2008 Galway United F.C. season

2008 Galway United F.C. season. This is a list of competitive matches played by Galway United F.C. during the 2008 League of Ireland Premier Division season. Jeff Kenna served as player-manager of Galway United F.C. during this season. During the season there were rumours of financial troubles and the selling of the players within the squad, most notably Derek O'Brien. Relegation also loomed on the horizon. However, a surge of great form which saw the United reach the 2008 FAI Cup semi-finals gave the club a fighting chance of survival. A 3–0 victory over Finn Harps in the penultimate game of the season put survival in United's own hands and their victory the following week away to UCD ensured that Galway United would be playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division in 2009.[1]

Pre-season

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers
8 February 2008	Athlone Town	H	3 – 2	Leech, O'Brien, O'Shea
9 February 2009	Waterford United	N	3 – 1	Glynn (2), Russell
15 February 2008	Limerick 37	H	3 – 2	Glynn, Russell, O'Flynn

Premier Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers
7 March 2008	Bohemians	H	0 – 1
15 March 2008	Cobh Ramblers	A	1 – 1	O'Brien
21 March 2008	St Patrick's Athletic	A	0 – 1
29 March 2008	Shamrock Rovers	H	0 – 2
4 April 2008	Drogheda United	A	0 – 1
11 April 2008	Cork City	H	1 – 3	Molloy
19 April 2008	Sligo Rovers	A	0 – 3
25 April 2008	Bray Wanderers	H	2 – 3	O'Flynn, Molloy
2 May 2008	Derry City	A	0 – 0

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Shamrock Rovers	33	8	13	12	33	35	−2	37
8	Drogheda United[lower-alpha 1]	33	12	9	12	38	32	+6	35
9	Galway United	33	8	8	17	34	49	−15	32
10	Finn Harps (R)	33	9	4	20	26	53	−27	31	Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
11	Cobh Ramblers (R)	33	6	8	19	27	55	−28	26	Relegation to A Championship[lower-alpha 2]

Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Drogheda United were deducted ten points after going into administration.
2. Cobh Ramblers were relegated directly from the Premier Division to the A Championship after being refused a First Division licence.

FAI Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers
8 June 2008	Round 3	Waterford United	H	1–0
17 August 2008	Round 4	Athlone Town	H	4–1
12 September 2008	QF	Bray Wanderers	H	1–1	McCulloch 45'
16 September 2008	QF Replay	Bray Wanderers	A	0–2	J. Keane 37', O'Shea 53'
26 October 2008	SF	Derry City	H	0–1

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers
8 April 2008	1st	Longford Town	H	2 – 0	Lester, Foley
8 April 2008	2nd	Sligo Rovers	A	0 – 0 (aet, p 5-6)
1 July 2008	QF	Bray Wanderers	H	3 – 0	O'Brien (2), O'Shea
4 August 2008	SF	Derry City	H	0 – 2

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FAI Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Gary Rogers	30 (1)	0	5	0	2	0	38	0	0	0
2	DF	Regillio Nooitmeer	17	0	1	0	3	0	21	0	0	0
3	DF	Marc McCulloch	29 (1)	1	3	1	2	0	35	1	8	0
4	DF	Wesley Charles	13	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	15	0	1	1
5	DF	John Fitzgerald	31	2	5	1	4	0	40	3	8	1
6	DF	John Lester	21 (3)	1	4	1	3	1	25	3	4	1
7	MF	Ciaran Foley	15 (4)	1	4	0	2	1	25	2	2	0
8	FW	Derek Glynn	11 (12)	4	(3)	0	(4)	0	30	4	1	0
9	FW	Mark Leech	13 (3)	1	1	0	3	0	20	1	1	0
9	FW	Alan Murphy	11 (5)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	Stephen O'Flynn	4 (2)	1	1 (1)	0	0	0	8	1	0	0
10	FW	Jesper Jørgensen	8 (3)	1	4	0	1	0	16	1	1	0
11	MF	Derek O'Brien	15	2	1 (1)	1	3	2	20	5	2	0
11	MF	Iarfhlaith Davoren	4 (7)	1	0	0	1	0	12	1	0	0
12	FW	Vinny Faherty	15 (8)	5	2 (2)	0	1 (1)	0	29	5	0	0
13	FW	Ian Foster	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	MF	Jonathan Keane	8	1	4	1	0	0	12	2	1	1
16	GK	Alvin Rouse	3	0	0	0	2	0	5	0	0	1
17	DF	Alan Keane	14 (2)	0	4	0	2	0	22	0	1	1
18	MF	Steven Cunningham	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	MF	Jay O'Shea	27 (2)	7	4	2	4	1	37	10	1	0
20	DF	Paul Sinnott	0 (1)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	Ollie Fenn	10 (3)	0	1 (1)	0	(2)	0	17	0	6	0
23	MF	Gary Deegan	17	0	0	0	3	0	20	0	7	0
24	MF	John Russell	25 (3)	2	3	0	4	0	35	2	5	0
25	MF	Seamus Conneely	14 (5)	0	5	0	1	0	25	0	1	0
28	FW	Jason Molloy	2 (7)	1	2	0	(2)	0	13	1	0	0
31	MF	Cian McBrien	0 (3)	0	(1)	0	(1)	0	5	0	0	0
33	DF	Jeff Kenna	6	0	2	0	1	0	9	0	2	0

References

1. "Galway United FC – Club History". galwayunitedfc.ie. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
2. "Ireland 2008". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.