Rory Gaffney overcomes self-doubt to deliver the best season of his career

Shamrock Rovers will celebrate this week before turning their attention to facing Shakhtar Donetsk in the Conference League.

Sun, 09 Nov, 2025 - 20:42

Andrew Horgan

Rory Gaffney tore himself away from the Shamrock Rovers celebrations for a brief few moments to reflect on what his side had just achieved, although he did bring a piece of the party with him to the mixed zone at the Aviva Stadium.

“It's a can of warm cider, it's not great. I'll be on the Guinness later. How many can I have without a bad hangover? About four. We'll have more than four tonight though,” he laughed.

Rovers’ preparations for their upcoming Conference League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk in Tallaght on November 27 will begin in a few days’ time but until they do, Gaffney and his teammates will toast sealing the club’s first League and FAI Cup double since 1987.

Gaffney’s second half double was enough to see off the challenge of a spirited Cork City side on Sunday to put the seal on what the Tuam native believes is his best ever season, even if it isn’t over just yet.

“It's the best season I've ever had, no doubt about it,” insisted the 36-year-old.

“After being injured last year, if you'd told me that I'd get back and be a part of a team that's done the double and qualified for Europe and chipped in 15 goals along the way, I'd have probably said you were mad. But here we are.

“We're off now for a week to ten days and then we'll be back in for eight or nine days in the build up to Shakhtar Donetsk and then we've two games left after that.

“The season's not over yet but we're definitely getting a small break now, so we'll probably need it as well. We're just going to be pushing to try and get out of that group. We definitely need to win two out of the last three games.

“But after missing all last year with injury really, questioning myself, I aimed to get back to full fitness.

“I needed to play it at this level. And I have, thankfully, been able to chip in with some important goals along the way this season."

But for City manager Ger Nash, this season will be remembered for all the wrong reasons as their third relegation in six years was compounded by losing the FAI Cup Final.

“It's obviously been a lot that's happened this year and we've come into it at a certain point," said Nash.

“Where does the club go from here? I think the only option for the club would be the size of the fan base and the passion of the fan base... I think I've lost count of the amount of times people in the game in Ireland wanted Cork City to be a thriving Premier Division club.

"That's what we have to try and attain. The club has yo-yoed, it's obvious, for so long. I do think that trying to form an identity with all my staff, David (Meyler) and (Mark McNulty), and trying to form an identity where we can grow as a squad.”