2011 Shamrock Rovers F.C. season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Richard Brush 2 DF  IRL Patrick Sullivan 3 DF  IRL Enda Stevens 4 DF  SCO Craig Sives 5 DF  ENG Dan Murray (Captain) 6 MF  IRL Stephen Rice 7 MF  IRL Gary McCabe 8 MF  IRL Stephen O'Donnell 9 FW  SCO Gary Twigg 10 FW  IRL Karl Sheppard 11 FW  IRL Ciarán Kilduff 13 DF  IRL Pat Flynn 14 FW  IRL Dean Kelly

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  IRL Paddy Kavanagh 16 GK  JAM Ryan Thompson 17 DF  IRL Ken Oman 18 MF  NIR Chris Turner 19 FW  IRL Gary O'Neill 20 MF  IRL Billy Dennehy 21 MF  IRL Ronan Finn 22 MF  IRL Conor McCormack 23 DF  IRL Sean Gannon 24 MF  IRL Karl Moore 25 GK  IRL Craig Hyland 26 DF  SCO Jim Paterson 27 MF  ENG Rohan Ricketts

Shamrock Rovers began their pre-season on 1 February against non-league side, Killarney Celtic at Celtic Park. Surprisingly, Killarney Celtic started off positively with a goal in the opening ten minutes of the game. Killarney kept this lead until the 53rd minute when Ciarán Kilduff scored a goal to equalize. From then on Rovers began to get into the game. In the 77th minute, Anthony Murphy put Rovers into the lead with a terrific goal. Followed by this, Stephen O'Donnell and Karl Sheppard both scored with Billy Dennehy scoring twice on the 79th and 86th minute, resulting in the game ending 6–1 to Shamrock Rovers.^[2]

Rovers next pre-season game was against First Division side, Cork City on 4 February in Musgrave Park. Just like in the last game, Rovers conceded a goal in the 30th minute. But, Rovers fought back and just after the break, Gary McCabe scored a goal to level both sides. Then on the 75th minute, Patrick Kavanagh scored the winning goal, thus the game ended with Rovers winning 2–1.

Three days later, Rovers played against Celtic XI at Tallaght Stadium. This game was a highly anticipated game due to the high profile of Celtic. The game started off well for Rovers who did not concede a goal in the first half, like in the two previous games. But, in the 55th minute, Daryl Murphy fired past Alan Mannus to put Celtic in the lead. 3 minutes later, Graham Carey scored a goal to win the game for Celtic XI. This was Rovers first defeat this season.

On 13 February, Rovers played their next pre-season friendly against First Division side, Monaghan United in front of a crowd of just 400. Just before the break, Rovers were brought down to 10 men when Dean Kelly was sent off. Then, just 3 minutes before the end of the game, Conor McCormack was sent off. The game ended in a draw. A lot of chances for Rovers made the game very frustrating for Rovers. The man of the match was Dan Murray.

Two days later, Rovers played against IFA Premiership side, Cliftonville. In just under 1 minute, Gary Twigg opened the scoring for Rovers. This lead lasted until 15 minutes into the game, when Eamon Seydak put Cliftonville on level terms with Rovers. After the break, Rovers went on a goal frenzy, with goals from Ciarán Kilduff, Enda Stevens, Karl Sheppard and Gary McCabe to put Rovers ahead. Cliftonville got a consolation goal in the 85th minute to end the game in a 5–2 win to Rovers.

  Win   Draw   Loss

Killarney Celtic v Shamrock Rovers

1 February	Killarney Celtic	1–6	Shamrock Rovers	Celtic Park, Killarney
19:30 IST	Pa McGrath 10'	(Report)	Ciarán Kilduff 53' Anthony Murphy 77' Billy Dennehy 79', 86' Stephen O'Donnell 89' Karl Sheppard 91'

Cork City v Shamrock Rovers

4 February	Cork City	1–2	Shamrock Rovers	Musgrave Park, Cork
19:45 IST	Vincent Escudé-Candau 30'	(Report)	Gary McCabe 46' Patrick Kavanagh 75'

Shamrock Rovers v Celtic XI

7 February	Shamrock Rovers	0–2	Celtic XI	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST		(Report)	Daryl Murphy 55' Graham Carey 58'	Referee: Damien Hancock

Shamrock Rovers v Monaghan United

13 February	Shamrock Rovers	0–0	Monaghan United	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST	Dean Kelly  47' Conor McCormack  87'	(Report)		Attendance: 400 Referee: Richie Winter

