They've played for both teams
This article features a number of players who donned both the red of Sligo Rovers and the green of Shamrock Rovers in their careers.
Eoin Doyle
Photo courtesy of Shane Murray
Doyle is one of a number of recent players to have played for both clubs. Doyle joined Shamrock Rovers from Shelbourne in 2007, and was drafted into the U-21 team. After some stand-out performances for the U-21's, he was promoted to the 1st team by manager Pat Scully. He remained in the first team under Scully's tenure, and also scored goals in The Hoops two visits to The Showgrounds in 2008. Doyle found chances hard to come by under Michael O' Neill when he arrived at the club in 2009, and was allowed to leave to join Sligo Rovers that July.
After joining Rovers, Doyle made an instant impression, scoring a great goal just 16 minutes into his debut against St. Patricks Athletic. The match ended 2-0, Matthew Blinkhorn, who had also recently joined, with the 2nd goal. Doyle was a regular in the starting 11 for Rovers for the rest of the season, and had his biggest moment of his footballing career so far when he scored the opening goal in the 2009 FAI Cup Final against Sporting Fingal. It was all looking good, until our hearts were broken in the final 8 minutes of the game when Fingal scored two goals, denying Doyle the oppurtunity to win Cup Winners medal at Tallaght Stadium, where he had been plying his trade for Shamrock Rovers just months earlier.
Doyle began the 2010 season in good goalscoring form, opening the scoring in the opening game of the season against Shamrock Rovers. The match ended 1-1, Hoops equalizing through a James Chambers penalty. Two weeks later, he struck at home again, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Galway United. Doyle would have to wait until the 2nd July to score his 3rd goal of the season, and it came against Shamrock Rovers. He scored the opener in the first half, but went on to lose 2-1 in an action-packed and controversial game. A week later he scored in a 1-1 draw with Sporting Fingal, before scoring his final goal of the season against Sporting Fingal in an enthralling 4-3 victory. Doyle made up for his disappointment in Tallaght in 2009, by helping Rovers to winning the FAI Cup in the Aviva Stadium against Shamrock Rovers. Doyle put in a fantastic performance, and slotted home Rovers first penalty of the shoot-out.
Padraig Amond
Amond began his career at Shamrock Rovers at the age of just 11. He spent many years in the youth team, and in 2006 was promoted to the 1st team. He made 10 appearances in his first senior appearance for The Hoops, scoring just once in a game against Finn Harps. Amond was sent out on a season long loan to Kildare County in 2007 for experience, and ended up with 5 goals in 13 appearances before being recalled by his parent club. Amond enjoyed a bright, positive 2008 season when he named the clubs Young Player of the Year after scoring 9 league goals, making him the clubs top scorer that season.
Like Doyle, Amond's oppurtunity's became limited under O' Neill, but tried to make the most of them. Most notably, he scored an 86th minute winner over Bohs, which looked to put a mjaor dent in their hopes of retaining the title, but were strong enough to go on and do it. Amond left Shamrock Rovers for Sligo Rovers at the end of the season.
Much was expected of Amond, who was a direct replacement for Rafael Cretaro, and he certainly delivered! Amond scored his first goal for the club against Sporting Fingal in a 1-1 draw, and was scoring goals every couple of games, but his form truely kicked in when Rovers hammered Drogheda United 6-0, a game in which Amond scored a hat-trick. Amond went on a goalscoring spree, and looked near unstoppable. Amond's final goalscoring appearance seemed like something straight from a film script, as he put Shamrock Rovers, the club he played for for 10 years, out of the EA Sports Cup semi-final after scoring twice, to give Rovers the lead after Gary Twigg scored an early goal, sending them through to the Final. Amond made two more appearances and scored 17 goals before heading to Portugal to play for Pacos de Ferriera.
Liam Buckley
Former Sporting Fingal manager Liam Buckley played for each club on either side of his career, in fact, he played for Shamrock Rovers 3 times during his career. A striker in his playing days, Buckley joined Shamrock Rovers from Shelbourne in 1979. In his 2 year spell, he scored 20 goals and was part of a select League of Ireland team that played Argentina at the River Plate Stadium. Argentina won 1-0, courtesy of a goal from Diego Maradona.
Buckley left in 1981 to join Canadian side Vancouver Whitcaps, and after just 8 appearances, he returned to Milltown to play for the Hoops, where he enjoyed his most successful period with the Hoops, scoring 46 goals over 3 seasons. Buckley then went on two play for three different European teams, K.S.V Waregam of Belgium, Racing Santander of Spain abd FC Montreux Sports of Switzerland. He returned to Ireland to once again play for the Hoops, but scored just 1 goal in 13 appearances. After a 5 year spell with St. Pats, Buckley joined Sligo Rovers in 1997, but only played in 5 games, failing to score in any of them. He ended his playing career as player-manager for Athlone Town, and helped them to the 1998 FAI Cup semi-final.
