# 2018 Dundalk F.C. season

Dundalk entered the 2018 season as the League Cup holders from 2017, having won that competition and finished as runners-up in both league and FAI Cup. In January the club was taken over by United States–based investors, who had identified the club's European progress as a commercial opportunity. 2018 would turn out to be Stephen Kenny's sixth and final season as manager. He resigned one month after the end of the season to accept the Republic of Ireland U-21 manager's role, and was replaced by his assistant, Vinny Perth for 2019. The 2018 season was Dundalk's 10th consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 83rd in all, and their 92nd in the League of Ireland.

## Season summary

The new season's curtain raiser – the President's Cup – was played on 11 February in Oriel Park between Dundalk and Cork City – the winners of both league and cup the previous year. Cork City won on a 4-2 scoreline. The 36 round League programme commenced on 16 February 2018, and was completed on 26 October 2018. Dundalk regained their title with three games to spare, sealing the title in Oriel Park in a 1-1 draw with St Patrick's Athletic on 5 October 2018. They went on to win the 2018 FAI Cup with a 2-1 victory over Cork City in the final on 4 November 2018 – the club's fourth League and Cup Double. An opportunity to win the club's first domestic Treble was spurned when a largely reserve side lost the League Cup semi-final away to First Division Cobh Ramblers.
In Europe progress was limited when, after defeating Levadia Tallinn, and holding AEK Larnaca scoreless in Oriel Park, three quickfire first half goals in the away leg in Cyprus in the 2018-19 Europa League second qualifying round ended their interest in that year's competition.

### First-Team Squad (2018)

Sources:
| Squad No. | Name | Date of Birth | Position | Debut season | League appearances | Goals |
| 1 | Gary Rogers | 25 September 1981 | GK | 2015 | 34 | 0 |
| 2 | Seán Gannon | 11 July 1991 | DF | 2014 | 26 | 1 |
| 3 | Brian Gartland | 4 November 1986 | DF | 2013 | 22 | 1 |
| 4 | Seán Hoare | 15 March 1994 | DF | 2017 | 27 | 2 |
| 5 | Chris Shields | 27 December 1990 | MF | 2012 | 33 | 3 |
| 6 | Stephen O'Donnell | 15 January 1986 | MF | 2013 | 10 | 0 |
| 7 | Michael Duffy | 28 July 1994 | MF | 2017 | 36 | 13 |
| 8 | John Mountney | 22 February 1993 | MF | 2012 | 18 | 4 |
| 9 | Patrick Hoban | 28 July 1991 | FW | 2013 | 36 | 29 |
| 10 | Jamie McGrath | 30 September 1996 | MF | 2017 | 30 | 2 |
| 11 | Krisztián Adorján | 19 January 1993 | MF | 2018 | 16 | 3 |
| 11 | Patrick McEleney | 26 September 1992 | MF | 2016 | 11 | 1 |
| 12 | Sam Byrne | 23 July 1995 | FW | 2018 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | Karolis Chvedukas | 21 April 1991 | MF | 2018 | 7 | 1 |
| 14 | Dane Massey | 17 April 1988 | DF | 2013 | 29 | 1 |
| 15 | Stephen Folan | 14 January 1992 | DF | 2018 | 9 | 1 |
| 16 | Dylan Connolly | 2 May 1995 | MF | 2017 | 28 | 4 |
| 17 | Georgie Poynton | 8 September 1997 | MF | 2015 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Robbie Benson | 7 May 1992 | MF | 2016 | 32 | 9 |
| 19 | Ronan Murray | 12 September 1991 | FW | 2018 | 23 | 3 |
| 21 | Daniel Cleary | 9 March 1996 | DF | 2018 | 26 | 3 |
| 22 | Gabriel Sava | 15 September 1986 | GK | 2014 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | Marco Tagbajumi | 1 July 1988 | FW | 2018 | 16 | 2 |
| 30 | Ross Treacy | 26 September 1998 | GK | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Dean Jarvis | 1 June 1992 | DF | 2018 | 19 | 0 |
| 45 | Georgie Kelly | 12 November 1996 | FW | 2018 | 7 | 0 |

## Competitions
### President's Cup

Source:

### Premier Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 36 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 85 | 20 | +65 | 87 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Cork City | 36 | 24 | 5 | 7 | 71 | 27 | +44 | 77 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Shamrock Rovers | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 57 | 27 | +30 | 62 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Waterford | 36 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 59 | |
| 5 | St Patrick's Athletic | 36 | 15 | 5 | 16 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 50 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
* ↑ new club record.
* ↑ Loan signing, loan completed in July.
* ↑ Signed from Oldham Athletic in July and took the departed Adorján's squad number.
* ↑ Sent on loan to Glentoran in July.
* ↑ Released in July.
* ↑ Signed from UCD in July.
* 1 2 Since the winners of the 2018 FAI Cup, Dundalk, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) would normally pass to the next best-placed team (the fourth-placed team). However, as Waterford were adjudged by UEFA to have not passed the "three-year rule" as they were reformed in 2016, the spot was passed to the fifth-placed team.

### FAI Cup

Source:

#### Final
### League Cup

Source:

#### Semi Final
### Leinster Senior Cup

Source:

#### Semi Final
### Europe
#### Europa League
##### First qualifying round

Dundalk won 3–1 on aggregate.

##### Second qualifying round

AEK Larnaca won 4–0 on aggregate.

## Awards
### Player of the Month

| Month | Player |
| April | Michael Duffy |
| May | Seán Hoare |
| June | Patrick Hoban |
| August | Michael Duffy |
| September | Chris Shields |
| October/November | Patrick McEleney |

### PFAI Player of the Year

| Player | Reference |
| Michael Duffy | |

### PFAI Young Player of the Year

| Player | Reference |
| Jamie McGrath | |

### FAI League of Ireland Player of the Year

| Player | Reference |
| Chris Shields | |

### SWAI Personality of the Year

| Person | Reference |
| Stephen Kenny | |