Athlone hope for massive league improvement as new season looms large
Kevin O'Neill
A new-look Athlone Town senior men's team kick-off their SSE Airtricity League First Division campaign tomorrow evening (Friday, February 13) when they host Finn Harps (Athlone Town Stadium, 7.45pm).
Manager Ian Ryan has drafted in a host of new signings in a bid to resurrect the club's fortunes in the second tier, after a dismal 2025 season saw Athlone finish bottom of the pile.
Finn Harps, meanwhile, didn't exactly tear up any trees last season either, with Kevin McHugh's Donegal outfit finishing third from the bottom. In fact, Athlone had a decent record against Harps last season, winning twice and garnering a draw from four matches against the Ballybofey men.
Athlone will hope to have a full strength squad to choose from for the opening fixture, with veteran goalkeeper Brendan Clarke set to captain the team after moving from Galway United. Athlone had a mixed bag of results in their pre-season but finished on a relatively high note when thrashing non-league Bluebell Utd last weekend.
The Town are likely to give home debuts to defenders Oisin Hand and Evan O'Connor, the latter of whom returns to the club having spent part of his underage development with Athlone. Robbie Lyons, Brian McManus and Peter Grogan will be among the new brigade trying to earn a starting berth, while former Harps players Patrick Ferry and Gradi Lomboto will be going up against their former side, if selected.
Harps' pre-season recruitment has focused largely on the foreign market with two French players joining, along with Swiss, Italian and Portuguese born players. They also lost a key attacker in Hans Mpongo, who has signed for Cork City.
As a note to anyone hoping to attend the game on Friday evening, Athlone Town FC announced earlier this week that they won't be accepting cash payments at the entrances this season.
"We will operate card and mobile payments at the gate, which was successfully practiced at our European games last summer,” the club said in a statement.
Cash payments will only be permitted inside the ground at the club shop.