The new League of Ireland season kicks off this evening and there's a sense of the domestic game heading in the right direction.
And that's particularly true of the Premier Division, with nearly 700,000 tickets sold across the season in 2025, up from around 470,000 in the last pre-Covid year of 2019.
Since then, we've seen Tallaght Stadium expanded, this season will see a capacity improvement at Tolka Park, while it's also the final season of both the current Dalymount Park and The Showgrounds before their respective expansions.
In the wider soccer sphere, it's a World Cup year and Ireland still have a shot of qualifying. The team which beat Hungary in Budapest in that memorable group game had six former League of Ireland players see game time, including those who came off the bench.
As such, there's a chance to reemphasise that connection between the domestic game and a national team who are two wins away from a first trip to the biggest competition in world sport for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century.
While the interest is clearly growing, what about the health of the actual competition itself?
Rovers the team to catch
Shamrock Rovers had a dominant 2025 campaign, landing a first double since 1987. In capturing the league title though they reaffirmed their modern dominance of the Premier Division. Added to that their run through to the Conference League proper without entering the qualification process as champions, and it's fair to say that it was a special year for the Tallaght club.
It was a fifth title in six seasons but can anyone stop them this season?
Firstly, looking at the squad that Stephen Bradley is bringing to the table, there have been some changes.
They've lost some big players in Josh Honohan, Aaron McEneff and Darragh Nugent, but Jake Mulraney, who arrived from St Patrick's Athletic, is a live wire who can cause issues for other teams if Rovers can create the space for him.
Jack Byrne's return is an interesting one after he reportedly had an argument with Stephen Bradley. Bradley is not the first coach that Byrne has had a disagreement with, but when he's on form, he's a sensational distributor of the ball, who is also worth a goal or two.
Read: Rovers boss Stephen Bradley expects big contribution from sought-after Michael Noonan
Enda Stevens is back at Tallaght having spent time at Aston Villa, Stoke and most notably Sheffield United since his departure 14 years ago. He also picked up 26 Irish caps in that time and, although clearly coming towards the end of his career, he can bring plenty to the squad.
They've also managed to hold on to starlet Michael Noonan, although the 17-year-old could leave in the summer. All of that said, you couldn't say Rovers, on paper, are much weaker than they were in 2025, if at all.
Big spending Candystripes leading the chase
The biggest challenger appears to be Derry City, whose billionaire owner Philip O'Doherty has spent heavily on the club which finished second last year. The key question is, though, has he spent wisely, as the Candystripes seek a first title since 1997?
The most high-profile arrival is James McClean, the 100+ capped former Ireland international, who is also gifted when it comes to riling up the opposition; players and supporters are included in that.
But he can't win a title on his own.
James Clarke is a great addition, having consistently impressed for Bohs during his spell at Dalymount Park. Similarly, Darragh Markey is an exciting player in the middle of the park, arriving from Drogheda with a big reputation.
On the other side of the coin, Danny Mullen's departure was not universally popular on Foyleside, and they'll likely miss his goal threat.
They managed just three wins from their first 9 games in 2025, so hitting the ground running this term will be a key measure of whether Derry can seriously rattle Rovers' cage over the course of the season.
They'll spend a period of the first half of the season playing at Derry GAA's Celtic Park as works are carried out on replacing their much-maligned synthetic pitch.
Other Dublin clubs battling for European places
Joey O'Brien did a great job of taking over at Shelbourne after Damien Duff's mid-season departure, and guiding the then defending Premier Division champions to third spot.
Reaching the Conference League was a piece of history for the Reds, although their failure to score a goal in the six games was something of a sour note. They've brought in winger Maill Lundgren, defender Odhran Casey and attacker Rodrigo Freitas, who scored six goals this season for Portuguese third-tier side Varzim before his move.
Holding onto Kerr McInroy and Harry Wood is good business for Shels, while the news that Will Jarvis is coming back to Tolka Park is massive for the club.
But they'll need to keep Sean Boyd fit, and hope Mipo Odubeko gets back to his early season form from 2025, if they're to go higher than third. Repeating that finish would be a good result for the Richmond Road outfit.
They finished 2025 as the form team in the league, picking up more points in the last 12 games than any other side. Could they be heading for a second title race in three seasons?
Northside rivals Bohemians finally got back into Europe with their fourth-placed finish last term, to set themselves up nicely for a final season at the "old" Dalymount.
They took nine points from their meetings with Shamrock Rovers, but their ability to beat the teams they "should" beat held the Gypsies back from turning that good season into a great one.
James Clarke's departure to Derry is undoubtedly a loss, but they've strengthened well, with Pat Hickey and Sadou Diallo two standout signings.
Only Rovers and Derry scored more goals than Bohs in 2025, but the fitness of Douglas James-Taylor will be critical. Fellow attacker Collie Whelan can be lethal, but he needs to do it at Dalymount this season if the club are to threaten a title push.
