Stephen Bradley: Dundalk on a different financial level to the rest of the league

Dundalk’s current spending is a throwback to the profligate times of the Celtic Tiger era and greatly exceeds their rivals. Something the club admitted last year.

Shamrock Rovers’ manager Stephen Bradley

Given he should know having enjoyed major success as a player during the last golden age for the domestic game, Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley believes Dundalk are operating off the biggest budget he’s ever seen in the League of Ireland.

Champions Rovers, insists Bradley, are doing it their way ahead of Dundalk rolling up to Tallaght Stadium for tonight’s first league clash of the campaign.

In its Celtic Tiger era boom years, wages in the league rose 10 times faster than the industrial average between 2005 and 2008, a time when Bradley starred for Drogheda United in winning the FAI Cup (2005) and league (2007).

Dundalk’s current spending is a throwback to those profligate times and greatly exceeds their rivals. Something the club admitted last year.

“Our wage bill is double that of anyone in the league so we’ve got to do better,” said Matt Hulsizer, founder of Peak6 who own Dundalk, when speaking to the Irish Examiner last October in reference to the club’s poor league form which saw them finish third in the table, if beating Rovers in the FAI Cup final brought some solace.

"I’m sure the owners expect them to be right there winning,” said Bradley yesterday of tonight’s visitors to Dublin 24. “What they are spending, it’s the biggest I’ve ever seen in this country, so I imagine they’d expect to win everything that’s in their path.

“League One clubs can’t compete with them in the market, that shows where you are. In Ireland, it blows everyone out of the water. We still expect to win, but we do it a different way.”

There will also be a different face in Hoops’ defence this evening as key centre-back Roberto Lopes is in Covid quarantine having helped Cape Verde to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in a 3-1 win over Cameroon last Friday.

The same day the Irish Government introduced further anti-Covid legislation, ruling that arrivals from Category Two countries — which includes Cape Verde — must quarantine in a designated hotel for 12 days.

Rovers expect to be at full strength otherwise. Dundalk are not so fortunate. Giant Faroese defender Sonni Nattestad is suspended while midfielders Daniel Kelly and Sean Murray are out injured.

“Everybody is chomping at the bit to try to redeem their individual and collective reputations after last week’s shock home defeat to Finn Harps,” said Dundalk manager Shane Keegan.

“It doesn’t matter who the opposition is, but it probably does add extra focus to have Rovers. There’s plenty of needle between both sides, that’s for sure.”