Longford Town busy preparing for return to the First Division

In the aftermath of a disastrous season in the Premier Division and relegation at the end of last season, Longford will be hoping to get back on track in the push for promotion.

Daire Doyle left the club late on last season and the caretaker boss Johnny Martin didn't want to be considered for the vacant position. 

By all accounts there was a huge interest in the Town job and in the end former Longford player Gary Cronin was appointed the new manager having left Bray after they amalgamated with Cabinteely.

Pat Devlin, who was Cabinteely manager, is now the new manager of Bray/Cabinteely and they will be expected to make a big impact in the First Division.

 Gary Cronin is now the top man for the Town and there is no doubt that he has a big job on his hands. Since the end of last season the Town have lost a host of players, some to Premier Division clubs and quite a few to First Division clubs also. 

Striker Rob Manley has joined the new Bray club along with Dean Zambra and Mick Kelly while Wexford, under manager Ian Ryan, have  six ex-Town players in their current squad.

Conor Davis, Joe Manley and Aaron Dobbs from last season's  Longford squad have joined Aidan Friel, Paul Hunt and Jack Doherty in the Wexford squad for the 2022 season. 

Another former Town player Dylan McGlade is still with Colin Healy's Cork City. Paddy Kirk has joined Sligo Rovers while Aaron O'Driscoll, who was on loan to Longford from English League club Mansfield Town, has joined Shelbourne as has local lad Aodh Dervin

 Dylan Grimes along with Shamrock Rovers loanees Dean Williams and Darragh Nugent have joined Drogheda United, who have an ex Longford management team of Kevin Doherty and Daire Doyle who are also former Town players.

Dean Byrne, by all accounts, is taking some time out of the game.  Not a lot is known about this season's squad at the moment.

The team that played a very highly rated Derry City side in the pre-season friendly at Bishopsgate on Saturday last were given a footballing lesson. Supporters at the game on Saturday were less than impressed with the performance of the team/panel as Derry ran out easy winners on a 6-1 scoreline. 

Anyone present could see that Derry manager Ruaidhri Higgins has assembled a very strong squad that he hopes will be challenging for silverware at the end of the season. A team that is capable of pushing Shamrock Rovers off the top of Premier football in Ireland!

 The current Derry squad has four ex-Dundalk players in their squad, notably Duffy, Patching, Dummigan and McEleney who are all top players.

The fact that Republic of Ireland under 21 keeper Brian Maher didn't start against the Town shows the strength of the costly Derry squad.

 The Derry goals were scored by Michael Duffy, who was on target twice in the early stages of the game, while central defender Eoin Toal got his name on the scoresheet as did Jamie McGonigle, Brandan Kavanagh and a scorcher from  youngster Liam Mullen. 

The Town goal came from Sam Verdon who has rejoined the club for another spell.

The Town team that started the game on Saturday last was: Lee Steacy, Shane Elworthy, Dylan Barnett (c), Aaron Robinson, Mick McDonnell, Dean McMenamy, Ryan Graydon, Darren Craven, Sam Verdon, Callum Warfield, Trialist A. 

Subs used (second half): Eric Molloy, Ben Lynch, Matthew O'Brien and a few other trialists. 

The Town produced a much improved performance in another pre-season friendly against Bohemians with the match at Abbottstown on Tuesday night finishing in a 1-1 draw.

In horrendous weather conditions, Bohs took an early lead before new signing Eric Molloy scored the Longford goal in the 13th minute. 

At the time of writing it is difficult to confirm details of the actual Town squad for the coming season. There is no doubt that manager Cronin is looking to strengthen the current squad as all the other teams in the First Division have brought in many experienced players.

Some supporters are downbeat at the moment as they are looking at opposing First Division clubs who are bringing in experienced and good young players to push for promotion or the play-off positions at least.

 There will be no easy games in the First Division this year and the fact that there are only 9 teams in the second tier league will make it harder. 

The Town Supporters hope that manager Cronin will be able to add some other quality players to the squad in the next week or so. 

Longford’s opening friendly against Premier Division champions Shamrock Rovers the previous weekend ended 1-1.

The opening goal of the game at the Roadstone ground came for the home side after only four minutes. After the early setback the Town played well against a very strong Rovers squad and got the equaliser in the closing minutes. 

Longford Town have another pre-season friendly away against UCD this Saturday February 5. Kick-off 2pm at the UCD Bowl in the countdown to the start of the 2022 SSE Airtricity League First Division campaign against Cobh Ramblers at Bishopsgate on Saturday February 19.