Cliftonville v Shamrock Rovers

15 February	Cliftonville	2–5	Shamrock Rovers	Solitude, Belfast
19:45 IST	Eamon Seydak 15' Rory Donnelly 85'	(Report)	Gary Twigg 1' Ciarán Kilduff 49' Enda Stevens 55' Karl Sheppard 68' Gary McCabe 75'

Shelbourne v Shamrock Rovers

18 February	Shelbourne	1–0	Shamrock Rovers	Tolka Park, Dublin
19:30 IST	Stephen Paisley 39'	(Report)		Referee: Damien Hancock

Shamrock Rovers v Waterford United

25 February	Shamrock Rovers	2–0	Waterford United	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST	Gary McCabe 35' Gary Twigg 49'	(Report)		Referee: Neil Doyle

Malmö FF v Shamrock Rovers

23 November	Malmö FF	2–0	Shamrock Rovers	Swedbank Stadion, Malmö
19:00 IST	Hamad 42' Nilsson 62'	(Report)

Shamrock Rovers competed in the Setanta Cup for the first time this season.^[21] As winners of the 2010 League of Ireland, the club received a bye into the quarter-finals,^[22] where they played against IFA Premiership side Lisburn Distillery, who had overcome UCD in the first round.^[23] The first leg took place on 14 March at the New Grosvenor Stadium in Ballyskeagh. Rovers won the game 3–0 by virtue of goals from Karl Sheppard, Ciarán Kilduff and Dean Kelly.^[24] The second leg took place on 22 March and finished 4–2;^[25] Rovers progressed to the next round 7–2 on aggregate. Gary Liggett capitalised on Pat Flynn's mistake to give Lisburn an early lead before Kilduff equalised for Rovers.^[25] Sheppard had already had a shot cleared off the line before the equaliser.^[25] Rovers took the lead through Stephen Rice shortly after the restart only for Liggett to score again to level the game. However, 2 goals from Kavanagh in the final ten minutes ensured a victory for Rovers.^[25]

The draw for the semi-finals took place on 23 March in Belfast.^[26] Shamrock Rovers were drawn against either Portadown, of Northern Ireland, or Sligo Rovers, of the Republic of Ireland, who had yet to complete their quarter-final tie.^[26] Sligo Rovers went on to win the tie, prompting a rematch of the 2010 FAI Cup Final in which Sligo Rovers had defeated Shamrock Rovers on penalties. The first leg took place on 11 April at the Showgrounds, in Sligo. Ronan Finn's long-range goal and Karl Sheppard's header gave Rovers a 2–0 win over the home side, who had John Russell sent off 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute.^[27] The second leg took place on 19 April at Tallaght Stadium. Within three minutes, Sligo Rovers were back in the tie with a goal from Eoin Doyle.^[28] Their lead lasted only five minutes, however, as a goal from Karl Sheppard levelled the match.^[28] Ronan Finn then hit the post before providing the assist for Dennehy's 25th-minute goal which gave Rovers the lead.^[28] The game finished 2–1,^[28] giving Rovers a 4–1 aggregate victory and a place in their first Setanta Cup final.

It was also Rovers' opponents, fellow League of Ireland side Dundalk, first appearance in the final of the competition. They overcame Linfield,^[29] Glentoran^[30] and Cliftonville,^[31] all of Northern Ireland, to reach the final. The final took place at Tallaght Stadium on 14 May. Despite the game taking place in their home stadium, Rovers were technically the away team following the drawing of lots.^[21] Rovers won the final 2–0 and claimed their first piece of silverware this season.^[32] Gary O'Neill opened the scoring in the second half.^[32] Billy Dennehy scored in the 93rd minute to secure the title for Rovers.^[32]

Lisburn Distillery v Shamrock Rovers

14 March Quarter-finals (1st Leg)	Lisburn Distillery	0–3	Shamrock Rovers	New Grosvenor Stadium, Ballyskeagh
19:45 IST	Colm Cooling  78'	(Report)	Karl Sheppard 35' Ciarán Kilduff 40' Dean Kelly 68'

Shamrock Rovers v Lisburn Distillery

22 March Quarter-finals (2nd leg)	Shamrock Rovers	4–2	Lisburn Distillery	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:45 IST	Ciaran Kilduff 42' Stephen Rice 47' Patrick Kavanagh 82', 89'	(Report)	Gary Liggett 14', 57'	Attendance: 785 Referee: Neil Doyle

