The 2014 season was St. Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 85th year in existence and was their 63rd consecutive season in the League of Ireland top division. It was the third year that Liam Buckley is the team's manager (in his current spell), following replacing Pete Mahon in December 2011. The Saints finished the previous season as the 2013 champions. The season was very successful on the field as the Saints began by winning the inaugural President's Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. The biggest triumph of all however was when top scorer Christy Fagan wrote himself into the club's history books by scoring twice in a 2–0 win over Derry City in the 2014 FAI Cup Final, ending a 53-year hoodoo with the cup for the club. Pats also competed in the UEFA Champions League, the Setanta Cup and the League of Ireland Cup.
Last updated: 1 November 2014 Source: Competitive match reports.
Competitive matches only
Matches started as captain only Country: FIFA nationality; No.: Squad number; P: Position; Name: Player name; No. Games: Number of games started as captain.
Most frequent starting line-up uses the team's most used formation: 4–3–3. The players used are those who have played the most games in each respective position, not necessarily who have played most games out of all the players.
The 2014 League of Ireland Premier Division fixtures were announced on 20 December 2013. St Patrick's Athletic were revealed to have Cork City at away on the first day of the season. The Saints' first home fixture would be against UCD on the second day of the season.[1]
Patrick Nzuzi 34' James McGrath 46' James McGrath 77'
Stadium: Richmond Park Attendance: 1,100 (Est.) Referee: Tom Connolly
Note: This fixture was due to be played on Friday 21 March 2014 but was moved to a later date on RTÉ's decision due to their television rights to the game.
Note: This fixture was due to be played on Friday 4 July 2014 at 8 pm, but was moved to a later date on the Garda Síochána's decision, due to insufficient policing resources on the original date.
Stadium: Richmond Park Attendance: 931 Referee: Dave McKeon
Note: This fixture was originally scheduled for 3 October 2014, but was rescheduled to an earlier date due to St Patrick's Athletic's participation in the FAI Cup Semi-finals on 5 October 2014.
Note: The match was officially postponed at 20:20 due to four of the eight floodlight pylons failing, with supporters in the ground still awaiting kick off at the time.
The draw for the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League will take place on 23 June 2014, with the first leg to be played on 15/16 July and the second leg on the 22/23 July.
Having lost the 2013 Leinster Senior Cup Final to Shamrock Rovers just two days after lifting the 2013 League of Ireland trophy, the Saints were hoping to go one step further in the 2014 competition, although the tournament would be last on their priorities of the seven they would play in over the season. Pats were drawn at home to Dundalk, the side who they pipped to the previous season's league title, on 17 February making it their first competitive game of the season.[54]
The 2014 season was the first year of the President's Cup. The fixture is between the previous season's league winners and the previous season's cup winners. With St Patrick's Athletic being 2013 League of Ireland Champions, they got home advantage against 2013 FAI Cup winners Sligo Rovers on 2 March 2014.[59]