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PODCAST

LOI Central

@LOICentralPod is a podcast with opinion, analysis and interviews on all the latest happenings in the League of Ireland, hosted by Johnny Ward & Dan McDonnell

sports soccer

All Episodes

69:06

Episode 282: S09E34 Dalymount Draw, Friday Feelings &...

LOI Central ·

2025/10/20

We are back from an international break to begin the countdown towards the climax of the season – our live show in Rascals on Monday November 3 with tickets going on sale on Wednesday. Oh, and there’s the end of a thrilling European race, the playoff battle and the prospect of an FAI Cup Final at the Aviva Stadium where the fans – and not the SHOUTY PA GUY – will hopefully provide the volume. That’s a bit of a garbage time rant in a show which is heaven for those who like permutations as

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82:07

Episode 281: S09E33 International Break Time with...

LOI Central ·

2025/10/07

On a week where skeletons are being found lying around all kinds of closets, a squeaky clean Kevin Doherty stops by Oliver Ireland for an international break chat on the highs and lows of 2025 – so far. While hedging his bets on talented non-Drogheda players, he is quite clear about his priorities and ambitions for his current crop of Drogs as well as his plans for a guaranteed Premier Division run again next season. Inside the hand-stitched Collar & Cuff mailbag is a lot of Saint Pat’s

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69:31

Episode 280: S09E32: European Odysseys, Waterford...

LOI Central ·

2025/09/30

The finishing line is in sight for everyone apart from Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne as the closing stretch of the league clashes with the beginning of European league phase excitement. Dan and Johnny convene to discuss a busy week on a variety of fronts; and return to the familiar theme of Shamrock Rovers levels and Shelbourne’s 2024 standards, discussions that might just happen more frequently than Waterford changing managers. Our mailbag listeners do ask us to go there in the search to

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65:50

Episode 279: S09E31 Double Header Review. How good...

LOI Central ·

2025/09/23

The boys are back in Oliver Ireland for a quickfire review of a double header that could prove very significant come the end of the season. Johnny has Galway’s woes on the mind, while Dan debates the potential legacy of this Shamrock Rovers side before we hear from Andrew Quinn and Joey O’Brien about another Drogheda v Shelbourne meeting where possession equals defeat. On top of that, we’ve got a mailbag searching for new words on Mason Melia, some worries about Waterford’s slump and a call

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82:37

Episode 278: S09E30 The Mayhem and the Magic of the Cup

LOI Central ·

2025/09/16

We are back after an international break to forget and savouring a weekend to remember in the FAI Cup unless you happen to be from Connacht. Kerry FC's heroic exploits take top billing, but there's a heavy Sligo Rovers angle to that drama too while Johnny was down at Richmond Park to hear from Kian Leavy and John Caulfield after St Patrick's Athletic got the better of Galway. Dan details a dramatic night in Drogheda and there's a bit of Derry chat too in a crowded mailbag that includes TV

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81:57

Episode 277: S09E29 A Week of Mixed Emotions. Webster...

LOI Central ·

2025/09/02

It was a week of mixed emotions for everyone involved in Irish football with news of Ollie Horgan's final farewell coming through ahead of a historic ‘going electric’ night on the pitch for Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. We try and cover both bases here with Dave Webster joining to offer his reflections on the joy of working with the late, great Galwegian with Ollie also coming up in the course of Johnny's chat with Stephen Bradley about another landmark achievement for the Hoops. In

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58:11

Episode 276: S09E28 - Super Thursday, Azores Review &...

LOI Central ·

2025/08/26

The lads take stock as Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers are both tantalisingly close to group stage football after a quite incredible night on Thursday. Dan relays his trip to the Azores, where some locals were more interested in the staff in the chip van than whether the Rovers performance was different gravy to other LOI wins in Europe. The lads discuss that point but there is no debate around the emotional moment of the week. We're recording from JW's apartment for sale, but his last cup

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65:52

Episode 275: S09E27: FAI Cup/Oasis Wrap & Patrick...

LOI Central ·

2025/08/19

Our LOI family full of eccentrics is back this week, a little hoarse ten years on from a fine day involving a horse. Did Oasis hit the FAI Cup crowds? Did the Mrs. Browns Bohs fans at Oasis even know they were out of the FAI Cup? Is Liam Gallagher really just a poor man's Sean Malee? The lads butt heads on this and more before we hand the mic over to another forthright front man with Patrick Hoban dialling in to discuss the miserable end to his time at Derry and what the club needs to do to

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85:46

Episode 274: S09E26 Shels Heartbreak, Ref Rage &...

LOI Central ·

2025/08/13

It’s a two part show this week as Johnny and Dan kicks things off on location in Tolka Park, picking through the bones of a near miss for Shelbourne that sends them to the European last chance saloon. After the Shels wrap, we go back in time to Oliver Ireland for a catch-up with Conan Byrne that – amongst other things – touches on the pros and cons of punditry and coaching as he embraces a new football life. We also hear about his follow-up meeting with Patrick McEleney after THAT dive in

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73:39

Episode 273: S09E25: European Race Title Race,...

LOI Central ·

2025/08/05

It’s another remote session this week with the lads rattling through the talking points of the week and some discussion starters that have very little to do with anything from the last seven days. Can Shels, Pat’s and Shamrock Rovers extend their European adventures? What’s the story with the way Dan says Lithuania? Have European competitions become too bloated? What’s the right way to say protagonist? You can decide what the important questions are but we do look forward to more UEFA

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64:51

Episode 272: S09E24: Brandywell Bother, Chaos at the...