Shamrock Rovers won 7–2 on aggregate

Sligo Rovers v Shamrock Rovers

11 April Semi-finals (1st leg)	Sligo Rovers	0–2	Shamrock Rovers	Showgrounds, Sligo
19:45 IST	John Russell  74'	(Report)	Ronan Finn 27' Karl Sheppard 58'

Shamrock Rovers v Sligo Rovers

19 April Semi-finals (2nd leg)	Shamrock Rovers	2–1	Sligo Rovers	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:45 IST	Karl Sheppard 8' Billy Dennehy 25'	Report	Eoin Doyle 3'	Referee: Raymond Crangle

Shamrock Rovers won 4–1 on aggregate

Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers

14 May Final	Dundalk	0–2	Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:15 IST		(Report)	Gary O'Neill 65' Billy Dennehy 90+3'	Attendance: 4,789 Referee: Alan Kelly, Cork

Shamrock Rovers began their UEFA Champions League campaign in the second qualifying round after winning the 2010 League of Ireland.^[33][34] The draw for this round was made in Nyon, Switzerland on 20 June 2011.^[35] As one of the League Champions based in Western Europe, the club was seeded in Group 3.^[36] The draw paired Rovers with Estonian champions Flora Tallinn.^[37]

Rovers played the first leg on 12 July at Tallaght Stadium.^[38] The game ended 1–0 to Shamrock Rovers, which was a historic result as it was the first time Rovers had won a Champions League match.^[39] Chris Turner scored the winning goal in the 34th minute, just one minute after Flora Tallinn had missed a penalty.^[38] Rovers travelled to A. Le Coq Arena in Estonia for the second leg on 19 July.^[40] The game ended 0–0, which was enough for Rovers to progress to the next stage of the competition.^[40]

The draw for the third qualifying round took place on 15 July;^[41] as winners in the second qualifying round, they were placed in the "Champions Route" section.^[42] Rovers were drawn with Danish champions F.C. Copenhagen,^[43] who had appeared in the group stages of the competition the previous season.^[42] The first leg was played in Denmark, as determined by the draw, despite a request by Copenhagen to switch the order of the home and away legs.^[44] The game took place on 27 July and was broadcast live by Setanta Sports.^[45] Copenhagen went ahead after 4 minutes when Sölvi Ottesen beat Rovers' goalkeeper Ryan Thompson with a header.^[46] Both sides had scoring opportunities^[46][47] but the game finished 1–0.^[47]

The return leg was held on 2 August and was broadcast live on RTÉ Two.^[47] Copenhagen again opened the scoring, through Dame N'Doye, although Chris Turner had earlier hit the crossbar.^[48] They scored their second of the game, and third on aggregate, in the 73rd minute through Christian Bolaños.^[48] There were no further goals; Rovers' defeat consigned the club to the Europa League play-off round.^[49]

Shamrock Rovers v Flora Tallinn

12 July Second qualifying round (1st Leg)	Shamrock Rovers	1–0	Flora Tallinn	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:00 IST	Chris Turner 34'	(Report)		Attendance: 5,026 Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)

Flora Tallinn v Shamrock Rovers

19 July Second qualifying round (2nd Leg)	Flora Tallinn	0–0	Shamrock Rovers	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
16:45 IST		(Report)		Attendance: 2,970 Referee: Dimitar Meckarovski (Macedonia)

Shamrock Rovers won 1–0 on aggregate

F.C. Copenhagen v Shamrock Rovers

27 July Third qualifying round (1st Leg)	F.C. Copenhagen	1–0	Shamrock Rovers	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
19:00 IST	Sölvi Ottesen 4'	(Report)		Attendance: 11,571 Referee: Pavle Radovanović (Montenegro)

Shamrock Rovers v F.C. Copenhagen

2 August Third qualifying round (2nd Leg)	Shamrock Rovers	0–2	F.C. Copenhagen	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
19:45 IST		(Report)	Dame N'Doye 42' Christian Bolaños 73'	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)

Shamrock Rovers lost 3–0 on aggregate.

After defeat to F.C. Copenhagen in the Champions League, Rovers went into the Europa League, the secondary European competition. They entered the competition in the play-off round, the draw for which was held on 5 August in Nyon, Switzerland.^[50] Rovers were placed as an unseeded team in Pot 1, which meant that they could have faced teams such as Atlético Madrid and Panathinaikos, although the club were eventually drawn against Serbian club Partizan Belgrade.^[51] Partizan had also exited the Champions League at the third qualifying round after defeat to Belgian side Genk.^[52] In the previous season, Partizan had reached the group stages of the Champions League,^[51] so many considered Shamrock Rovers the underdogs.