Another former Student, Hugh Martin, has arrived in Phibsboro as a much-touted attacker but at just 16 years of age, it would be a lot to expect too much out of him just yet.
St Patrick's Athletic were fifth last season, a massive disappointment for a side that some had been tipped to win the league, based off their form at the back end of the 2024 campaign.
No European soccer at Inchicore in 2026, but manager Stephen Kenny reportedly cancelled his post-season holiday to go to the UK and spend time with two former work-mates of his. They were Keith Andrews, his former Ireland assistant, now managing high-flying Brentford in the Premier League, and another former Ireland management team member, John Eustace, who is now managing Derby.
It gives an insight into the mindset of a manager who has overseen over 1,000 games, won trophies at Dundalk, Bohemians and Derry City, and gone on to manage his country, but always sees room for improvement.
Whether Kenny plans to tweak things, or overhaul how Pat's play remains to be seen, but in Max Mata the club have acquired a proven goalscorer in the league. Glory Nzingo, meanwhile, returns to Pat's having scored goals in the US third tier last year.
Don't be surprised if Pat's break back into the top four this season.
Clubs around the country battling for breakthrough
One of the big questions is whether any of the other five clubs in the league can upset the odds, and finish in the top half of the table, or even possibly push for a European spot.
Drogheda United are the obvious candidate, the 2024 FAI Cup winners finished just three points off the European places last time around.
That was built on their start to the season, rather than the end of it, as they managed just two wins in their last 10 games in the league.
The fact that they couldn't take up their European spot owing to the mutli-club ownership rule was a blow and the loss of Darragh Markey at the end of the season will leave a void in the team.
The return of club legend Mark Doyle is a plus, Brandon Kavanagh brings huge experience to Boyneside, while Drogs have brought in three players from the US; Ethan O'Brien (midfielder), Jason Bucknor (defender) and Leo Burney (defender).
Sligo Rovers started 2025 looking like a side certain to being going straight down at the end of the campaign, but they shored things up at the back, and gradually began to find some confidence and form.
It saw them finish seventh, which was a big achievement under the circumstances.
The loss of Owen Elding is massive but John Russell would have expected it and been planning without the now Hibernian player.
Shane Blaney and Jeannot Esua will add to their defensive options while Alex Nolan can give them a different dimension in attack.
Galway United's season petered out after the untimely death of assistant manager, and League of Ireland legend, Ollie Horgan in August.
Kris Twardek, with plenty of previous experience in the league, and Gianfranco Facchineri arrive from north America, while Francely Lomboto returns to the club having also played at Eamonn Deacy Park between 2020 and 2024.
Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau, meanwhile, was on loan with Vaasan Palloseura in Finland, but he will look to offer another dimension in attack.
United will need to put last season behind them quickly as they look to stay clear of being sucked into any sort of relegation battle discussion.
Having finished fifth in 2024, the trajectory for the westerners isn't great.
Waterford just about survived in the top flight last season, beating Bray Wanderers 2-1 in the play-off final.
The Blues have been involved in that play-off game four times in six seasons this decade, losing twice to UCD and beating Cork before November's win over the Seagulls, so supporters will be dreaming of finally beginning to push on up the table.
They'll hope that Jorgen Voilas's arrival from Swedish outfit Umea could prove to be an inspired arrival, while defender Hayden Cann and midfielder Evan McLaughlin come to the RSC with plenty of league experience under their belt.
The club have also managed to make Conan Noonan a permanent signing after his loan spell at the club last season, while 37-year-old attacker Pádraig Amond is sticking around in the south-east and penned a new deal this week.
Dundalk arrive into the top flight as the winners of last season's First Division.
Their very survival was in question at various stages last year, but things have settled down now. There's a new artificial pitch at Oriel Park, and followers of the league will be hopeful that the club are on a more secure footing for the foreseeable future.
The arrival of the former Bohs duo of Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall brings massive experience to the club, and they're sure to compliment Harvey Warren and Vinnie Leonard at the back.
Leonard is just 17, but he played nearly all of their games last season, and he was part of the Ireland squad who got to the last 16 of the under-17 World Cup.
Danny Mullen's signature is a bit of a coup, while Conor Kearns is a very solid goalkeeper, being Shelbourne's number one in their title winning season just two years ago. Ronan Teahan, signed from Kerry, is also an exciting prospect.
They'll likely be battling with Waterford, Galway and Sligo Rovers in the bottom four - indeed, avoiding a bottom-two finish would be a big achievement for the club. But there's enough there for the 14-time champions of Ireland to avoid the drop.
Gameweek 1 fixtures:
Today
Waterford v Shelbourne, RSC, 7.45pm
Derry City Sligo Rovers, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, 7.45pm
Galway United v Drogheda United, Eamonn Deacy Park, 7.45pm
Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk, Tallaght Stadiu, 8pm
Sunday, 8 February
Bohemians v St Patrick's Athletic, Aviva Stadium, 2pm
