New look Longford Town FC start season on Monday as they host St Mochtas in Leinster Senior Cup

The new look Longford Town team commence the 2025 season on Monday next at Bishopsgate when they play the first of three Leinster Senior Cup games in preparation for the commencement of the league which takes place on Friday, February 14. 

The Leinster Senior Cup previously was on a knock out basis but this year in their wisdom the Leinster FA decided on groups which will mean that all clubs will have three competitive games to get the season off to a competitive start. 

On Monday next the Town are at home to St Mochtas who are a Leinster Senior League team from the top division. We all know that the standards in the Leinster Senior league top divisions are comparable with the lower teams in the First Division and our games against them will give us an indication on how we will fare in this year's League campaign. There is no doubt that St Mochtas will be a very tough team to beat and they will be very competitive. 

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After St Mochtas it really gets tough as the other teams in the group are FAI Cup holders Drogheda Utd and Premier Division champions Shelbourne. Usually in preseason you play teams from the Premier Division and this year it's similar but more competitive. 

A good run in the Leinster Senior Cup would be nice but no one will lose any sleep if results aren't very good. It's all about preparation for our opening league game against Bray Wanderers which takes place on Saturday, February 15 at Bishopsgate. 

At the time of writing the exact squad for the coming season is very sketchy as we can only confirm six players for the coming season while most of the other First Division clubs have at least double the amount we currently have. Last season's player of the year Dean O'Shea, who had a superb season, and we look to him to be as competitive as this season. 

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Young midfielder Danny Norris who has a knack of scoring some outstanding goals has also re-signed and we expect him to be one of the stars in the 2025 season. 

Luke Wade-Slater who joined the club last season and who previously played in the UK and also in the Irish League where he played for Larne and Warrenpoint Town. He played in the Premier Division here with Drogheda Utd and Bohemians. He also played with Stevenage in the UK. We expect big things from Luke. 

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Dean George had a mixed debut season last year as he picked up some injuries and missed a big part of the season. Dean previously played with Treaty Utd and he also played with Midland rivals Athlone Town. We expect big things from Dean this season especially on the scoring front. 

Eric Yoro joined the club last summer and made 13 appearances playing in central defence. The 20 year old played for UCD and he also was on the books of Bolton Wanderers. He was very impressive in the Town defence on the run into the end of season. 

Keeper Harry Halwax joined the club in July 2024 when he replaced Jack Brady who went full time with Galway Utd. Jack recently joined FAI Cup winners Drogheda Utd. Harry was on the books of Queens Park Rangers. 

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With preseason in full swing there will be more signings announced in the coming weeks which will satisfy the supporters who are worrying about the coming season and the fact that all the other First Division clubs are announcing new players and showing much stronger squads than last season. 

Manager Wayne Groves is working hard to strengthen his squad and we should have a much better idea of the squad in the coming weeks.

Leinster Senior Cup

Longford Town V St Mochtas at Bishopsgate on Monday next January 20 Kick-off 7.45

First Division commences Friday February 14

Town opening home fixtures

Saturday February 15 home to Bray Wanderers

Saturday March 1 home to Athlone Town

Saturday March 15 home to Kerry FC

Saturday March 29 home to Treaty

Saturday April 12 home to UCD

Saturday April 26 home to Dundalk

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Season tickets

Did you get your season tickets yet LTFC.ie/tickets.

Quiz night

Friday next January 17 at 8pm in Andy Byrnes pub table of 4 for €40 in aid of Section O and Longford Town Supporters Club. There will be a raffle and DJ. Andrew Tyan will provide the music. Make it a date. Andy's Ballymahon St Quiz night commences at 8pm sharp.