Conor McDonald: The Student

Cobh look to be progressing fine once again this season. Similarly to the Senior Cup, the league title could be set to return. An astonishing result would be putting it lightly against Rosenborg away in Norway. Get the job done back at home now!

Glad to see I was right about McAuley. Bagging plenty of goals!

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In possibly the biggest news in Irish football for decades, Cobh Ramblers have qualified for the UEFA Champions League Group Stages.

Conor McDonald took over a team in June 2019 that were languishing in their tenth consecutive season in the second tier of Irish football with no real future prospects.

Last season that same team won the Premier League in the club’s centenary year, qualifying for the First Qualifying Round of the Champions League in doing so.

Cobh demolished The New Saints 10-3 on aggregate, dumping the Welsh champions out of the Champions League.

McDonald then went on to defeat the Norwegian champions, Rosenborg 5-2 on aggregate with two wins over them home and away.

His team then went to do the hard work in Serbia against the SuperLiga champions FK Partizan in the Third Qualifying Round, beating them 4-3 on their own soil before surviving a ninety minute onslaught back in Ireland and winning on away goals despite being knocked down to ten men.

All that was left was the Champions League Playoff against the Croatian champions HNK Rijeka and Conor McDonald masterminded two wins against them with a seemingly simple 4-4-2 formation, qualifying for the Group Stages.

Cobh Ramblers have now been put alongside some of Europe’s finest in Group F with two-time Champions League winners Benfica and one-time winners Celtic and Chelsea despite only operating as a semi-professional team, training only three times a week at most.

It is more than certain that Cobh will be knocked out at this stage of the competition with so much quality to compete against but in qualifying for this stage of the competition, the Cobh coffers have multiplied by over eighty times what it was, meaning that Cobh can use that money to assert dominance over their domestic league and improve their European chances moving forward.

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Scott: I can assure you that we went a lot further than Rosenborg and took the whole lot! McAuley has really impressed me, he's broken his own way into the squad ahead of Samizadeh and Said and he's kept himself there, your judgement is impeccable

What you have done in Ireland is incredible man, the way you're leading this club to glory is inspiring. Time to play your reserves in the league so that your actual starting-11 is fresh for Europe

Group stage is mindblowing... crazy to see how far you have brought this club

What progress that is to reach the group stages even if the group is the group of death for you. The finances for getting that far will be life changing for the club as well

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August became a momentous month for Cobh as it was the month that they confirmed their place in the Champions League Group Stages. Along with this, Cobh secured a cup final spot and played their first FAI Cup game of the season.

The month started with the Second Leg of the Champions League against Norwegian champions Rosenborg. Cobh already won in Norway with a two-goal away goal advantage over their opponents and they went on to confirm their place with another win.

Haugen began the scoring at St. Colman’s Stadium but was quickly cancelled out by Glen McAuley before Cobh took the lead through Jonathan Isambart. Rosenborg’s Jonathan Levi brought the scores level to 4-2 on aggregate. It was down to Isambart who scored the decisive fifth goal to make it 3-2 on the night.

Cobh’s return to Irish football was not as smooth as they wanted, though, with a cruising 3-1 defeat at the hands of relegation-threatened Derry City.

Cobh Ramblers were then drawn against Serbia champions Partizan in by far McDonald’s toughest test yet. However, the Stadion FK Partizan did not make them fearful as Cobh tucked four away goals against them in a 4-3 win in Serbia with Otero, Mahon, Power and Stewart all scoring goals.

The EA Sports Cup Semi-Final against Sligo Rovers greeted Cobh on their return from Europe and Layton Stewart was on fire against Tommy Dunne’s outfit, scoring a double hat-trick as his team went onto the Final with a 7-3 victory.

Cobh returned to European football, having to use their rivals’ stadium Turners Cross as the home venue due to capacity requirements in the Second Leg against Partizan. Javi Otero was sent off in the 57th minute before Partizan scored a goal on the hour mark. Cobh held out with ten men left, winning on away goals only but they managed to see out the all-important historic win.

Following incredible successes in Europe, Cobh entered the FAI Ford Cup next against Leinster Senior Division outfit Crumlin United in the First Round. The Rams got all of their scoring out of the way first, leading 4-0 heading into the final ten minutes before Crumlin’s Mukete pegged two goals back, not that it was enough as Cobh headed through to the Second Round.

Up next was Cobh’s gateway into the Champions League Group Stage with just Croatian champions HNK Rijeka to beat in the Playoff. The home leg took place over in Limerick’s 26,500-capacity Thomond Park as Cobh ran out as tight 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Glen McAuley and Dylan Watts.

The action for Cobh was all within the final five minutes upon their return to Premier League against Bohemian.Bohemian’s Ross Tierney put them ahead with seventeen minutes remaining. However, Mark O’Brien’s volley in the 86th minute followed by Rafiki Said’s 95th minute winner turned the game completely on its head, meaning a superb week for Cobh fans.

Cobh faced their most important fixture yet against Rijeka with the Croatian team separating Cobh from defeat or €15,000,000 into the club’s funds.

