Stephen Kenny has hailed Dundalk’s journey from First Division wilderness to back-to-back Premier Division winners.
The manager led the Lilywhites to consecutive championships, secured with a 1-1 draw against his former club Shamrock Rovers last night.
“It’s great for the club, a great history, it was on its knees, seven years in the First Division,” he said.
“Had they been relegated in the [2012] play-off nobody outside of Dundalk would have really shed any tears.
“The club itself now is double title winners, back-to-back champions, back in the Champions League qualifiers. It’s a great testament to the hard work everyone else has put in.
“It’s a tremendous effort by the players really. It wasn’t our best performance tonight by any stretch of the imagination but it’s over the season.
“We’ve only lost one game, we’ve been utterly dominant and the players have been relentless in their efforts, a lot of great individual talent."
Captain Stephen O’Donnell was also elated after the match and confessed he fancied Louth rivals Drogheda United, who are in a relegation battle, to put it up to second-placed Cork City. In the event, they held the Leesiders to a 1-1 draw.
“Yeah, it’s a great night. Luckily enough Drogheda did us a favour against Cork," said O'Donnell. "I thought Drogheda might get a result. They are scrapping for their lives. [It’s a] great night for everyone.”
The former Bohs man praised the visiting fans for their dedication.
“I think we would have taken twice as many, they are great supporters," he said.
"We couldn’t have dreamed of what happened in the last three years, I doubt they could have when they were in the last game of the season maybe four years ago, they got two or three hundred there.
“I suppose the manager was drilling home that Dundalk is a massive footballing town and if we could just give them something to cheer about they’d tag onto it.
"Look at the support there now. Hopefully, we can go and build on that in the next few seasons.
“What a job the manager has done in three years.”
