St. Patrick's Athletic have gotten a head start in the 2024 title race by virtue of some pre-season go-karting.
Players at the Inchicore club were taken to nearby Kylemore Karting last week as manager Jon Daly looks to maintain the team spirit that helped them push Shamrock Rovers in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division last season, before picking up the FAI Cup in November.
That win over Bohemians at the Aviva was the third cup success Chris Forrester in his career, and the Saints talisman feels outings like the one last week are key to bringing the group together.
"It was like Mario Kart for some boys," Forrester told RTÉ Sport at the launch of the 2024 League of Ireland season.
"It was good bonding. You get to see the lads outside of football which is good. You get to know them and get to know about their families. Jon has done that really well with us this year. He's gelled us all together. We're a very welcoming group as it is but the work that Jon has done, organising the go-karting and stuff, will help us in the long-run. It might seem like an insignificant thing but it can bond you really well."
Forrester is entering his third season working alongside Daly, with the latter initially having arrived at Richmond Park to work as an assistant manager to Tim Clancy.
Since Daly entered the managerial hotseat himself last May, Forrester has been hugely impressed with the former Ireland under-21 international.
"You know where you stand with Jon," continued Forrester, who turned 31 during the close season.
"If his standards aren't being met by you personally or collectively, he'll let you know. As players, you want clear, defined messages. We've all bought into that and the lads he's brought in this year have all bought into it as well."
The new recruits Forrester mentions include Ruairi Keating and Aaron Bolger from Cork City, along with the two Kavanaghs, Brandon and Chris from Derry City, and Brazilian goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga on loan from Liverpool.
Keating and Forrester were among the top scorers in the Premier Division last season, each finishing on 13 goals, two behind Jonathan Afolabi and Jack Moylan, who have both since departed the league.
The arrival of Keating should ease the goalscoring burden on Forrester but he doesn't buy into the idea that it reduces the pressure to produce, saying that "it adds a bit more pressure to provide him with a couple of goals."
Despite essentially being the final challenger to Shamrock Rovers in last year's title race, St Pat's ended up finishing third, after losing their final two games to the Hoops and Derry City.
While he expects his own side to be involved again, Forrester isn't ruling Derry or anyone else out of the title picture in the collective effort to stop Shamrock Rovers achieving an unprecedented five-in-a-row.
"You can't discount Derry," he says. "They still have an extremely strong team. They've added Pat Hoban. They haven't disappeared. If we can focus on ourselves, our aim is to win the league, whether that's beating Rovers in second or whoever. There are a lot of good teams in the league, I think people discredit a lot of teams in the league. There are no real easy games this year.
Forrester made his league debut with Bohemians all the way back in 2011 so there are few better-placed people to reflect on the growth of interest in the league in recent years.
"A lot of my mates would have more of an interest in it," he adds. "When you see the kids coming to games, they're really intrigued by the league and the product has grown. Everybody else is trying to capitalise on that and push it in the right direction."
Silverware is the main aim again this season, and if it doesn't come in the form of the league title, Forrester will happily take a fourth FAI Cup win at the Aviva Stadium.
"It's beautiful, honestly," he says of cup final day. "It's stuff that sticks with you as you get a bit older. This work that we do in pre-season is all to get us to that level. We know the sacrifices that have to be made to get those big days out.
"They're the days you remember. League seasons are long. Cup runs, you've four games and then you're in the final and you get a massive day out. I've won three of them and retaining it would be unbelievable. You want to be there as a player, the hard work you put in throughout the season to get there. Once you're there, you want to win it."
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