_ra1=_red stripes
leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FF0000|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=ffffff|socks1=ffffff
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_thinsidesonwhite|pattern_ra2=|leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FF0000|socks2=FFFFFF

Sligo Rovers F.C. (Irish: "An Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh") is an Irish football club playing in the Football League of Ireland.

The club is a co-op, it is owned by the people of Sligo. Sligo Rovers have played at The Showgrounds since their inception. The Showgrounds is held in trust, which ensures the ground can never be sold and will remain for Sligo Rovers to use.

History

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 on 23 September 1928. The club, elected to the League of Ireland in 1934, hails from Sligo and play their home matches at the Showgrounds. The club colours are red and white stripes with red shorts away colours are all white.

In the years of The Emergency (WW II) the club captured the imagination of the country when it signed the legendary Bill "Dixie" Dean -the former Everton legend and still the all time top scorer in the English First Division.

Rovers finest periods came in 1937 & 1977, when they won the League of Ireland championship, 1983 when they defeated Bohemians to win the FAI Cup and 1994, when under manager Willie McStay they won a "treble" of the Irish First Division title, the First Division Shield and the FAI Cup, beating Derry City FC in the final. In 1994 they got through the preliminary round of the European Cup Winners Cup (eventually losing to Club Brugge in the first round proper, 5-2 on aggregate).

Former Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez managed the club in the 1994-95 season. Steve Cotterill, manager of Burnley since the season 2005/2006, succeeded Sanchez as manager.

On 12 November 2005, Sligo Rovers claimed the 2005 First Division Title with a 0-0 draw at home to Athlone Town. Sligo Rovers are playing Premier Division football for the first time in six years in the 2006 Eircom League season. Sligo Rovers reached the FAI Cup semi final in the 2006 season but their manager Sean Connor resigned days after the game despite being contracted until the end of the 2007 season.Despite Connor's lack of interest towards the end of his tenure Sligo Rovers still managed a very credible 5th place finish in their first season back in the Premier Division.

Towards the middle of the 2008 season Sligo Rovers announced they were in financial difficulty with 130,000 euro needed to ensure the club survives beyond the end of the current season. [ [http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0715/sligorovers.html RTÉ Sport: Sligo Rovers in dire financial straits ] ]

Sligo Rovers are the subject of a popular, semi-autobiographical book, "There's Only One Red Army" by journalist Eamonn Sweeney, published in 1997.

upporters

The club has always had loyal following in Sligo town as well as throughout the North West of the country, where it has been an outpost for football since its membership of the League of Ireland, this despite not always being successful. There are five main supporters groups, they are:
* Forza Rovers (ultras)
* SRFC North Sligo Supporters Club.
* SRFC South Sligo Supporters Club.
* SRFC Dublin Supporters Club.
* The Bit O'Red Supporters Trust.

Current squad

Recent managerial history

References

External links

* [http://www.sligorovers.com/ Sligo Rovers FC Website]
* [http://sligorovers.proboards53.com/ Forza Rovers (ultras) Forum]
* [http://foot.ie/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=41 Sligo Rovers forum]
* [http://www.thebitored.com/ The Bit O'Red Supporters Trust]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/sligorovers The Showgrounds home of Sligo Rovers FC]