This got off to a bad start with Viktor Sestan taking the lead for Rijeka in the 19th minute, meaning they only needed one goal to go through. Alan Power’s 50th minute goal was absolutely crucial with the 34-year-old defensive midfield relieving the pressure, allowing Dan Powell and Rafiki Said to calmly tuck away two goals to take the tie to 5-2 on aggregate, leading Cobh to the Group Stages with a €15.24million paycheck in the post.

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Cobh’s September was revolved mainly around involvement in cup competitions with the EA Sports Cup, FAI Ford Cup and Champions League all played throughout this month.

Sligo Rovers were first up in the FAI Ford Cup Second Round and they were seen off with a 2-1 win at The Showgrounds as Dylan Watts and Rafiki Said scored one goal after another within the first 15 minutes.

Cobh then made it two FAI Cup games in a row with the cup’s Quarter-Final against First Division outfit Drogheda United being up next at St. Colman’s Park. Glen McAuley scored the opener before Greg Moorhouse equalised just after half-time. This was immediately met with a Cobh winner from Filipe Gaspar in the minute after Moorhouse’s goal.

Conor McDonald made his and the club’s debut in the Champions League Group Stage in Group F against SL Benfica - two-time winners of the competition. 10,000 people piled into Thomond Park as Benfica pummelled McDonald’s side 4-1 despite Layton Stewart giving his team a glimmer of hope with an initial 17th minute equaliser to Alexandre Penetra’s opener.

Cobh returned from European duties to play out the EA Sports Cup at Oriel Park against Derry City. Conor McDonald lifted the cup for the third time in his tenure with a 3-0 win thanks to a Rafiki Said brace and Dylan Watt’s goal.

Conor McDonald then finished off September with a 100% record in the league as they came up against Cork City and Limerick in two consecutive away games with Said and McAuley putting Cork to bed before Layton Stewart and Dylan Watts finished off the month with a win at Markets Field.

As a result of the past two months, Cobh have not played much league football due to European commitments and involvement in domestic competitions which has led to them falling into 2nd place with a four-point gap between them and current league leaders Dundalk.

At the bottom of the table, it seems as though Shelbourne are as good as relegated as they sit 14 points from even qualifying for the Play-Off meanwhile Derry City have a fighting chance to survive over Waterford.

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James: Thank you! It's been a long-time coming! I can't wait to see Jacob Hanson going up against Hudson-Odoi in all fairness.
Griffo: Isn't it just! I feel like it's a mega achievement
tedbro20: Fact is, there are no 'easy' groups in the Champions League when you're Cobh just due to the seedings. The finances are definitely the most important aspect to this achievement!

That Champions League group is magnificent for revenue, and a great achievement for Cobh to have reached that stage! While you're behind Dundalk in the league, those games in hand will balance things out and you'll surely regain the lead. The rest of the season will be about making sure you win those games in hand and then enjoying the CL football. If you do well, I can see you getting a top 4 finish in the group.

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“Good morning Conor,” Aidan Cunningham said as he rose from his chair in the local cafe. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!”

“Good to see you too, Aidan,” Conor replied as he took his seat across the table from Cunningham.

“Well, as you would imagine, Michael has told me all about you and I thought that it’s best that we meet so we can get off to a good start together here.” Aidan said, taking his glasses off. “Me and Michael came to an agreement last night, thankfully the process was quick and efficient - I’m buying the club off him for three-hundred thousand euros.”

Conor sat back, unsure where this conversation was headed after his announcement.

“It hasn’t made the press yet but I wanted to reach you before it was on the back page, of course.” Aidan said.

“Well, congratulations are in order I suppose!” Conor said before taking a sip of his water before starting again. “What’s your statement then?”

“I’m a big fan of you, Conor, let’s put it that way,” Cunningham smirked. The conversation was like a first date, trying to figure out what was in each other’s minds and their intentions.

“As a natural process, I trawled through the news reports about the club over the past few years and I discovered the hit-piece written about you when you first arrived and how Michael came to your defence. You certainly had those reporters fooled, that’s fair to say!

“For a start, I’m investing forty thousand straight into the club’s accounts for the immediate term, I’m also putting just short of four-hundred grand into your own transfer warchest immediately, a new budget will be determined at the end of November. How does that sound?” Aidan asked, smiling as if he already knew Conor’s answer.

Conor chose not to give too much away, speaking without much enthusiasm despite the huge increase in budget. “That’s good. I haven’t spent a penny on transfers since being here, do you trust me with that sort of money and it’s potential allocation on players in the future?”

“I trust you to make all the right calls here Conor, you’re running this ship, not me. I’m just the one controlling the cashflow at the end of the day and you won’t have much to worry about in that aspect - I’ll always make sure you have enough for what this club needs.” Aidan said confidently.

Before Conor could start his next sentence, Aidan butted in to add a comment on his previous statement. “Michael told me about your previous problem in terms of gambling, how is that nowadays?”

Conor shifted nervously as he was reminded of his former self, the many times he looked at his bank balance to see that he had drifted into his overdraft once again. “It’s fine, nothing to worry about. I went to a group, I saw someone, I had Michael’s support. Altogether, I put that part of my life behind me.”