The first leg, which was broadcast live on RTÉ Two,^[53] took place on 18 August at Tallaght Stadium.^[54] Rovers started the game with a defensive tactic, but were unable to prevent Nemanja Tomić scoring after only 14 minutes following a dominant opening from the away side.^[55] Rovers did improve towards the end of the half, but only after Partizan had wasted several opportunities to increase their lead.^[55] Partizan were again the better side in the beginning of the second half,^[55] however the introduction of Gary O'Neill brought Shamrock Rovers back into the game as an attacking force.^[55] In the 81st minute, Gary McCabe broke through the Partizan defense with the aid of Gary Twigg and scored the equalising goal.^[55] Despite further chances for Rovers,^[55] the match ended 1–1, leaving the tie in the balance.

The second leg took place on 25 August at Partizan Stadium.^[56] The match was broadcast live on Setanta Ireland.^[57] Rovers went into the game needing to score at least one goal to avoid being eliminated from the competition, due to the away goal scored by Partizan Belgrade in the first leg. The team started the game nervously and could have conceded after only 3 minutes but for Vladimir Jovancic shooting wide when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.^[58] Vladimir Volkov forced a save from Ryan Thompson in the 28th minute,^[59] before the Partizan player put his side in front after 35 minutes.^[58] Shortly after the interval, Chris Turner came close to scoring for Rovers when his header hit the post.^[58] The breakthrough for Rovers came in the 58th minute - a spectacular volley from Patrick Sullivan put the teams back on level terms again.^[58] The match went to extra-time as Partizan were unable to convert several chances.^[59] Rovers were fortunate to remain level in the game following Stefan Babović's free-kick which hit the woodwork^[58] and a reckless challenge by Ryan Thompson which could have resulted in a penalty to the home side.^[59] The winning goal came in the 113th minute of extra time. Ciarán Kilduff's shot was only parried away as far as Karl Sheppard, who was taken down inside the penalty area by the Partizan goalkeeper before he could shoot.^[59] Midfielder Stephen O'Donnell converted the penalty. The game ended 2–1 to Shamrock Rovers, with Rovers winning the tie 3–2 on aggregate and qualifying for the group stages of the competition. This was the first time an Irish club had qualified for the group stages of a European competition.^[60]

Shamrock Rovers v Partizan Belgrade

18 August Play-off round (1st Leg)	Shamrock Rovers	1–1	Partizan Belgrade	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
20:45 IST	Gary McCabe 81'	(Report)	Nemanja Tomić 14'	Attendance: 4,650 Referee: Hannes Kaasik (Estonia)

Partizan Belgrade v Shamrock Rovers

25 August Play-off round (2nd Leg)	Partizan Belgrade	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Shamrock Rovers	Stadion FK Partizan, Belgrade
19:30 IST	Vladimir Volkov 35' Medo Kamara	(Report)	Patrick Sullivan 58' Stephen O'Donnell 113' (pen.)	Attendance: 13,706 Referee: Ján Valášek (Slovakia)

Shamrock Rovers won 3–2 on aggregate

The draw for the Europa League Group Stages took place on 26 August in Monaco.^[61] Based on the UEFA coefficients, Rovers were placed in Pot 4. This meant that they would be drawn with one team from each other pot. Among the teams which Rovers could have faced were Fulham, Atlético Madrid and Stoke City. The draw eventually paired Rovers with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League, Rubin Kazan of the Russian Premier League and PAOK of the Super League Greece. All matches were broadcast live on TV3.^[62]

Rovers' first group stage fixture took place on 15 September against Rubin Kazan.^[63] Rubin Kazan started off well with a goal from Obafemi Martins in the 3rd minute.^[63] Rovers got into the game after the goal but the away side still dominated possession during the first half.^[64] Both sides missed penalties in the match,^[63] although goals from Christian Noboa and Gökdeniz Karadeniz in the second half ensured victory for Rubin Kazan.^[63]

Rovers then travelled to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur on 29 September.^[65] Tottenham started off well with both Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko hitting the woodwork before half-time.^[65] Stephen O'Donnell cleared Roman Pavlyuchenko's header off the line to maintain the deadlock at the end of the first half.^[65] It was Rovers who took a surprise lead early in the second half. In the 51st minute, Stephen Rice diverted a long-range shot into the net to put Rovers ahead.^[65] Their lead did not last long however - in the 60th minute, Pavlyuchenko equalised from a header.^[66] One minute later, Defoe scored to put Spurs ahead.^[66] Giovani dos Santos completed the scoring in the 65th minute.^[66] The match ended in a 3–1 defeat for Rovers.

