This report card will dive into St Patrick’s Athletic pre season expectations, the opening fixtures, standout players, were expectations exceeded, what went right and wrong, what changed for the better worse, the cup and Europe run, a player of the season and we rate the season out of 10.
Pre Season Expectations
St Pats came into the 2025 season with high expectations of being crowned the champions for the first time since 2013. When Stephen Kenny came in to replace Jon Daly in the summer of 2024, Kenny brought the saints on a 9 game unbeaten streak in the league. The gambling companies had Pats as clear favourites. St Patrick’s Athletic fans also believed that they would see their team lift the trophy in Tolka Park against bitter rivals Shelbourne on the final day.
St Patrick’s Athletic also had a pre season tour in Marbella in late January 2025, where they played the Vancouver Whitecaps of the MLS and Molde FK, an established European team. They held Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw and beat Molde FK 2-1. These results, alongside the 9 game unbeaten streak, it fuelled hope of Pats fans for a season full of silverware.
The Start Of The Season
The first 5 games of the season was not the best for St Patrick’s Athletic with a form guide of DLWWL. Drawing to Drogheda 0-0 at Richmond Park in the first game of the 2025 season was disappointing for Pats fans, with title aspirations, this was a must win game.
Following onto a frustrating 2-1 loss to Galway in Eammon Deacy Park, Aiden Keena’s wondergoal was not enough after a shocking start with Galway going 2-0 up within the first 25 minutes.
A memorable 4-3 against Sligo Rovers in Inchicore made fans believe that the squad were able to dig deep when needed most, with Aiden Keena getting a 79th minute winner straight after Sligo made it 3-3 thanks to former Saint Cian Kavanagh, who had only joined the Bit ‘O Red.
The following Monday saw 2 Aiden Keena penalties see Pats to a comfortable win against Derry City in Inchicore. Gaining momentum coming into the Luas derby.
The first edition of the Luas derby started in Tallaght Stadium, where Shamrock Rovers came out with a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Danny Grant. Making fans disappointed with the lack of consistency within the squad.
Out of the first 5 games, Aiden Keena was the star of the show, with 5 goals in 5 games.
Overall it is safe to say that it was not the greatest start to the season for St Patrick’s Athletic , especially for a team who were tipped for the league.
What Went Right And What Went Wrong
In my opinion, a slow start to the season is always going to happen for Pats, as history tells us. In the saints 2013 season where they won the league, Liam Buckley’s squad had a rocky start with the first 4 games showing an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Luas rivals Shamrock Rovers and an unfortunate 2-1 loss to Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk. History shows us that a slow start for Pats is always common, although it never really stopped them before.
It was evident to see that goalkeeper Joey Anang was keeping Pats alive from humiliation, alongside captain Joe Redmond, who was never really prone to mistakes during the season. No matter how good they are, there is only so much they can do before it gets too much, which leads into what went wrong.
It might be obvious but results were not up to standard, with the teams they should be beating, they weren’t. A 3-1 loss to Galway and 2-2 draw with Waterford just is not good enough and people started to call for Kenny to be gone, I don’t think people would have disagreed with the decision based off results.
What Changed For Better
Some may argue that Pats’ European run gave them some form. Pats beat Hegelmann 3-0 on aggregate to get access to the second round of qualifying to the Conference League. They went to Nomme Kalju and beat them 3-2 on aggregate after a Jake Mulraney cross ended up in the net in extra time to send Pats to the third round of qualifying in Tallaght Stadium. Pats faced Turkish giants Besiktas. In the first leg, the first half Pats looked afraid and petrified of striker Tammy Abraham.
It left Pats 4-0 down by half time. The second half Pats came out firing with nothing to lose and looked the better team with the first leg ending 4-1 to Besiktas. The second leg I would say Pats were the better team, leading 2-0 on the night after 35 mins. Pats ended up throwing the game and losing 3-2 on the night, 7-3 on aggregate, knocking Pats out of the qualifying stages after round 3.
After that Pats went on a 6 match unbeaten streak, including a cup win against Shelbourne and a cup quarter final win against Galway United. It really felt special, everyone felt like Pats were going to finish the season strong and maybe win the cup. Neither happened, Pats lost 3-0 to already relegated Cork City in the cup semi final. Putting a nail in the coffin for the Saints’ season, then finishing 5th in the league left no hope for Europe next season.
Conclusion
This can only be described as a massive upset of a season. At the start of the season when Pats went abroad for a pre season tour everyone thought Pats would win the league. This clearly did not happen as Pats’ finished 5th and no cup win. It can only be described as a huge disappointment. Next season, Pats fans are expecting a huge clean out, players who have underperformed on massive wage bills need to be moved on, yet as of now, nobody has been let go or nobody has been signed. Major worried for next season.
Player Of The Season: Joeseph Anang
Season Rating: 4.5/10