Alan Reynolds says Bohemians have put the hard yards in over pre-season and are determined to start their 2025 campaign as they mean to go on.
With 30,000 tickets sold for tomorrow’s game against Shamrock Rovers at the Aviva Stadium, Bohs’ 2025 league opener promises to be a Dublin Derby like no other and is on course to smash generations-old records.
There is always a sense of anticipation ahead of a new season, but the heightened build-up the league has had in recent weeks has ratcheted that up to another level again.
Reynolds said: “The exposure that this game and the league in general is getting is fantastic. You see it with the TV deal with Virgin, and the wall-to-wall coverage over the past number of weeks.
“It’s a fantastic time to be a part of this league and after all the work our players have put in over the course of pre-season, everyone is really looking forward to getting out onto the pitch at the Aviva now and hopefully we can give our fans something to cheer about.
“We are looking at it as a fresh start for us. We have a very different squad now to what we had when I came in.
“Tomorrow is only the first of 36 league games, but we are playing our rivals and the players are hungry to start as they mean to go on.”
Reynolds has been busy strengthening his squad over the course of the closed season with the addition of Lys Mousset 10 days ago the seventh new face following the arrivals of Connor Parsons and Alex Lacey, Colm Whelan, Niall Morahan and John Mountney, and loan signing of Kian Best.
Reynolds said: “We had to be patient in bringing players in. We knew what we wanted, we chipped away at it, and we are pleased with who we’ve brought in.
“They have built a strong bond over pre-season and have worked extremely hard. Our fitness levels are good, and standards have been high.
“Those additions come on the back of the lads we brought in last summer too. We asked a lot of the players we brought in during the July window – Ross Tierney, Dawson Devoy, Leigh Kavanagh, Liam Smith and Archie Meekison – to be thrown into the team when we were scrapping at the wrong end of the table when they hadn’t had a pre-season with us.
“We limped to the end of last season but it’s a fresh start for everyone now. Those five have a pre-season under their belt, we have really strengthened with the seven new players we’ve brought in, and then you have Keith Buckley, Rob Cornwall and James McManus all back after missing last year through injury, all looking to play and all driving each other on.
“Having Bucko, Rob and James back is massive. They are Bohs through and through, they know how to win, and they are like new signings for us having them back.
“We have exciting young players coming through too – the likes of Rhys Brennan, Markus Strods, Declan Osagie and others – so I am pleased with the talent and potential we have in the squad, but we will have to be patient with them too.”
There is undoubtedly a renewed sense of excitement and anticipation among the majority of Bohemians supporters, which was certainly felt when Reynolds addressed a forum of club members during the week, and he is hoping that will lead to supporters getting behind his side from the first whistle tomorrow.
Reynolds said: “To have 15,000 or 20,000 Bohs fans behind you in a stadium like the Aviva is incredible. But the levels of support this club has is incredible no matter where we play. We see it with Dalymount being sold out for every home game, and we see it with the crowds we have behind us everywhere we go away from home.
“We want our players to embrace that, to thrive on the pressure of playing for the club, and to excite those supporters, and that is what we are striving for.
“We spoke with the members on Thursday night about how that connection is so important, and the players know it too. This is a massive club that demands high standards and hard work, and that’s what we have been striving for over the course of pre-season.
“The excitement there has been around the start of the league has been massive, so we want to build on that, draw a line under last season, and pull together to get this club back to where we all want it to be.
“Last season was a big disappointment for everyone at the club. But there has been a lot of change since, it’s a new group now who we want to build up that bond between players and fans again.”
Bohs are coming up against a Shamrock Rovers side aiming to regain the league title they lost to Shelbourne last season, and buoyed with Thursday’s Europa Conference League win away to Molde.
Reynolds added: “We didn’t need reminding of how good a side Rovers can be but they provided it on Thursday. They’re a good team with players who can really hurt you, so we have to be ready for that.”
Team news
Bohemians have a full squad to choose from.