Cunningham smiled appreciatively for Conor’s apparent honesty. “That’s great to hear, no doubt you feel a lot better for it. If you do have any personal troubles that are weighing you down, my door is always open to you.

“I moved to London to work at an investment bank when I was about your age, just after completing my degree in Economics - I know how it feels to be in a new town all on your own, don’t worry.”

Conor smiled after Aidan opened up to him about his own experiences in London and elsewhere. The man had operated almost everywhere in Europe and North America which Conor had many questions about.

“Now moving on to post-announcement period, I’ll make a brief introduction to the players and your staff, just showing my face and giving them all the usual chit-chat and then it’s onto business on the field, alright?” Aidan said, pulling on the bottom of his suit jacket, wiping away any stains.

“Absolutely, good to meet you, Aidan. I look forward to working with you.”

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Justice: The Group Stage will change this club for years to come in my opinion! The Dundalk catch-up is on and I think it's pivotal that we win the league to ensure UCL football for another season and not hand it to Dundalk.

Interesting development! Look forward to see how the club can grow from these investments.

Well Aidan's investment has already paid him back big time with a ridiculous run in Europe. The group stage has been unkind but the revenue from even competing in those games will be brilliant. An excellent job and another trophy confirmed. I do wonder how long it'll be until someone may tempt Conor away to a bigger job...

A necessary investment to support the club going forward. It's astonishing to see just where Cobh are at this point in time, now competing in the group stages of the Champions League. Wow.

Very handy injection of funds

Good ti see the new owner having Conor's back straight away and investing a nice amount of funds for transfers. Could this be the start of some promising youngsters joining the youth ranks for the future of the club

Time for Conor to transfer some of the transfer budget to his personal account and load up the poker websites again The new owner seems nice enough, but I'm interested to see if this is going to be smooth sailing, or if it's all talk on his behalf and he becomes a nightmare to deal with.

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October was a very busy month for Cobh Ramblers with a total of nine matches played. Cobh were knocked out of both the FAI Ford Cup and the Champions League, though, whilst also not performing greatly in the league.

The month began in the Champions League with Cobh’s away leg against Celtic which turned into Cobh’s biggest defeat of the season as both Ryan Christie and Mikey Johnston both scored braces in a 6-0 win at Celtic Park.

Cobh returned to league action in an away game against Waterford where Glen McAuley was the hero, scoring the only goal of the game to get his team’s first points on the board for October.

The FAI Ford Cup Semi-Final came up next, presenting the opportunity for Cobh to enter the Final for the third year in a row and win the competition for the second year in a row. However, this wasn’t to be as Cobh were knocked out of the cup by Bohemian in a 2-1 defeat at St. Colman’s Park.

Cobh recovered from their cup heartbreak by being welcomed back to Premier League action with a 4-2 victory over Sligo Rovers as John Mahon was able to score against his boyhood club along with goals from Harvey Smith, Dan Powell and Luke Garbutt.

Then came a string of defeats for Conor McDonald, putting his team’s title chances at risk with two losses at the hands of Waterford and St. Patrick’s Athletic, followed up by a predictable 4-2 loss in the Champions League to English Premier League outfit Chelsea.

However, by the end of the month Cobh put themselves back in solid contention for the league title, topping the table by the time of their 4-0 demolition job over the relegated Shelbourne.

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November was the month where Cobh Ramblers finally confirmed their second consecutive title win as well as heading out of the Champions League in the Group Stages.

Ultimately, Cobh have Rafiki Said to thank for the title win as his 94th minute equaliser against The Rams’ only title challengers denied Dundalk the opportunity to take a vital advantage into the final day of the season.

This crucial advantage was seized upon on the final day against Bohemian as Cobh ran out as 4-0 winners with Glen McAuley bagging a brace as well as goals from Slovak youngster Jan Lukac and 2022s Premier League top scorer Alex Samizadeh.

Cobh finished the season top of the league by four points over Dundalk, leading to Gary Waddock’s sacking. Dundalk are going through a dark period in their history since Vinny Perth left the club after four years in charge to take over the reigns at South Yorkshire outfit Sheffield Wednesday.

At the bottom of the table, Shelbourne had no chance of survival, finishing the season a whole thirteen points behind 9th placed Derry City - who survived relegation via Play-Offs after an aggregate 5-2 win over University College Dublin.

Shamrock Rovers have made a swift return to the Premier League to replace Shelbourne after their shock relegation in 2022.

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Zed: It's more money than I've had to deal with in my career combined! I'm excited!
Seb: Indeed, the bargain of the decade was Cunningham only paying €300K! I was never expecting to get anywhere in the Group Stages, the money alone was good enough. I'm sure many are staking an interest in McDonald now!
Scott: It was about time that some money was funneled into the playing squad moreso now than ever. The progression is paying dividends in every way!
Griffo: A very nice introduction to the new chairman!
tedbro20: The transition from O'Donovan to Cunningham had to be made as smooth as possible and it's been made that way now! There will certainly be some more focus shone on our youth division.
James: Well with Cunningham and Cobh itself, McDonald has seemingly got a Royal Flush! I'm also intrigued to see how Cunningham's personality develops given time.