After managing St. Pats and Athlone Town again, he returned to Shamrock Rovers for a 4th time in 2002. He enjoyed a good European run, becoming the first manager to win a European tie home and away since 1982 against Fram Reykjavik, matches he played in himself. Shamrock Rovers form began to dramatically drop, and finished as low as 7th. Buckley failed to turn their fortunes around and was sacked in 2004. 4 years later he made a return to management, with the newly formed Sporting Fingal. He guided them to promotion from the first division, an FAI Cup Final victory over old club Sligo Rovers, and European football. Buckley also guided them to a well earned 4th place finish in the Premier division. Buckley's reign came to an end after the demise of Sporting Fingal due to financial difficulties. Often praised for his creative, attacking style of play, hopefully its not long before he's back in the game again.
Gary McCabe
McCabe (right in photo) joined Shamrock Rovers from Sligo Rovers during this seasons winter break. An exciting young winger, he joined Rovers from Bray Wanderers in 2010, after a highly impressive season for the Seagulls. After a slow start, McCabe started to find his form, scoring two fantastic goals in the space of a few days against Drogheda United and Dundalk. Unfortunately, his form began to drop again and was left sitting on the bench week in, week out. McCabe took his chance when it was given to him in the summer, and went on to play a vital role in Rovers successful season. He scored some important goals, and his creative style of play was a joy to watch, particularly in the FAI Cup Final. He scored Sligo Rovers 2nd penalty in the shoot-out, to finally put the ball into the net after so many attempts all afternoon.
When the season ended, a move to Dublin always looked to be on the cards for McCabe, and it happenedin January when he joined the Hoops along with Stephen O' Donnell and Karl Sheppard. McCabe had an encouraging pre-season, and in the first game of the season showed his quality, scoring a well struck, long range effort against Dundalk to make it 1-1. They went on to win 3-1 of course thanks to a brace from Gary Twigg. He will no doubt play a big role in Shams season, and will hopefully get a warm welcome back to The Showgrounds this weekend.
Jason McGuinness
Photo fromSportsfile.com
Spend much of his career Dublin, particularly with Bohemians, McGuinness has played for both clubs. After failing to claim a first team spot of his own in Bohs starting 11, McGuinness moved to Shamrock Rovers in 2004. He made a big impression there, playing 49 games 6 goals. Bohs soon came knocking, and brought him back where he enjoyed much success. League titles, FAI Cups, EA Sports Cups, Setanta Cups, he won it all with 'The Gypsies'.
After being released, McGuinness made a move to Sligo Rovers in January 2011. Viewed as a bit controversial over a well documented incident in 2009, McGuinness has been trying to put it behind him, and seems to have settled into his new team well, making his first league appearance against Derry City last friday. He's been left big boots to fill, as he is seen as a replacement for Jim Lauchlan, so hopefully he well get the full backing he needs from the fans.
Chris Turner
Photo from flickr.com/pelesports
When Chris Turner and Sligo Rovers are mentioned in the breathe, its certainly not a positive thing anymore. The midfielder first joined Rovers in 2006 from Derby County, and was a key player for the team. A stand-out player in 2007, Bohs made the move to sign Turner and got him. He spent a season and half there, before going to Scotland for a disappointing spell with Partick Thistle. He returned to play for Dundalk, once again, under Sean Connor. He had a fantastic season for the Lilywhites, and was seen as arguably the best midfielder in the league.
Following the 2009 season, controversy arose. In November 2009, Sligo Rovers announced they had signed Chris Turner, but just a month later rumours began to spread Shamrock Rovers were trying to sign him. These rumours became facts, when in early 2010 they announced they signed Turner. This wasn't going to be swept under the carpet, and it went as far as a court case over his contract. After it was settled, it was confirmed Chris Turner would play Shamrock Rovers, but was not allowed play until he paid €5000 to Sligo Rovers.
He has certainly gone from hero to villian in Sligo, and any Rovers fans will back this up, but probably with more vulgarity,
Joseph Ndo
Joseph Ndo, one of the most recognisable names in Irish football. A joy to watch, he has entertained the League of Ireland fans here for almost 8 years now, and has plyed his trade at many top clubs. Bohemians, Shelbourne, St.Pats and of course Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers.
In mid-2008, The Hoops signed Ndo on loan from St. Pats, and proved to be a big player as always. He put in many dazzling displays in his short time there, scoring one goal in a Man of the Match performance.
After helping Bohs to the League title in 2009, Ndo joined Sligo Rovers in April 2010. A pivotal player in Sligo Rovers success, his passing,skills and occasional goals were all on show in a great season from the former Cameroon International. Despite playing for so many top clubs, Joseph Ndo won his first FAI Cup with Sligo Rovers last season, in that memorable penalty shoot-out. Ndo also picked up the RTE Man of the Match award for his performance.
