Shamrock Rovers’ return to the top driven by era-defining trinity of Burke, Lopes and Watts

Shamrock Rovers is a club of contradictions.

Four league titles in succession were followed, last season, by the club’s best ever European campaign. The Hoops achieved this despite a boardroom in open conflict since co-owner Dermot Desmond questioned the actions of “some” directors.

The situation made Rovers manager Stephen Bradley consider his own future. “It’s draining,” said Bradley in April, “but over time you learn to manage it and realise what is important – family, health and the football.”

Last year’s second-place finish on 61 points was Rovers’ lowest total since 2017 (excluding the shortened season of 2020). And yet, they banked €6.4 million in Uefa prize money for making it beyond the league phase of the Europa Conference League.

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At the halfway stage in 2024, just before the international break, a six-point gap from eventual champions Shelbourne was extended to nine when Will Jarvis slotted two penalties at Tallaght Stadium as Pico Lopes was dismissed with two yellow cards.

Dan Cleary, Trevor Clarke and Josh Honohan all limped off that night and Rovers seemed to be coming apart at the seams.

The squad looked old as it faced into the 2025 season. Johnny Kenny’s return to Celtic, after a 20-goal loan season, had people questioning Bradley’s decision to fast-track a 16-year-old named Michael Noonan.

In February, Noonan scored on his debut in a 1-0 win over Molde of Norway, but 10 more appearances failed to yield another goal as the manager’s decision-making was put under the microscope.

Only Bradley and Rovers’ sporting director Stephen McPhail could see the wood for the trees. The Hoops were tracking John McGovern, a prodigious Gaelic footballer from Down, but Dungannon Swifts were not willing to sell the 22-year-old mid-campaign.

McGovern finished the season with 20 goals, including a thumping header in the Irish Cup final victory over Cliftonville.

“We could have moved in on other players in the previous window, but we wanted to wait for John,” Bradley revealed this week. “We really like what he’s about.”

Roberto 'Pico' Lopes has been a rock at the heart of Shamrock Rovers' defence for several seasons. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

By waiting for McGovern, Rovers took a risk as Noonan shared minutes with veteran forwards Aaron Greene and Rory Gaffney.

Despite a combined age of 70, Greene and Gaffney contributed nine goals between them and Noonan has three in the last three victories over Waterford, St Pat’s and Derry City.

Rovers have gone undefeated since the 3-2 loss to Bohemians on Easter Monday. It got lost in the shock of Rhys Brennan’s 96th-minute winner for Bohs, but Noonan scored his first league goal that day – a gliding 40-yard dribble and cool finish.

The Rovers academy is producing a stream of talent since Gavin Bazunu was sold to Manchester City in 2019. The imminent sale of 16-year-old Victor Ozhianvuna, potentially to Arsenal, could involve a seven-figure fee.

Both Ozhianvuna and Noonan were among the five Hoops named in Colin O’Brien’s Republic of Ireland under-17 squad ahead of November’s World Cup in Qatar. The kids are flying.

However, throughout this decade of groundbreaking success, there have been three constants on the pitch: Lopes, Dylan Watts and Graham Burke.

Others made significant contributions, like Dan Cleary and Danny Mandroiu, while Jack Byrne constantly struggled with calf and knee issues. This season, however, Byrne has six assists in eight games, proving that his technical excellence is permanent.

But it is Lopes, Watts and Burke who define this Shamrock Rovers era.

Galway United’s Vincent Borden (right) jumps for a header with Dylan Watts of Shamrock Rovers during a league match this season. Photograph: Evan Logan/Inpho

Lopes has been so defensively solid over the past five years that his father’s country, Cape Verde, took him to the 2021 and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Cup.

Watts is the midfield glue, playing all 18 matches during the Covid-restricted 2020 title-winning season. He maintained a remarkable level of consistency to be voted the PFAI Players’ Player of the Year in 2024.

Burke is another ever present. The 31-year-old’s silky style covered the wait for McGovern and injury to Mandroiu, with six goals and five assists putting him on course to better 2018, his best statistical season, when he had 16 goals and six assists (numbers that earned him three senior caps).

Rovers’ return to the top of the Premier Division has them six points clear of Drogheda United while Shelbourne are nine points adrift in sixth. That’s an 18-point swing away from Damien Duff’s team in 12 months.

Bradley has turned the tide at a critical juncture. A domestic cushion is needed ahead of, possibly, eight Conference League qualifiers from early July to late August.

Mid-season, Rovers are in fine fettle. The rest have lacked consistency although Drogheda, under Kevin Doherty, backed up their FAI Cup success by showing the value of becoming a fully professional squad. After this stage last season, the Drogs languished in the relegation play-off spot with 15 points. Currently, they are second on 29 points.

Moses Dyer, Galway United’s New Zealand international, leads the scoring charts on eight goals, one clear of Sligo Rovers teenager Owen Elding. Burke is joined on six by Derry City winger Michael Duffy, Drogheda revelation Warren Davis and the Tottenham Hotspur-bound Mason Melia.

Like Noonan, Melia recently found his groove with four goals in four games for St Patrick’s Athletic, including a bullet header against Cork City that might become his calling card.