LOI Central ·

2025/07/28

We are back in Oliver Ireland this week, with the steady hands of Barry Murphy adding depth to our conversation. European matters take second billing behind a dramatic Friday night that has left a legacy of regret and recriminations. Cork City’s demise is analysed and there’s a bit of Galway United stress too before a packed mailbag is dominated by fraught events in Derry that raise big questions about the operations at the Brandywell. There’s also late transfer deals, Barry’s audacious

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76:00

Episode 271: S09E23 LOI in Europe, Cup cruises and...

LOI Central ·

2025/07/22

We’ve reached that glorious point of the year where the evidence of one tie makes us experts on the levels of teams from Lithuania, Azerbaijan and wherever else the European dice rolls. Chris Shields wasn’t guessing about Shelbourne when the Champions League set up a cross border clash and the Linfield midfielder dials in to give us his reflections and regrets before a bit of general LOI chat. The cup didn’t do a huge amount to float our boat this week, although Dan was still flagged for

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67:06

Episode 270: S09E22 with Dave McMillan & Paddy Kavanagh

LOI Central ·

2025/07/15

Johnny is out of the building this week but we’ve got solid foundations visiting Oliver Ireland absence with a representative from the construction industry and an architect – neither of whom identify as ex-footballers. Paddy Kavanagh and Dave McMillan do have experience of several of the themes we discuss this week; confident attackers, the psychology of European ties and the ingredients that are needed to challenge for a title. We talk Bohs form, Sligo Rovers v Derry implications and the

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89:52

Episode 269: S09E21 LOI in Europe, Nationwide Mailbag...

LOI Central ·

2025/07/09

European football is here, a chance to learn about new teams, unknown players and exotic places. And then there’s Shelbourne v Linfield. The first section of this show is taken up by discussion of Wednesday night with a bit of Mark Coyle, Joey O’Brien and David Healy audio thrown in. Have Linfield staff attended more FAI Cup finals than your average Irish tourist in Cambrils? This week’s show might just provide the answer. We also discuss St Pat’s, the Streisand effect and the goal return

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88:13

Episode 268: S09E20: Oasis, Keane, James-Taylor,...

LOI Central ·

2025/07/02

Won’t somebody think of the football? After a day dominated by the latest Bohs jersey launch and another famous face performing an acting masterclass at the Cross, Dan and Johnny try to merge Tuesday’s box office activity with the oft forgotten events on the pitch. This wide-ranging session brings us from Oasis to Odubeko, and from Keane to Keena while there’s also enough there for the obsessives – be they journalists or non-Shels fans – who can still hear the sound of Duff. We hear from

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92:23

Episode 267: S09E19 Duff Love, Bohs Brilliance, Pat's...

LOI Central ·

2025/06/24

We've had a double header in both divisions since our last show but there's only discussion point on the agenda today; what about those goalscoring Lomboto brothers? They have their own God but our main talking point, naturally enough, is how the League of Ireland will cope without its sometime messiah Damien Duff, who interrupted the regular Sunday service to make a shocking exit to a Simply Red tune. We'll hear bits from his last press conference before pondering the chain of events that

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68:21

Episode 266: S09E18: Disappointed Drogs, Euro Draws &...

LOI Central ·

2025/06/18

We are back in Oliver’s offices to discuss a week that delivered an unwelcome twist for Drogheda United with the excitement of the European draws leaving the Boynesiders with a bitter aftertaste. Dan gives the lowdown on the story in a crowded mailbag that also features the content king that always delivers - an outraged Damien Duff. We talk dressing room songs, tinfoil hats, relentless Rovers and much more before we dial up our old pal Ruaidhri Higgins who discusses life in Coleraine,

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82:53

Episode 265: S09E17 - Mid-Season Musings, Transfer...

LOI Central ·

2025/06/03

AS most of the League of Ireland heads for the departure lounge, our co-hosts are back via arrivals to take their regular perch in Oliver Ireland for our mid-season review. We make it there with the help of a stopover on the turbulence of media relations in a small world, before ascending to broader discussions around Josh Honohan’s public feedback, the beauty of Galway’s defensive formations and Seani Maguire speculating on how far Cathal O’Sullivan can go. This is interspersed with

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70:10

Episode 264: S09E16 avec Graham Gartland, Johnny...

LOI Central ·

2025/05/29

Episode 16 took all the patience of Collar & Cuff, Future Ticketing, Sports Cosanta and Rascals Brewery to make it to the finish line. Recorded over two nights due to rural broadband shenanigans we eventually got Conan Noonan, on loan at Waterford from Shamrock Rovers, and Johnny Kenny, who was on loan at Shamrock Rovers from Celtic last season, into a virtual room to meander upon girlie haircuts, the Kennedy Cup, and their bullish future ambitions. They go back nearly a decade in terms

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70:13

Episode 263: S09E15 with Garry Doyle and Colin Hawkins

LOI Central ·

2025/05/21

There’s a faint whiff of chaos (and maybe vomit) in the air at Oliver this week, as the usual anchor is missing and the reins are handed over to Johnny and special guest Garry Doyle — manager of the SFAI Under-14 Cup champions. Together, the lads in hats stumble cheerfully through a maze of partitionist football nostalgia, Stephen Kenny-induced anxiety, grassy knolls, lawnmowers, the Rovers revival, and the age-old question: is the league actually done and dusted?The mailbag is in fine form

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172 results

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