The Dugout

Alan Mathews

Firstly on behalf of everybody connected with St Patricks Athletic Football Club we would like to convey our sincere condolences and deepest sympathies to Derry City Manager Ruaidhrí Higgins and the Higgins family on the sudden passing of his brother Kevin, we are thinking of you all at this sad time, may he rest in peace.

A very good evening to everyone and a very warm welcome to the management, players, officials and fans of Derry City FC. We hope you enjoy your stay with us and wish you a safe journey home after the game.

Tonight is the first league game of the 2023 season and one that we are very much looking forward to. It’s been a very busy off-season for the club and I would like to say thank you to our fantastic backroom team who continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes, ensuring the team is in the best possible place to perform on any given week. I would like to thank all our sponsors, patrons, and volunteers who do so much to support our club. We are very lucky to have so many talented people working together to give the team a platform for success.

Since our last game here at the beginning of November we have seen a number of players come in and move on. We would like to thank all those players who have moved on to other clubs for their contribution last season and welcome into the fold, Noah Lewis, Tommy Lonergan, Vlad Kreida, Jake Mulraney, Conor Carthy, and Jay McGrath, who I am sure you will give a great Inchicore welcome to and will get behind them for the season ahead.

Tonight's opponents are a club we have a lot of respect for and will no doubt be one of the club’s who will have aspirations of winning the League this season, following on from their FAI Cup success last year. Ruaidhrí has assembled a very strong squad and they have already taken the Presidents Cup back to Derry.

We go into tonight’s game confident that we too can make a challenge on all fronts this season and are delighted with the new additions we have made. We believe we have the right mixture of youth and experience in addition to a hunger and desire to succeed within the group that will drive us on this season and help us achieve our ambitions.

To help us achieve on the pitch we can only do it with the support of you, our wonderful fans, we want Friday nights to be special in Inchicore and with your backing from the terraces we will try and play a brand of football you can get behind and enjoy.

Here’s looking to a great 2023 season, thanks for getting behind the team and I hope you enjoy the game.

Thanks,

Alan Mathews, Technial Director, St Patrick's Athletic FC.