PAOK were the opponents on 20 October in Thessaloniki, Greece. PAOK took the lead early in the first half through Costin Lazăr's long range strike.^[67] Both sides then had chances to score, but it was Shamrock Rovers who scored the next goal - Karl Sheppard headed in a free-kick from Billy Dennehy.^[67] However, Rovers suffered another defeat due to another long range goal from Vieirinha.^[67] In the return leg in Dublin, PAOK scored three goals in the first half as they comfortably won the game 3–1, and in doing so eliminated Rovers from the competition.^[68] Billy Dennehy scored what proved to be only a consolation goal for Rovers from a free kick early in the second half.^[68]

Rovers again failed to pick up any points in their fifth group game, an away game against Rubin Kazan. Nelson Haedo Valdez took advantage of poor defending to score his side's first goal.^[69] Their lead did not last long, however, as Ken Oman equalised for Rovers two minutes later.^[69] Bibras Natcho's goal gave Rubin Kazan the lead at half-time; their lead would have been greater had Dan Murray not cleared Obafemi Martins' effort off the line.^[69] Rubin Kazan scored twice in the second half to complete the scoring, although Karl Sheppard did hit the bar late in the game.^[69]

The club's European campaign concluded with a 4–0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur; a result that meant that Rovers failed to pick up any points during the group stage.^[70] In what was only their second competitive fixture since the end of the domestic season, Rovers had the better of the opening minutes^[70] and should have taken the lead after only 2 minutes, but James Paterson's effort was wrongly ruled out for offside.^[70] Steven Pienaar's first goal for Tottenham was the first goal of the match.^[70] Andros Townsend and Jermain Defoe scored Tottenham's second and third goals respectively. Although Tottenham did score a fourth goal through Harry Kane,^[70] it was Rovers who had the best of the second half,^[70] while both Jake Livermore and Carlo Cudicini were lucky to avoid red cards after bringing down Rovers players when they were through on goal.^[71] This was Michael O'Neill's final match in charge of the club.^[72]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAOK	RK	TH	SR
1	PAOK	6	3	3	0	10	6	+4	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–1	0–0	2–1
2	Rubin Kazan	6	3	2	1	11	5	+6	11			2–2	—	1–0	4–1
3	Tottenham Hotspur	6	3	1	2	9	4	+5	10			1–2	1–0	—	3–1
4	Shamrock Rovers	6	0	0	6	4	19	−15	0			1–3	0–3	0–4	—

Shamrock Rovers v Rubin Kazan

15 September Group Stages (R. 1)	Shamrock Rovers	0–3	Rubin Kazan	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST		(Report)	Obafemi Martins 3' Christian Noboa 50' Gökdeniz Karadeniz 60'	Attendance: 6,920 Referee: Zsolt Szabó (Hungary)

Tottenham Hotspur v Shamrock Rovers

29 September Group Stages (R. 2)	Tottenham Hotspur	3–1	Shamrock Rovers	White Hart Lane, London
20:05 IST	Roman Pavlyuchenko 60' Jermain Defoe 61' Giovani dos Santos 65'	(Report)	Stephen Rice 48'	Attendance: 34,350 Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)

PAOK v Shamrock Rovers

20 October Group Stages (R. 3)	PAOK	2–1	Shamrock Rovers	Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki
20:05 IST	Costin Lazăr 12' Vieirinha 63'	(Report)	Karl Sheppard 48'	Referee: Tony Asumaa (Finland)

Shamrock Rovers v PAOK

3 November Group Stages (R. 4)	Shamrock Rovers	1–3	PAOK	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST	Billy Dennehy 51'	(Report)	Dimitris Salpingidis 7' 38' Giorgos Fotakis 35'	Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)

Rubin Kazan v Shamrock Rovers

30 November Group Stages (R. 5)	Rubin Kazan	4–1	Shamrock Rovers	Central Stadium, Kazan
18:00 IST	Nelson Haedo Valdez 10', 51' Bibras Natcho 36' Obafemi Martins 62'	Report	Ken Oman 12'	Attendance: 15,740[73] Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

Shamrock Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur

15 December Group Stages (R. 6)	Shamrock Rovers	0–4	Tottenham Hotspur	Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
18:00 IST		(Report)	Steven Pienaar 29' Andros Townsend 38' Jermain Defoe 45' Harry Kane 90+1'	Referee: Stephan Studer (Switzerland)