2016 Dundalk F.C. season

After dominating domestically throughout the season, a third league title in a row was sealed with two games to spare in 2016,^[2] A chance at a 'Double Double' was spurned, however, when they lost in the FAI Cup Final to a goal scored in the last minute of extra time by Cork City F.C.^[3]

The 2016–17 Champions League saw the club qualify for the Champions League play-off round, after they first defeated FH of Iceland,^[4] then came from a goal down in the tie to defeat BATE 3–0 in Tallaght Stadium,^[5] winning through 3–1 on aggregate. Dundalk drew Legia Warsaw, with the first leg played in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in front of a crowd of 30,417.^[6] They suffered a 2–0 defeat in the home leg, but shocked Legia in the return leg by taking a 1–0 lead through Robbie Benson's volley. With Dundalk pushing for the equaliser that would have taken the tie to extra-time, Legia scored on the break, and won the tie 3–1 on aggregate.^[7]

Defeat in the play-off round meant that the club qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, only the second Irish team to have done so. A draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands,^[8] followed by a victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght Stadium,^[9] were the first points earned by an Irish club at this stage of a European competition – both the equaliser in Alkmaar and the winning goal in Tallaght being scored by Ciarán Kilduff. In the third match they took the lead in Tallaght against Zenit St Petersburg, and were 20 minutes from topping the table, before eventually losing 2–1.^[10] In a campaign that would run from 13 July to 8 December, five weeks beyond the end of the domestic season, Dundalk failed to pick up any more points in the remaining matches. But they had attracted considerable attention.^[11][12]

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  IRL Gary Rogers 2 DF  IRL Sean Gannon 3 DF  IRL Brian Gartland 4 DF  IRL Andy Boyle (vice-captain) 5 MF  IRL Chris Shields 6 MF  IRL Stephen O'Donnell (captain) 7 MF  IRL Daryl Horgan 8 MF  IRL John Mountney 9 FW  IRL David McMillan 10 MF  IRL Ronan Finn 11 FW  IRL Patrick McEleney 12 DF  IRL Shane Grimes 14 DF  IRL Dane Massey

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  IRL Paddy Barrett 16 FW  IRL Ciarán Kilduff 17 MF  IRL George Poynton 18 MF  IRL Robbie Benson 19 MF  NIR Dean Shiels 20 FW  IRL Ciarán O'Connor 21 MF  NIR Darren Meenan 22 GK  ROU Gabriel Sava 24 DF  IRL Alan Keane 26 FW  IRL Michael O'Connor 27 GK  IRL Ben Kelly 28 MF  IRL Keith Dalton 29 MF  IRL Carlton Ubaezuono