Soccer Ireland - news

Mahon hopes to add 'a couple of new faces' and five sign up at Drogheda

Drogheda United manager Pete Mahon hailed his 'strong' squad as he welcomed five new faces to United Park.

The Boynesiders have signed Adam Wixted and Luke Gallagher from Bray Wanderers, Jamie McGlynn from Cabinteely, Aaron Ashe from Bohemians while they have also re-signed Liam Donnelly.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way training has gone so far. We have top class facilities in both Mosney and Ashbourne and the lads are raving about the set up and their new CX+ Sport gear.

“We have assembled a strong squad and the attitude of the players and staff could not be better. I still hope to bring in a couple of new faces but that will depend on what finance becomes available.”

Winger Wixted spent time with Drogheda in 2014 before leaving for Bohemians last year, while fellow winger Gallagher joined the Seagulls following a traineeship at English side Burnley.

Ashe progressed from Bohemians' under-19 side to make his debut as a substitute for Keith Long's side in an October win over St Patrick's Athletic, while McGlynn impressed during an injury-interrupted season with Cabo.

Donnelly joined the Boynesiders in the summer of 2015 and made two substitute appearances, including the final-day defeat to Shamrock Rovers that relegated Mahon's side.

Mahon added that Nathan Seery, Eoin Dempsey, Eoin Kirwan, Mark Doyle and Dylan Sweeney have been promoted from the under-19s to the senior squad.


FAI allocated 6,500 extra tickets for Euro 2016

The Football Association of Ireland has announced that, following talks with UEFA, Irish fans will be issued with a total of 6,502 extra tickets for the three Euro 2016 group games.

The association has been promised an additional 3,087 tickets for the opening game with Sweden at Stade de France in Paris, taking the total allocation to 1,087.

An additional 1,095 tickets have been made available for the clash with Belgium in Bordeaux, taking the allocation to 7,095, while the FAI's share for the final game against Italy in Lille has increased by 2,320 to 9,320.

“I am very happy to say that following meetings with Nyon, Switzerland last Friday UEFA have awarded Republic of Ireland fans with 6,502 more tickets,” said FAI CEO John Delaney.

"These tickets will go some way to satisfying the huge demand for Ireland matches at EURO 2016."

UEFA announced that the initial allocation was massively oversubscribed as it received requests for over 275,000 tickets from Irish fans.

UEFA will contact each applicant by February 29^th to inform them of the status of their application.

The new allocation for Irish supporters is as follows:

Republic of Ireland v Sweden - 16,087 (13,000 + 3,087)
Belgium v Republic of Ireland - 7,095 (6,000 + 1,095)
Italy v Republic of Ireland - 9,320 (7,000 + 2,320)

Galvin Twins sign for Cobh

Cobh Ramblers have announced the signing of attacking midfield duo Evan and Cory Galvin from Waterford United for the 2016 season.

The 20 year olds began their careers with Leeds AFC in Cork. The twins then moved on to play for College Corinthians where they attracted the attention of scouts from England.

Evan signed for Burnley while Cory signed for Ipswich Town. The pair returned to Ireland in 2015 and signed for The Blues in the First Division during the summer transfer window.

The youngsters enjoyed a successful few months in the south-east. The pair made their debuts against Cabinteely with Evan managing to bang in a goal during the game. That goal turned out to be his only strike for the club during his ten outings in a Blue and White jersey, whilst Cory went onto make nine appearances for the club, scoring on five occasions.

According to the Cobh Rambler’s website, these are the final additions to manager Stephen Henderson’s side. The number of players signed to the Rams for the season is 26.